Summer interiors

Summer is the most pleasurable of all seasons. So take delight in the cheer that comes with the summer months by adding a lighthearted touch to your furniture and trimmings. Summer flourishes add brightness to your home but should not add to your tasks during an already busy season, so here are a few tips for cost-efficient, easy-to-do summer decor. After all, it is summer, so the more whimsy the better. And what epitomises summer decor? Anything bright, light and fun.

Simple alterations in the colour palette of your home can create a remarkable change. Paint is the fastest way to get rid of the dreariness of winter. Painting just a focal wall in the room can save a lot of time and money. Warm colours like sunflower yellow, chartreuse and azure scream summer. Another cost- and time-efficient trick is adding wallpaper in bright flowery patterns.

For the cost of a glass cleaner, you can have cheerier and brighter rooms. Just clean all the glass surfaces in your home — this includes your TV, microwave, mirror and even the picture frame on the coffee table. The clean, sparkly glass surfaces will reflect more light and add to a dazzling summer look.

Mix to match

Do a little mix and match with your existing décor. Begin by moving around some furniture. Swapping furniture from one area to another can give a room a whole new look. Take out the hangings on walls and let the spotlight be on one brightly painted wall. Adding some wicker furniture with some brightly coloured cushions also helps jazz up a room. Shifting furniture near a window can help brighten up a room and moving tables towards walls can increase open space to move around.

Coming back to a less messy home is always a great feeling. Since fewer objects mean additional space, take out as much mess as possible, especially from the living room, to give the space a more open feel. It also leads to unobstructed air flow in the room. In addition, take down all the extra stuff from shelves and the mantelpiece and add some sparkly accessories like glass beads, marbles or beach shells in coloured glass vases instead.

Green inside

For the price of a seed sachet, you can brighten your back garden or living room with dazzling sunflowers. They are effortless to cultivate, pollen-free and make your backyard look great. Or just pitch some sunflowers in a vase, where they can last up to a week. To make your house smell like summer, roses, gardenia or lilacs in glass vases or ironstone china jugs is a good option. Sweet-smelling twigs and leaves like lemon verbena or even rosemary or thyme can be added to give the arrangement a more interesting touch. If managing fresh flowers is a hassle, then putting out bowls of potpourri or perfumed candles is a good alternative. Another way to bring the outdoors inside is by adding a few potted palms. Just don’t overdo it as this might mess the room and it may end up looking like a veritable greenhouse.

Light and happy

Remove the layered dreary winter drapes on your windows and instead add some sheer, airy, translucent drapes or mini-blinds for light control. Add a splash of colour to your living room with a rug in brightly coloured hand-painted floor cloth or sisal. A coir or bamboo mat would go very well with wicker furniture. Also, a change in the lighting in a room enhances a room’s cheerfulness. Store away the heavily shaded lamps and put up funky beach lamps or cheerful lava lamps instead to spruce up your living room.

Using white or any brightly striped cotton slipcovers on the furniture can not only brighten up a room but they can also be changed and cleaned easily. A vibrantly coloured throw on the back of a couch can sure make a huge difference.

Using table runners and napkins in lighter hues can change the look of the dining room to a great degree. A big bowl of fruits like apples and grapes or some colourful vegetables can quite literally capture summer in a bowl.

In the bedroom, remove the heavy bedspread and put up some brightly coloured crisp cotton sheets instead. Sheer linens and voiles are better suited for summer, and a subtle hint of embroidery can give it a more chic appearance. Besides this, painting one wall in pure white and pairing it with darker colours is a style for summers.

The bathroom can reflect summer by the addition of shower curtains and matching accessories in pale flowery patterns. While cyan is a universal favourite for bathrooms, warmer colours like amber, citrine and crimson are becoming quite a rage these days.

With the economy being what it is people are spending more time at home, thus adding to the importance of welcoming home interiors. Hence open, clutter-free, inviting spaces which bring out the season's inherent facet and thus nature itself are the ‘in’ thing this summer.