13 Ways to Brighten and Style Your Home for Summer  

If you only change up your home décor at Christmas, you’re missing out! All too many of us stick with the same décor year-round, only to grow bored and decide to renovate and redecorate. Renovations are costly and a big job, but the truth is, with just a few new items we can give our homes a whole new look each season, without the need to repaint or replace the furniture.

Skeptical? Read on for 13 ways you can brighten and style your home for summer without spending thousands on redecorating!

13 Ways to Style Your Home for Summer

1. Switch Up Your Color Palette

We need warm hues through the winter to keep us from getting down about all the bad weather outside, but summer is the perfect opportunity to pack them away and try something brighter. You’re not alone if you often find yourself on Pinterest pinning images of immaculate, bright, and sunny homes from places like Texas and California, only to realise that it would feel cold here in the UK if you had it year-round.

Well, why not decorate seasonally? Go around your home and make a note of anything that gives you winter or autumnal vibes. Things like thick throws and blankets, reds, browns, and check patterns, pine cones, and anything else you can find. Grab a box and pack them away for when October rolls around, and use the next tips to redecorate.

2. Choose Lighter Curtains

If you need full darkness to get a good night’s sleep in your bedroom, don’t change what works, but consider taking down your heavy drapes and switch them for something lighter in your living spaces. We get a lot of daylight from April through to September, so lap it up!

A thinner material will allow that light to seep in around the window, brightening the entire space. If you don’t have neighbours, you could even try using just a semi-sheer curtain so you can shield the room from bright sun without blocking the light.

3. Use Fruits for Decoration

If you have a fruit bowl, dust it out and head to the supermarket for some fresh fruit. If you want to eat the fruit in the fruit bowl, opt for your favourites, but otherwise choose citrus fruits that will last for a long time and make your house smell great. Lemons and limes add a pop of yellow and bright green to your home, and you can use them for Pimms and G&Ts on summer evenings. (If you know you won’t use those, either, opt for fakes! You can buy realistic fake lemons and limes online and simply pack them away at the end of the summer, ready for next year.)

4. Use Fruit Trees

Let’s be real, the English summer is extremely unpredictable. It can be 32C in May, and be 14C in the heat of August, with occasional downpours. In short, we don’t exactly live in a tropical climate. So, instead of investing in expensive fruit trees to adorn your porch, conservatory, and living spaces, invest in artificial lemon trees.

Real lemon trees are expensive and aren’t happy in the UK climate, so opt for artificial. The bright pop of yellow amongst the leaves can brighten even the dreariest of British summers, and works equally well out on a patio or inside in a dark hallway. If your house is south-facing and gets sun most of the day, two artificial lemon trees on either side of your front door will look incredible!

5. Buy New Cushions or Covers

You’d be surprised how much of a change a simple cushion cover can make, so if you haven’t thought of doing so already, strip those wintery covers and start shopping for something brighter. The best colors will depend on some on the main shades in your living room or bedroom, but look to yellow, sea green, white, sky blue, or bright hot pink, red, and orange if you’re daring!

6. Redecorate Your Fireplace

Fireplaces in UK homes tend to be fairly dark and drab, so give it a good clean and switch up the décor. Consider using terracotta pots with plants, white milk jugs, and containers with and/or without sprigs of artificial leaves and flowers, citrus fruits, an artificial lemon tree, baskets, and anything else that works for you.  

7. Create a Dining Table Centrepiece

While this looks great on a dining table, you can absolutely use this same idea for outdoor furniture and on dressers and side tables. Grab a decorative dish or planter that you like and fill it with artificial flowers and foliage and fake fruit (you can use real, but it won’t last long and fruit flies aren’t a good look!). You can also use candles, just make sure that if you plan to light them that they aren’t in a position to melt or set alight to the other decorations.

8. Add More Mirrors

Summer is all about making the most out of the light, and so if you have a dark hallway, consider using mirrors to strategically bounce more light into the dark areas of your home. Mirrors not only help increase the amount of light in your home, but they make your spaces feel bigger, too. Look for decorative mirrors, such as those surrounded by a frame of driftwood or covered with a macrame design, or even mirror-covered furniture to avoid a hall-of-mirrors feeling.

9. Rearrange Bulky Furniture

If practical and necessary, move bulky furniture so it doesn’t block light coming in from windows. If you have a couch that normally has its back facing a window, try moving it perpendicular to the window instead. If you have a large armchair there instead that is rarely used, try swapping it for an armchair with a wooden or woven back that will allow the light to pass through it.

10. Declutter

Despite being adults with no long summer holiday, we’re all somewhat conditioned to feeling like we should be able to do less when the summer months roll around. If you want your home to have a sense of ease and tranquillity about it, make sure you declutter! Take a bin bag and a box into each room in turn and throw out anything that’s sitting on the side that shouldn’t be.

Next, look at the things that are there cluttering the space “on purpose”, such as books, trinkets, perfume, stationery, and more. Anything you don’t need should be put in its place or go into storage. You’ll find that when every room has been thoroughly decluttered you’ll feel lighter and better able to relax in your home.

11. Don’t Let the View Outside Be Drab

You don’t need to have a green thumb for the view out onto your patio, garden, or balcony to be one that fills you with joy. Grab a broom and sweep any hard areas, and jet wash if you need to. Then, invest in some stylish outdoor furniture so you can enjoy your time outside, and add cushions, throws, and a centrepiece on days you intend to spend out there. Next, adorn your balcony or patio and garden with artificial plants or artificial green wall. They look just as good as the real thing, most people can’t tell the difference at a glance, and you don’t have to worry about whether or not you’re watering them enough or have planted them somewhere they don’t like. (Plants are surprisingly fussy!) 

12. Use Outdoor Lighting

By early May, we’re already experiencing evenings that are light until past 9pm. One of the best ways to make the most of your outside space is to use outdoor lighting to extend your living space. Whether or not you choose to go outside is up to you, but if you strategically place fairy lights, candles, and/or lanterns on your balcony railing, patio, and along any garden paths, you’ll naturally draw the eye right to the end of your garden. Make sure you stick to neutral yellow tones so you don’t look like you’re celebrating Christmas early!

13. Choose a Different Shower Curtain

This is a surprisingly simple trick that makes a big difference! If you have a bathroom shower curtain, now is the time to invest in a new one. We spend a lot of time around that same color or pattern, so if you switch it up to a curtain that is more bright and bold, or has more white on it, your brain will notice that things are looking a little brighter and more summery. You can always switch back when autumn or winter rolls around again.

These 13 tricks are all easy to do and will instantly make your house feel brighter, cleaner, and more in tune with the season, even if the British weather is being predictably unpredictable. To make sure you have plenty of greenery in your home, make sure you explore our full range of artificial plants here.