Summer Home Tour 2014

June 2, 2014

Flip, flop. Flip, flop. Flip, flop.

Don’t you love it when a word so perfectly describes the sound it makes?

And nothing says summer quite like the sound of flip flops.

In fact, I was tempted to just scatter flip flops all around my house and say, “There. Consider my summer decorating DONE!”

But then, well, I figured that since the lovely Gina from Shabby Creek Cottage invited me to be part of her Summer Home Tours I should probably show you just a tad more than that.

But, don’t believe for a second that I’m not wearing flip-flops while you’re reading this!

In fact, why don’t you go put on yours and we can just flip-flop our way through this tour together! If you’re just coming over from Nesting Place I want to welcome you to At the Picket Fence and to my home here in the beautiful Willamette Valley, Oregon.

Come on in!

And see…flip flops! 😉

When it comes to summer decorating I like to take a ‘Beach Boys’ approach.

Stay with me here…you see, decorating for Fall and the Holiday season seems to be so much more obvious and attention grabbing. Those seasons are all like, “Look at me! Look at me!”

But summer, well, summer is cool, relaxed and nonchalant.

It’s less ‘Joy to the World’ and more ‘Good Vibrations’.

And when it comes to adding touches of summer around my home, I keep it simple and subtle.

Because frankly, once you start getting some sunshine in Oregon the last thing you want to do is spend a lot of time worrying about home decor.

I want to be outside soaking up those glorious rays of Vitamin D people!

So, I go for soft touches here and there. Like fresh flowers on the mantel next to this beautiful painting done by my incredibly talented father-in-law. This one is called ‘Here Comes the Sun‘ and I think it fits perfectly in here. You can find more of his amazing pieces on his website.

Summer in the dining room doesn’t involve elaborate tablescapes.

A simple tray filled with fresh flowers and candles makes for an easy centerpiece with plate, forks and napkins all ready for casual entertaining.

We keep things laid back even in this more formal space. Gotta make sure the flip-flops fit in here too, right?

My roses are in full bloom and I love being able to get fresh flowers right outside my door.

Even the laundry room gets a little bit of summer-fi-cation.

The breakfast nook is flooded with light this time of the year and every morning you will find me sitting here starting the day with a cup (or 2 or 3!) of coffee.

And the sideboard is all ready for friends to pop over at a moments’ notice.

How is it possible that something as simple as bottles of Pellegrino can look just so pretty lined up on a tray?

I used to be filled with a sense of dread when it came to switching out my mantel decor to welcome a new season. I would scour Pinterest and stress out over the fact that my family room mantel is dark wood instead of white. In fact, do you know that if you do a search for ‘Summer Mantel’ you will not see one single dark wood fireplace? Not-a one folks!

But, then I just channeled my inner Elsa and ‘Let it Go’! (Anyone else out there sing that song in their loudest Operatic voice just to annoy there kids? Yeah…me neither)

I remembered that what I really love and what really reflects my style are simple, natural touches. Like ferns in urns.

And frankly, that’s really fun to say. Ferns in urns.

With 2 skylights above, my kitchen stays fairly bright even on the cloudiest of Oregon days. But, in the summer…oh in the summer it is the absolute best!

The older I’ve gotten the more I’ve realized that there is less I really want. Does that make sense?

I want less filler, less stuff. It doesn’t mean that I don’t still enjoy the process of turning my house into a home.

It just means that I’m more selective about what I bring into it.

And this approach takes all of the guess work out of decorating for me.

Because summer decorating can be as simple as a little silver bucket filled with lavender.

Or a sailboat tucked into the corner of a room.

Or seashells filling bowls on tables.

It can just be flowers that you can’t help but bury your face into every time you walk by them.

Or your grandmother’s vintage cocktail napkins ready and waiting to be used by guests…who aren’t really guests…because everyone is family once they walk through our door.

And I wish you could walk through my door this summer.

I wish my flip-flop wearing feet could greet your flip-flop wearing feet. I wish I could put a nice cold bottle of Pelegrino in your hand…or maybe a Corona with lime.

I wouldn’t point out all of my summer decorations and you wouldn’t really even notice them.

Because, we would head straight out the back door and onto the deck. Where we would watch the kiddos jumping on the trampoline and running through the sprinklers. We would eat the best grilled chicken you’ve ever had after my husband smoked it on the Traeger for a few hours and you would have brought some kind of amazing dessert for us to enjoy. You know you would!

We would laugh and talk and laugh and talk and laugh some more until the sun went down and we had to light the candles in the lanterns and pull on sweaters as the temperature dropped.

And after it was all said and done, you would leave my home knowing what I think summer is really all about.

Family

Friends

Food

Fun

Who could ask for more?

Now, how about you take your flip-flop wearing feet right on over to visit my friend KariAnne at Thistlewood Farms, I know she wears ’em too!

And here is the full list of all of the incredible homes you can visit each day on this Summer Tour!

Monday, June 2nd

The Shabby Creek Cottage
The Nester
At The Picket Fence (Vanessa)
Thistlewood Farms
The Inspired Room

Tuesday, June 3rd

The Handmade Home
My Fabuless Life
Finding Home
In My Own Style
The Hunted Interior

Wednesday, June 4th

Inspired By Charm
Jennifer Rizzo
Madigan Made
Makely School for Girls
Funky Junk Interiors

Thursday, June 5th

Jones Design Company
Beneath My Heart
The Pennington Point
White Buffalo Styling Co.
Southern Hospitality

Friday, June 6th

At the Picket Fence (Heather)
Desert Domicile
Tatertots & Jello
Home Stories A to Z
Live Laugh Rowe

Thanks for meeting me here today At the Picket Fence,

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