The Dining Room Is Ready for Summer

I just love decorating with neutrals and navy.  It means that with just a few tweaks a room can easily transform from one season to another without any major tasks taking place.  No furniture needs to be moved, no rugs need to be removed, and the art can stay put.  I changed up the dining room from its fresh spring time look to its summer do in just a few minutes, and you can do the same in your home.  Let’s check out the dining room’s summer look, and see what I did.

Pillows

Even though we plan to eat most of our summer meals in the courtyard, the dining room is the first room guests see when they enter our house.  So, it needs to look its best.  I started the transformation with pillows.  Well, technically, there’s only one pillow in the room.  I changed the yellow pillow to one with predominately navy and red.  There is, however, a touch of green on it.  I love adding red to my navy accessories for summer because it’s a great time to use the patriotic colors that I love.  You can change out your pillows, too.  You can shop for some here or make some tops using the easy method we showed you in this post.

I bought this wonderful flag pillow for just a few dollars, and the quality is surprisingly good.  I will add it toward the middle of the month when I really want the room to have more of a patriotic attitude for our family’s July 4th celebration.  We told you about this flag pillow in our Saturday Selections, and here’s the link if you want to buy one for your home.

Art

I bought an oil painting this spring of children playing ,and it went on a guest room wall.  However, since it has a summer vibe, I am using it on the console for a few months.  The abstract that was there is now doing time in the guest room, and it come back to its home base in the fall.

I also switched out the post card that is in a dining frame on the end table.  It now has a red, white, and blue painting by Claude Monet.  I’m sure those flags are probably French flags, but his impressionist techniques work in my favor.

I also brought out a rustic barn/flag painting that I did a couple of years ago and put it on the cart.

Table Centerpiece

I love the look of industrial combined with something a tad elegant and decided to go that route for the dining room centerpiece.  It looks so much better in person than in this photo, by the way.  I am using a metal tray that I bought a few years ago.  Then I added the crystal candle holders that we own.  This link will take you to a similar tray.

Some are fine leaded crystal, and some are just plain glass that I bought for a few dollars.  Next came white candles from Trader Joe’s.  TJ is the best source for white candles, and they are dripless.  This combo makes a fresh and not too stuffy centerpiece for the table, and it will work for the entire summer.

Mantel

The fireplace mantel also took just a few minutes.  All I did was replace the yellow books that were there for spring with red books.

I added a green plant (it’s faux) in an old tin that I bought last week at a local vintage shop.  I replaced some candles with blue and white ginger jars.

And don’t you just love how a fern says summer when it is placed in or beside a fireplace?

Lamp

I kept the navy blue lamp on the console but switched out the green shade for a white drum shade.  The navy monogram finial stayed.  I have a red lamp that I might bring out later.

 

Without being too “in your face”, the dining room is ready for summer with its blue, white, and touches of red decor.  And when summer is starting to fade, and I want to gear up for my favorite season, I can easily replace the accessories with fall colors and be all set.

 

Do you have any special accessories or colors you like to use for summer?

Oh, and one more thing.  A few of you asked about the Paul McCartney concert.  He was absolutely fantastic, and I love him as much (or more) than I did all of those years ago when every night I kissed his photo that hung over my bed.  It is by far the best concert I have ever been to.  The arena was packed with people who love him, and the energy was fantastic.  His band was also great and so entertaining with their antics.  Paul McCartney will is a legend.

 

Take care.

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