Memorial Day marks the unofficial start of summer in the States and, in many places, the weather's begun to follow suit. What about in your home? Here's some ways we welcome the season into our home.
- Open up the windows and let the warm air circulate through your home: During the winter, I keep the windows closed, hoping to trap the heat inside and keep the house cozy. Yesterday, I threw open the windows and let the air circulate throughout the house.
- Pick up some seasonal flowers: The sudden proliferation of colorful blooms makes me eager to bring them home to brighten up the house.
- Consider a change of bedding: Nautical stripes are big in clothing; I'm considering bringing them into the bedroom as well. Though I'm normally a "white sheets only" girl, a bright flash of blue and white beneath a snowy white comforter feels fun and provocative.
- Make a bright salad: Check out what's new and unusual in the produce section and tumble it into a salad with olive oil and lemon juice. Eat it in your outdoor space. No outdoor space? Spread a tablecloth on the floor and have a pretend picnic.
- Minor changes in decor equal big impact: Decluttering the room -- clear the coffee table of knick knacks and replace them with a big bowl of lemons or oranges, put away the throws, thin out the pillows, hang up the coats that won't be needed again til next winter -- makes it feel clean and fresh.
- Consider rolling up the rugs and taking down the curtains: Now's a good time to take these items to the dry cleaner to have them cleaned. Consider storing them there for the summer.
- Reorient your furniture: Do you use your home differently in summer? I do. There's usually less time spent cozied up to the tv and more time entertaining people. Moving the furniture around brings new life into the space.
- Spring clean: When I opened up the windows and let the sun shine through my home, I saw that it needed a good cleaning! Maybe I'll do it myself or maybe I'll spring for a maid!
- Pick up some new bathroom towels: I definitely take more showers in the warmer months so I'm considering a change of towels. I'll recycle the old ones for use at the beach or to cover the car's seats so they don't burn me from baking in the sun!
- Cull the bookshelves: Summer means more time for reading. I love going through my bookshelves and making a big pile of books that I'll finally be able to get to. I love frilly beach reading, of course, but I also love that I'll finally have the time to delve into a dense novel.
Image: Kate Stockman from Lissa's Super-Small Secluded Haven
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I think my favorite day of the year is the day I can open the skylight and all the windows and feel the air blowing through the place for the first time. It's wonderful.
Nothing says provocative like naughty-cal stripes!
Can't wait to open all windows and doors, how much longer is anyone's guess. Pacific NW rain.
Ugh, oh well it will be here soon and it will be wonderful, I always take down my drapes to let the view of the trees and flowers in, hang baskets or planter boxes outside windows!
Although I no longer follow Wicca practices I still like following the sabbats. Midsummer is a good time for protection spells so I take some of our pretty dragon sketches and place them near the windows.
I remember that darling CA cottage. Adorable!
Oh, law! It's already so hot here that I perish the thought of opening windows! (But it is my favorite time of year when I can do that back in March.)
And I love the idea of freshening up the coffee table scene with a bowl of lemons or something else very fresh. Thanks for that! The whole place seems cooler with a good cleaning, too. That's when my feet enjoy the cool tile and concrete floors.
It's hailing here, so I won't be opening the windows today. I'm ready for my 100 degree California summer, please.
But normally at this time of year, I like to throw open the door to the balcony so I can let the breeze in and see my container garden. That's the best. :)
there is nothing nicer than being out on the porch, enjoying the outdoors. i recently freshened up my porches, they are ready for summer! susan
For those of us here in South Florida, summer means its time to close all of the windows and leave them that way for 5 months. Thank God for a/c. This is also the time of year that all my outside herbs and plants die because I just can't keep them watered enough. At least summer also means no more snow birds! Open roadways, here I come.
@ k.a.--
My thoughts exactly! I usually follow some of the things on this list in September/October.
95 degrees here. too hot to open the windows :(
I'm laughing at the first bit of advice: open up your windows to bring summer into your home! Really? I doubt many folks need to read that in a DIY column, but thanks for the hint. It does sound nice.
I would have done that today, but it was our third day of near-100°F temps in the DC area--at the end of May/first of June that's pretty darn hot.
Being a South Floridan myself, I can definitely relate to k.a.fashion.
Summer equals to higher electricity bills for us. :-/
I am so glad we invested in a new AC unit last winter. Our bills are low enough that we can lower the thermostat! My So.Fla summer prep may include lighter bedding and thicker curtains to keep out the hot dawn light.
I am considering patio chair covers, ugly as they are, to save my furniture from inevitable rust from the daily torrential downpours.
Decide whether each thing actually will be useful next year. Thoroughly clean and dry whatever passes inspection before storing it. If something's to be stored in an airtight container, then I add a wrapped Ivory Soap bar. While storing the used things, the seasonal items that didn't get used can be evaluated for possible release conveniently, plus there's probably something wrong with them.
Yep, summer in Mississippi. Already 100 degrees. I've placed the aluminum foil/cardboard reflectors behind the shades in all west-facing windows hoping that the dark cave-ness of the house will give the illusion of cooler temperatures. Urging the vines on the west side of the porch to grow faster. Created my own version of a "sail-shade" from an old sheet to mitigate the broiling sun left by a fallen tree. Dreaming of a drop of rum for my dry-county slushee. Yep...inviting summer to go away.
I love switching my mantel from holly and evergreen to bud vases and filling them with fresh flowers.
Ugh, open windows? It's already been hot for 2 months in Houston. We're talking...sweating at 8pm when you walk the dog hot. All my plants are dying because they're burned by the sun hot. Walk to my car at 6am to go to work and get hot hot.
Besides the insanely hot summer months (Mid-April through October), we have 2 other seasons:
1. Kinda Cold (December & January)
2. Not too hot (Feb, March, November)
Jealous of you northeners right about now.
@Scoot Nice!