Coastal Decorating Ideas for Summer (Summer Home Tour)

Coastal decorating ideas for summer – a healthy dose of blue and white, gorgeous blooms clipped from the yard, and, of course, shells! I’m sharing some decorating tips for easy coastal style inside and out.

Summer is sooooo close I can almost taste it. My kids finish school next Tuesday and I’m counting down the days until we can enjoy many hours at the beach or lazing around the pool. I’m excited to be sharing our summer home tour, part of the Seasonal Simplicity Summer Series, hosted by Krista from The Happy Housie. This week 40 inspiring home tours are being shared!

If you’re visiting from Tauni Everett’s home welcome! I love Tauni’s amazing printables and joy-filled blog. Thank you so much for visiting my home and blog today. If you’re new around here let me introduce myself. I’m Danielle , but you can call me Dani (that’s what my family calls me). I’m the mom of two boys and two rescue dogs and we live in a small fishing town on Boston’s South Shore called Scituate. We live right in the harbor in a 1927 Dutch colonial in Scituate Harbor. We’ve lived here for 6 years and we knew the minute we saw it, that it was our forever home. My husband and I enjoy to work on home projects in our free time. I love mixing new and vintage in my decor but also love blurring the lines of inside and outside. I’m so inspired by the treasures we find at the beach and in our backyard. So if you want to get my tips for bringing those outside treasures inside, read on.

Oh, I kind of took way too many photos. Sigh. The weekend brought gorgeous sunshine and I just couldn’t help  myself. I love playing with my camera, especially when it’s beautiful weather. So I I think I’ll give you taste of our home inside and out, but will share more detailed posts on each area in the coming weeks.

Come on inside before we head out back:

Coastal Living Room

A white slipcovered sectional anchors our living room. This is where we hang out as a family. We love watching movies and TV as a family. The great thing about this area is we can really stretch out. I took these photos in the morning as the sun was coming up. This cast a warm glow in our living room:

I like keeping it feeling light and airy in here. If you’d like tips on keeping white slipcovers clean, click here.

I added some real greenery – a pothos in ironstone is next to the couch and a monstera plant is on the console, a gift from my kids and husband last year for Mother’s Day. I also mix in faux plants – the faux fiddle leaf and the maiden hair fern on the table.

I don’t have good luck with maiden hair ferns so this faux option from HomeGoods works for me.

The starfish is actually a DIY. I painted a cheap starfish from Christmas Tree Shops. Wouldn’t you think that was an expensive paperweight? Maybe I’ll write a quick tutorial about it if you guys are interested.

Oh, and I’m loving these two books currently:

Terrain | Foraged Flora

You’ll love them if you love flowers and crafts with flowers.

Above our bar cart is this gorgeous fish print by my friend Jeannie Stewart. I shared more about this beautiful piece of art and the reclaimed frame here. Jeannie grew up in our home so this piece has special meaning. It means a lot to her and to me that her artwork is hanging in our home again.

Over on the other side of our living room is our fireplace which is refaced in fossilized ocean flooring, you can see the DIY post here. This area gets the most use in the winter months when we’re trying to keep warm during Nor’Easters and blizzards. I love decorating this area seasonally. I’ll be sharing a very detailed post about the mantel, but for now here’s a glimpse.

This gorgeous painting is by my friend Becky O’Toole. You can read an interview with her here. She incorporated all he colors I love so much in this one little painting – the greens, blues, and grays.

I gathered some mock orange and forsythia branches from our yard to add height to the mantel.

We’ll skip over the kitchen and dining room and go directly to our sunroom.

Coastal Sunroom

I just redid this room and love the small updates we made. I painted the floors bright white and added wishbone chairs, you can read more about those additions here and here.

This is one of my favorite rooms. It is a three season room (there’s no heat) so we can only enjoy this space in the the spring, summer, and fall. It’s a glorious light-filled space with ocean breezes and amazing views of our pool. Oh, and if you look through that big window behind the table – there’s a nest with baby cardinals. Sipping coffee and listening to baby cardinals brings a smile to my face each morning. I still can’t quite see the nest but I know they’re there.

I love blue and the vintage table is painted in a custom blue created with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint. The walls are Simply White by Benjamin Moore and the ceiling is the prettiest shade of blue. The oars were also painted with Chalk Paint and were a freecycle find! Woot Woot.

I love bringing in branches and flowers from our yard to decorate with.

Chokecherry branches and wild climbing roses soften this corner of the room. The chairs are from Ikea and the pitcher is from Target. A local artist made the beach rock lamp.

You may have noticed I have a love for blue. I’m drawn to this shade over and over again. It’s on our front door and shutters, on the table in the sunroom, and the beautiful vintage ball jars with garden cuttings:

We don’t have a giant home, but in the summer our home feels like a mansion. Our family sprawls outside for dinner and breakfast, we swim, and chase the dogs, we tend our garden. I love that our home feels so big and vast in summer. Step outside for a glimpse.

Wisteria Infused Deck

I know I’ve already shared this view on the blog, but I can’t do a summer home tour without sharing the wisteria in all it’s glory!

It smells heavenly.

Despite its beauty, it is invasive. My husband fights with it all summer long. In fact, it’s growing under our sunroom and up the front of our home.

Summer She Shed

This little she shed is currently getting a big of a makeover. Already on the the Seasonal Simplicity series, I’ve shared this sweet wreath and DIY Coastal Window Box, but I thought I’d share a few more photos.

Since posting the tutorial for the window box, the flowers have grown:

I love how you can see the clouds in the pool in this photo (above).

That teak set, in front of the shed, is new and I’ll be sharing more about it on the blog next week.

As I write this, I’m working on the inside of the shed. The She Shed will become a pool house this summer. I’ve been painting shiplap and floors in here and then my husband will build a few built ins. Eeek! Can’t wait for you all to see!

Summer Pool Area

Finally, the place we spend the most time – our pool area. This area is a dream come true for our family. We put the pool in last year and you can see the reveal here. I also shared things to consider if you’re thinking about putting in a pool here. It really is a big decision and is a large investment.

The Adirondacks are new. You can read more about them here. I love how it gives a classic New England look to our home and yard. These Adirondacks are made from 100% recycled plastic so will really stand up over time, especially with our harsh winters.

We built the retaining wall ourselves and also did all the planting.

In our home, I try to mix high and low. The loungers are from Ikea, as is the large patio umbrella.

Our dogs have it made in the shade! They love running around and sun bathing. Max will even swim, while, Poppy, isn’t a lover of the water. I know it’s ironic because she’s a lab / flatcoat…

There’s nothing better than sleeping-in and feasting on watermelon for breakfast.

Next week I’ll share more images from our pool patio along with more about our new teak sets.

I hope you enjoyed touring our home and that it gave you some inspiration for your own home. I really believe in mixing new and old and bringing in fresh greenery from the garden. Please let me know if you have any questions about sources.

Next up on the tour is Amanda and Sincerely, Marie. I love her styling and her photography so much. I know you’re gonna get swept away by her home’s southern charm.

Nearly 40 bloggers are sharing their summer home tours this week! Sharing with me today are…

Modern Glam // Craftberry Bush // Setting for Four // Inspiration for Moms // Zevy Joy

Life is a Party // Tauni Everett // Finding Silver Pennies // Sincerely, Marie Designs // Amber Tysl

And sharing the rest of the week…

Monday

The Happy Housie // Rooms FOR Rent // Shabbyfufu // Maison de Cinq // My 100 Year Old Home

Southern State of Mind // All Things with Purpose // Grace in My Space // Love Create Celebrate

Tuesday

Town and Country Living // Taryn Whiteaker Designs // Designthusiasm
// This is Our Bliss // My Sweet Savannah

Rambling Renovators // The Turquoise Home // Clean and Scentsible
// She Gave it a Go //Lemon Thistle

Thursday

Kim Power Style // Maison de Pax // Jenna Kate at Home // Two Twenty One // Just a Girl and Her Blog

Summer Adams // tatertots and jello // The Tattered Pew // Aratari at Home // Crisp Collective