Easy-Breezy Summer Decorating Ideas

It’s summer at long last — wondering what your home will be wearing? The tried-and-true ideas we’ve assembled here are like a deliciously floppy hat or an over-the-top caftan: This decor and DIY inspiration is easy, evocative and just plain fun. (If you fall hopelessly in love with your seasonal finds and want to keep them around all year long, we understand completely.)

Pampas fronds, like the ones beside this fireplace, are the feather boas of the ornamental-grass world: They’re lightweight, relatively inexpensive and an instant shot of drama. Look to local craft stores and greenmarkets for dried stems, or pick up West Elm’s faux versions here.

This ottoman/table is a clever use of negative space: Check out all that usable surface area minus the visual weight of a solid piece! It’s also a comparatively low-key way to channel the glorious kitsch of old-school outdoor furniture without making your room feel like a faithful recreation of your Nana’s balcony in Boca. (We still love you, Nana.)

Make the most of cozy area rugs by turning them into spots for sprawling under the ceiling fan with a cold glass of lemonade. These sunny yellow cushions beckon vacationers to gather ‘round the coffee table — and provide additional casual seating that doesn’t make this living room feel crowded.

As you make the bed in warmer months, opt for lightweight shams and toss pillows in pale hues with natural fibers like nubby cotton and linen. They offer the seasonal satisfaction of dressing in preppy-perfect linen pants, minus the not-so-fashionable creases those pants develop after five minutes of sitting.

Bathe in tropical greenery by switching out your shower curtain for a classic, large-scale palm leaf print like this one. It’s the quick-change equivalent of a botanical feature wall, with none of the hassle of placing and pasting pesky paper.

Keep your eyes peeled at thrift shops (and in the back of your cupboards) for a well-weathered, handled wood cutting board. Though its best days as a culinary tool might be behind it, it’s ready for service as a nautically inspired address plaque for your front door.

Take a lovely handful of summer blooms from charming to showstopping by surveying your yard and gathering greenery. Mixing ranunculus, garden roses and anemone with an abundance of leafy stems, this summery centerpiece is downright spectacular.

While a single suspended pot might get lost against a massive window like this one, a trio creates a hanging garden (and will cast fabulous leafy shadows across the room as the sun goes down). Look around your home and reconsider each of its curtain rods: Where can you hang a few S-hooks and some leafy new statement pieces?

This chic, summery Montauk bedroom is all about pattern play: Narrow navy bands on the bed’s coverlet layer beautifully with wider, bolder stripes on a pair of toss pillows. That old-school vacation vibe continues with a pair of black-and-white beach photos, and a dune-colored woven stool builds the Atlantic atmosphere even more.

From freeform, hippie-chic tie dye to more formal, Japanese-inspired shibori patterns, no color combo evokes the surf and shore quite so well as deep indigo dye on pale fabric. Try your hand at graphic napkins like these — and once you’re on a roll, don’t be shy about dyeing pillowcases, slipcovers, tablecloths and more.

For a polished (no pun intended) take on classic beachcombing finds, splash out on a vase or set of tumblers in a marine hue. Stemless wine glasses like these mix into table setting with ease, and their acrylic counterparts are perfect for dining outdoors. To elevate the look, turn to antique shops, flea markets and Etsy for shapely stoppered decanters in similarly bold shades.

To pull together a classic coastal arrangement like designer James Farmer did here, balance a stack of coffee table volumes on local flora and fauna with quirky pieces like a decorative bowl full of shells, a pair of carved shorebirds and a low hydrangea bouquet. Broken down into its basic components, that’s books + bowl o’ trinkets + figurines + flowers = summer on a tabletop.

Speaking of collections, consider how this arrangement of objects screams summer in combination with one another: Vivid protea in a caned vase pair beautifully with a monstera leaf and a palm frond in a blown-glass vase, and a brass sailboat plucked from a vintage sailing trophy(!) summons virtual trade winds.

Got a spare afternoon (and three skeins of yarn)? Cultivate an on-trend beachy bungalow vibe by whipping up a fiber-art chandelier like this one. Take the look in a more contemporary direction with neon hues — or tone it down and aim for vintage-Malibu cool with ivory-colored strands.

Lend your coffee table a bit of high-desert style by pairing a handsome raw specimen like this amethyst chunk with an arrangement of lighter-than-air wildflowers — in other words, all the scenery of a hike with none of the sunburn or bug bites.

Pay homage to a favorite sun-drenched destination by framing an Art Deco-era tourism print like this South Carolina bathing beauty (feast your eyes on an array of classic scenes here). Add dimension to the display with characteristic curios like this pair of glass and brushed metal lanterns, and voila! Your summery staycation tableau is complete.

This vivid Martha's Vineyard home quite literally began with a splash: The painting mounted between the orange sconces above the loveseat served as inspiration for the color story that carries throughout its rooms. To make your home feel like a distillation of summer, choose a single scene (or fabric or sculpture) that speaks to your idea of the season at its peak, then let that palette find its way into everything else.

Summer style is all about relaxing rules and celebrating themed tchotchkes: Launch those miniature sailboats, display beat-up beach signs with pride, pile towels into buckets that look like Coast Guard castoffs! Clear out a corner of your home, pretend you’ve been tasked with decorating a vacation cottage, and live it up accordingly.

Channel your inner florist by turning multiple pots of grocery-store orchids (aka phalaenopsis, which are non-toxic to pets) into a jaw-dropping tropical arrangement worthy of a seaside resort’s foyer with a planter, moss, decorative stems and small, low-light houseplants. Psst: It’s also a spectacular dining-table centerpiece for summer parties.