Summer Home Tour 2016

Welcome friends! Today I’m going to show you around a few spaces in my home, all refreshed for summer. We are going to tour around my living room, dining room, master bedroom, and patio. If you are new here and are perusing all the lovely homes in the Simple Summer Tours hosted by Nina Hendrick, Country Living Magazine, and Birch Lane, THANK YOU for coming over! I hope you see something that inspires you and stick around awhile. Every single piece of furniture in my home is vintage or thrifted that I’ve given a makeover to, or is something I’ve built– so please ask questions if you have them and I will respond! 🙂 There are lots of other DIYs in my home, so if I don’t link to the tutorial in this post, and you’d like me to create one, please let me know as well, and I’ll do my best to get on it!

If you remember from my Spring Home Tour, the living room got a bit of a switcheroo with the furniture arrangement when we got new bamboo shades, and I’m still loving it. I got a couple of indoor plants and holy smokes they really make a difference in how the room feels.

Sources: Couches- Ikea, Aqua pillows- Home Goods, Blue and white striped pillow- Ikea, Denim fringe lumbar pillow- Walmart,  Round mirror- World Market, Lamps- Home Goods.

If you can believe it, I had a ghetto sofa table (stacked paint cans with a board on top, and a tablecloth on top of that) that the lamps were sitting on for over a month before I finally built something last Saturday morning. I used only scrap wood (but granted, my pile is huge), but I had the thing built and painted before noon. Boom. Gettin shiz done baby. 😉

 So last week I was all determined to buy some new cool things for my bookcases, to restyle for summer. So I hop on over to HomeGoods and I’m filling my basket with all kinds of stuff, and then something happened and I had to leave right away. I left my entire cart-full of unpurchased items and headed home. I felt totally bummed, but that night I knew I needed to just figure this out, and make what I had work. Nothing I used is new, I just moved things around and pulled a few things out of that bench under the TV (holds some extra home decor goodies). I tried keeping the neutral tones of whites, creams, beiges, and browns, and then an occasional aqua glass or greenery. Nothing too exciting, but pretty, none-the-less.

Sources: Trestle end table- me! Build plans HERE, slipcovered wing chair- me!, Crab pillow– Craftberry Bush, Aqua pattern outdoor pillow- HomeGoods, Leather strap planter holder- me! Tutorial HERE, Curtains- me! Tutorial HERE.

Once the bookcases were styled, it set the tone for what needed to happen to the rest of the room.

Sources: Table- me! (thrifted- painted ASCP Old White), Glass bottles- antique mall & HomeGoods, Plants- Lowes, Pallet accent wall- me! Tutorial HERE, Built-in bookcases- me! Tutorial HERE, Chandelier- vintage.

So this far wall by the door has been a pickle to figure out since we have had this new furniture arrangement. I wasn’t happy with the windows I had hanging on that short wall, so I put up a painting of mine from college. It’s a favorite and I had it tucked away in the laundry room collecting dust.

 

It’s much better here, but I don’t like the frame too much. I’ll have to figure that out at some point. It sits right above a project I completed almost 2 months ago! This tufted bench opens and I built the whole dang thing myself, and even upholstered and did all that tufted business. It was a bit tedious, but I DID take pictures of the whole process to do a tutorial. So, soon here… I’ll get that up.

On the other side is our little desk. It was a craigslist find I refinished, and the chair was a thrift store one that I reupholstered (tutorial HERE).

Before we move on to the dining room, can we just have a high five moment for those pillows I found at Walmart?! They are my most favorite ever right now. Aaaaand they were under $15!!

In my dining room I set up a fun summery tablescape with navy, white, green, and lemons. 🙂

It all started with this Vigne Runner I got with a gift card from Birch Lane. Because it is on the narrow side, I layered it on top of a drop-cloth wide runner, so I would still get the visual impact, but balance out the dark wood finish of the table.

I also got these faux wood handled Laguiole Flatware from Birch Lane which I’m basically obsessed with right now. I was SO tempted to get some gold flatware since it is all the rage, but I’m glad I went with something a little different but also very timeless– they are replicas of the French Laguiole flatware.

We’ve been trying to eat a lot healthier lately because ya know.. nothing like getting older to make the flab come out… and so I set the table with things we have been snacking on: fresh veggies, meat, fruit, and sparkling water.

I’m not a profesh tablescaper ya’ll. I saw a tablescape tour last month around mother’s day and it made me basically want to quit and not ever attempt another tablescape. But then… I decided that maybe some of you are looking for a simple, inexpensive, thrown-together tablescape… I’m your gal for that look.  The flower centerpiece I arranged in a basket that included lemons and limes are the ‘pat-myself-on-the-back’ part of the table.

I added some lemons to my secretary, just for the pic. I wish I had some faux ones, and I’ll probably go out and get some soon because I like the look of the blue and white + lemons. It’s a winning summer look in my book.

Secretary- me! Details in makeover post HERE, Dining set- me! Details in makeover post HERE.

Before we open the patio doors and spend the evening out there, let’s take a peek in my master bedroom!

My master bedroom has come a long way since I shared design plans a year and a half ago. I did a faux shiplap wall treatment, refinished the Eastlake headboard and converted it to a queen, refinished a nightstand, built a table for the other side, and built a three-compartment desk that sits below some word art I made.

For summer, I decided to add some bright pops of color with this floral fabric I found at Joann and made into pillows, along with the blue paisley pattern ones behind them (but the navy velvet ones are from World Market along with the citron-green throw at the foot).

(Bedside lamps were made by me, tutorial HERE.)

I actually folded our down comforter at the foot of the bed since it is so hot all the freakin time, and put that throw on top. I sorta am digging the look of plain white sheets in the summer. Other than that, I just added some grocery store flowers that coordinated with the pillows and put them on either side of the bed.

It’s a small room, but we like it. 🙂

Ahhh and now to relax on this space I’ve been working on for the past year and I’m happy to say, IS DONE! The pergola came with the house, but a lot of the stuff here I built.

First stop, the outdoor murphy bar (tutorial HERE). I set it up with a fruit-kabob station and some lemon-lime water.

The kids LOVED this part after I was done taking pictures tonight.

Across from the murphy bar is the tiered cedar planter with trellis I made last month (tutorial HERE). I planted some vines, tomatoes, and lots of partial-shade flowers and everything is thriving. The tomatoes get the most sun, and they are really starting to grow tall! I even have 3 little green tomatoes so far!

Across from the murphy bar and cedar planter, is what you see when you first walk outside from the dining room– this little seating area by the fire pit (chairs and navy table is from World Market). I built the fire-pit frame using the same basic design idea from the coffee table under the pergola. I’m also happy to report my petunias on my DIY solar light poles are filling out quite nicely!

The pergola seating was updated a couple months ago with new cushions and pillows, then I built that coffee table with beverage cooler (hidden under the flush-fit lid), and per several suggestions, I added some drop cloth curtains over the weekend. It really makes things much more private, which we like.

To make the drop cloth curtains: I bought 4 large drop cloths (6′ x 9′) and cut them in half so that I had two- 6′ x 4.5′ pieces from each drop cloth (8 total). Then I used a grommet kit to put grommets at the top of each panel and put shower curtain rings in each grommet. I treated each panel with Scotch-Guard Outdoor Water Repellant Spray so they wouldn’t get moldy. Then I used conduit pipes pre-cut to the length of the inside of my pergola) and 8 conduit metal straps (2 per side), then attached the conduit pipes (‘curtain rods’) using ether metal straps to the inside of the pergola by screwing them into place (my pergola is metal). I just clipped the shower curtain rings into place and then each side had 2 panels! Voila!

Opposite the outdoor sofa, is our new Stok Quattro Grill. Since it has been so hot, we have been cooking out here almost every evening because it is way better than heating up the house by cooking on the stove (and faster).

I added some decorative hex planters on either side of the window and it really makes the whole space look like an extension of our home. I LOVE it out here. I only don’t love the humidity and bugs. But all the citronella candles help. 😉

The coolest thing about this grill is the insert system. We use the cast iron grill inserts the most, but tonight since I had a fruit kebob station, I decided to keep with that theme and make grilled pineapple, zucchini, and chicken kebobs. That insert cleverly holds all the metal skewers (that come with it) and it also has different-shaped rib skewers to grill ribs! These skewers went fast– the chicken was the best and had a delicious marinade I came up with tonight: 1/4 c. olive oil, 2 tsp. garlic salt, 2 tsp. cumin, 1/4 tsp. zest of a lime, and the juice from 2 limes (enough for 2 large breasts). Stir and marinate chicken chunks for 15 minutes then grill for 15-20 minutes, turning as you go.

Within a few minutes of the food being ready, the sun sunk lower in the sky making the whole patio glow with all the edison lights and candle-light.

I know this was an epically long post, but I had so much to share, so 50 bonus points for you for getting to the end! 😉 Again, please let me know if you have any questions!

Be sure and take a look at the other tours this week!

Visit Country Living Magazine to see more summer decorating ideas!

Monday

Nina Hendrick | Maison de Pax | Cherished Bliss | AKA Design | A Burst of Beautiful | Liz Marie Blog

Tuesday

Migonis Home | So Much Better With Age | Zevy Joy | Just a Girl and Her Blog | Shades of Blue Interiors | Making Home Base

Wednesday

Rooms FOR Rent | The Wicker House | Bless’er House | Love Grows Wild | Finding Silver Pennies | Design, Dining + Diapers

Thursday

Craftberry Bush | Jennifer Rizzo | The Wood Grain Cottage | Ella Claire | Tidbits | City Farmhouse

Friday

Kindred Vintage & Co | The Blissful Bee | The Happy Housie | House By Hoff | Nesting With Grace | Life on Virginia Street