Fresh Decorating Update Ideas for Summer 2013

Bring the colors and feel of summertime into your home with our best tips and tricks everything from rearranging furniture to the smells of the season.

Pare Down 

Think of your home as a summer rental, and you'll see it in a whole new light. Throw open the doors and windows, pull back the curtains, and get rid of pieces that are dark, gloomy, or fussy. Stow away heavy accessories, throws, and any unnecessary small decor items until it's time to cozy up again for fall.

Set a Colorful Table 

Consider buying a set of accent dishes to add a splash of summertime color and pattern to your next dinner party. Mix bright floral, tropical, or nautical theme dishes with your everyday plates and bowls. To ramp up the summertime look even more, clear a small table to create an impromptu bar and arrange bottles and glassware on a pretty serving tray. Fun elements such as stir sticks and paper umbrellas create a look that is perfectly seasonal.

Front & Center 

With warm weather and a few extra hours of sunlight, the summer months are the perfect time to eat on your front porch or picnic in your yard. Eating outdoors will ensure you and your family take advantage of everything summer has to offer.

A New View 

While a fireplace is a great focal point during any other time of year, consider rearranging your furniture away from that space during the summer. Rather than huddling around the hearth, shift the focus of the room toward a beautiful window or French doors. Stow away heavy draperies and hang gossamer sheers that flow with the breezes.

All Summer Long 

Summer is as much a state of mind as it is a season, so transform your spaces to embrace all the benefits it has to offer. Include a large umbrella for extra shade. String paper lanterns on tree branches around an outdoor patio to allow gatherings to last well into the night hours. Or, should the weather turn stormy, cozy up by lamplight on a covered porch. Since pleasant summer days sometimes fall few and far between, you'll want to take full advantage of the time you have to spend outside, rain or shine.

Update Old Furniture 

Give a tired chair or side table new life using high-gloss spray paint in a summery hue, such as sky blue or grassy green. The glossy paint creates a fun lacquered look and gives an old piece a fresh and modern edge. Make sure to properly prime the furniture so the paint better adheres to the surface and will wear longer.

Art Swap 

Brighten dark walls with colorful art pieces. Affordable pieces can be found just about anywhere online or at flea markets and resale shops. A large piece or a collection of smaller pieces also provides the perfect blank-wall solution for large, open rooms.

Natural Living 

To add organic appeal, consider planting succulents in an oversize shell. The tiny plants last for a long time and require little care, making them the perfect addition to a summery tablescape. The combination of natural elements also adds texture and character to this chic end table display.

Fun Fabrics 

Bright prints on bedding, for example, instantly lift a room's mood  and yours. To allow the motif to truly shine, keep the wall color neutral and other accessories to a minimum.

Garden Fresh 

Interject bright summery colors into your home with freshly picked flowers. To make the biggest impact, stick to arrangements featuring warm colors, such as bold oranges, radiant yellows, or vibrant pinks, and save rich reds and deep purples for other seasons. Small clusters of bright color look cheery and create an undeniable summertime vibe.

Party Starter 

Welcome summer by entertaining outdoors. Low tables, floor pillows, and strands of clear fiesta lights will surely put everyone in a merry mood. Winning combos of bright colors, such as turquoise, red, and white, create a festive atmosphere and will keep everyone in a party state of mind.

Summery Scents 

To keep the seasonal aesthetic constant in your home, make sure you switch out scents as the seasons change. Gingerbread and evergreen are great scents for winter months, but many people crave fresh smells during the summer, such as ocean breeze or cucumber melon.

Going Casual 

Summer weather offers the perfect time to find unexpected uses for formal serving pieces. A silver tray can hold pretty glassware and a pitcher filled with a delicious summery cocktail, while a champagne bucket makes a great container for an herb plant.

2013 Luxury Living Room Curtains Designs Ideas

When it comes to decorating your home, there are certain things that can be done to give it a complete transformation. You could try out a few simple things like, changing the cushion and the cover of your sofa, changing the paintings or wall hanging. More importantly, it is the curtains that can really change the look of your place.
Curtains can be a defining aspect of a living room. Large windows may benefit from the long, graceful lines of a traditional drapery or a more contemporary sheer fabric. A wide of variety of curtain choices are available to dress your living room window. Take a good look at the layout and color scheme of your living room and start searching.
I hope you’ve been inspired by these living room curtain designs ideas. Most of all, have fun with it!

Summer 2013 Ideas For Refresh Your Deck

Enjoy the outdoors on a well appointed deck. These ideas will add style, function, and comfort to any deck.
I hope you like it .....

The evolution in outdoor fabrics has made it easy to create shade on your deck without sacrificing on the pretty. Today's all-weather fabrics come in an array of stylish patterns and colors from neutral to splashy for everything from umbrellas, to cushions and accent pillows, to sun shades. Many of these accents are relatively inexpensive and easy to swap out whenever the mood strikes.

Tempt friends and family and yourself to linger on your deck longer by softening your seating area with pillows. Pretty and durable accent pillows made from fun outdoor fabrics are easy to find in home stores and will stand up to the sun and rain. If you have found an indoor-outdoor fabric you love, cover your existing pillows for all-weather appeal. Toss a handful onto a sofa or bench, mixing in cheery, bright prints and hues for pops of color.

Dress up your deck with knockout containers. Flatter areas along railings or beside a door with pots that can hold tall, striking plantings such as this tropical canna ringed with fuchsia, coleus, and lantana. Bring in pots of annuals for bursts of color, or mix your annuals and perennials together like this smaller container of begonias paired with trailing creeping Jenny. Don't forget your veggies: A sunny spot out on the deck is the perfect place to grow a few tomato plants or an herb garden.

Safety is key to a usable deck, but beauty doesn't have to take a backseat. Instead of an ordinary railing, consider integrating materials that match the style of your home's exterior. Here, glass panels supply protection, shield the homeowners, and lend a bit of contemporary style.

Love your deck, but not your view? Install attractive structures that use complementary materials to create appealing borders that camouflage what you don't want to see. These small-slat screens pick up on the patterning on the long overhead pergola to create a seamless border for this backyard oasis.

Turn your deck into an outdoor room by accessorizing with an attractive outdoor rug. These all-weather options lend a cozy feel to an outdoor seating area and help tie together a color scheme. They also put texture underfoot, help keep things from being tracked inside, and on large spaces, they can delineate different uses, such as lounging space from a dining area.

Spice up your deck with painted furniture and fun accents. Pick a color scheme that enhances your home's exterior and layer on pillows and throws as well as vases and bowls to give your outdoor seating a cozy feel.

Extend the time you spend out on your deck by installing lights. Here, outdoor lights are wired into the decorative screens to illuminate the seating area and add ambience after dark. Nighttime illumination does not need to be at the same brightness as interior illumination. The goal should be to mimic the light levels typically provided by a full moon.

Outdoor furniture comes in a variety of heights, from low-to-the-ground chat sets, to traditional dining height, to tall bar-height seating. Select the type of seating that best fits your deck's space and usage. On this deck, a chat-height set allows guests to easily talk while they savor snacks. This flexible seating can also easily be regrouped to accommodate large gatherings.

A deck's work space can look stunning with the right decorative treatment. A skirt made from outdoor fabrics hides the outdoor sink's plumbing. Outdoor fabric panels made from a complementary stripe fabric help shade the deck and prep space when the sun is beaming in.

Contrasting paint colors and mini lights built into the stair's steps, posts, and post caps work in tandem to make it easy to ascend to this deck at night. If your deck sits in a sunny spot, consider installing solar powered lights for an energy savings option.

2013 Fresh Kitchen Decorating Update Ideas for Summer

Use these easy kitchen decorating ideas to refresh your kitchen without an extensive remodel.
I hope you’ve been inspired by these kitchen decorating ideas. Most of all, have fun and enjoy with it!

Use windows as a spot for pattern and color in a kitchen where neutrals reign. To create a coordinated look, use a fabric that has a color already found in your kitchen. The fabric on these Roman shades contains a gray similar to the cabinets. Consider using an easy to wash fabric for your treatments so you can wash them from time to time and prevent the retention of cooking odors.

Outfit your banquette or breakfast nook with an ensemble of pillows. These pretty additions will decorate the eating space when it's not in use and provide an extra layer of comfort when you are gathered around the table.

Even though a kitchen is called upon to be highly functional, that doesn't mean it can't be stylish. Display artwork like you would in a living room or bedroom. Consider vintage food or grocer signs to add collected flair, or a pretty painting for a more elegant vibe.

Turn castoff and mismatch plates into a fun display. Cruise clearance racks and thrift stores to find lone plates that share a commonality. The plates in this display all sport red designs, which unifies the display and creates a bond with the nearby red island.

Give old chairs a boost by re-covering the seats or adding new cushions. Choose a fabric that goes with other elements within the kitchen so your new addition blends seamlessly.

Kitchens typically don't have a lot of wall space, thanks to cabinetry, backsplashes, windows, and doorways. Use limited wall space as a chance to display a color you might not otherwise choose for a large wall or whole room. Here, a sable brown colors the space above the windows, which grounds the light kitchen. Also, look to the "fifth wall" of a room  the ceiling  as a place to add color with paint.

Small kitchens, especially those with U- or L-shape layouts, can accommodate an island, if it is the right size. Measure your kitchen and keep in mind that walkways around the islands should be 36 inches wide. Determine what size of island your kitchen could handle and start looking. A rustic worktable suits this kitchen's cottage style. Consider an island on wheels to make it easy to move as necessary, such as when you're serving a buffet.

Paint the insides of your cabinets for an update that will give your kitchen decorating mileage without much cost. Choose your color from an existing element in your kitchen, such as a fleck that appears in your countertops or backsplash, or a color that is featured on window treatments.

Activate the space in front of a window as bonus storage. Mount shelves in front of the window by either anchoring them to the wall or along the sides of upper cabinets. This handy solution can also block a not-so-great outside view while allowing light to come in from the window.

If you have a beloved collection of cookbooks, don't relegate them to a cabinet put them on display. The pretty covers will serve as artwork when arranged and layered facing outward on the shelves within an island. Floating shelves on the walls are also an easy display solution just make sure the shelves aren't too close to the sink or range so there isn't the risk of a book falling into soapy water or onto a hot burner.

Give a narrow galley kitchen a focal point by painting the "end" wall a bright color. A contrasting and vivid hue will draw the eye through the kitchen and make it appear longer. Consider a color that's complementary to a color already found in your kitchen. Here, a coral-orange paint is the complement to the dusty blue cabinets.

If you have a cabinet door that is irreparable, replace it with a curtain. Cut and hem a piece of fabric to size (you'll want the fabric to be wider than the door, so it can appear gathered and pleated) and sew a pocket on the top of the fabric. Place the curtain onto a tension rod and mount inside the cabinet doorway. Keep in mind that this project should not be used on cabinets near an oven or range to avoid creating a fire hazard.

Rather than going to the task of painting all of your cabinets, paint just the island for a quick kitchen pick me up. Try a bright hue or color that contrasts with the perimeter cabinets in your kitchen. Use accessories to introduce the color elsewhere in your kitchen so the island will blend with the rest of the space.

Unite adjacent areas to the kitchen by repeating a color or motif. An L-shape sofa in this sitting nook just off the kitchen picks up the blue from the kitchen's tile backsplash.

Line the back of shelves or a backsplash with beaded board to add cottage style texture to your kitchen. Paint the beaded board a fun color that matches the rest of your kitchen and be sure to finish it with a waterproof sealant if you are installing it behind or around a sink.