June 22, 2018

Summer Home Tour 2018

Thanks for coming to tour my home with my Summer decorations
(finally) displayed. I've made and painted many of the items so I
will include highlighted text that takes you to the tutorials so you
can make similar items for your home if you would like.
summer bottle decorating

We're friends so come on in the back entrance.
As you enter the carport area there is a baker's rack with
my blue bottle collection topped with shells.
Summer decorating ideas

Just a dot of hot glue holds the shell on the bottle's opening
then it is easy to pop off at the end of Summer. 
summer decorating

The back door area has more shells.
using shells as summer decor

New galvanized olive buckets have been painted to look
old (tutorial here). I'm pretending that the buckets are holding
burlap bags full of shells from the ocean. 
summer decorating

In reality, most of the bucket is full of crumpled newspaper and
plastic bags. The burlap is hiding the stuffing so you can't see
it through the holes. Then only the very top layer is shells. 
DIY summer decor

The basket hanging on the back door has shells in it too.
easy DIY summer wreath

To fool the eye, a piece of foam core was cut to fit the basket
then wrapped in burlap to hide it through the basket's weave.
Then shells were hot glued on to the top edge of the foam core.
DIY door decor

If you would like to see more details on how these back entrance
shell decorating projects (and more from inside the house) were done, please click over to "Secrets of Decorating With Shells" post.

Come on in to the kitchen dining area.
inexpensive summer decorating

I just love me some shells. Most of them have come from
the bags you can buy at the craft stores (and use a coupon to
get them for even less).
easy summer decorating

how to decorate with shells

Now we will move from the kitchen dining area to the more 
formal dining area. If we had come in the house through the
front door, this room also acts like a foyer too.
summer dining room ideas
(I moved one of the chairs so you could see the table better)

A large urn holds shells and has shells hot glued on it.

I got tired of all the dark wood furniture in this room and got
up enough nerve to paint this dresser/display piece with
two shades of chalk paint (for tutorial click here).

It is an older piece with wavy glass so I'm going to open the
doors so you can see part of my coral and sea fan collection better. 
(Excuse the mess in the bottom)

The wave coral reproduction came from Target. 
The faux corals were made from items in the floral section
of craft stores (coral tutorial here). The faux sea fans were
made from cedar clippings (sea fan tutorial here). 

Also in the dining room/foyer is a buffet.

For summer it has a shell motif also.



My "beach boy" stands on a skirted pedestal between the dining
room and the living room. I found this funky "ribbon" at 
Hobby Lobby. It reminded me of a fishing net.

The last room on the tour is the living room. 


The coffee table holds a bowl of pretty Summer items.

I like to change out these pillow coverings seasonally.
For Summer I fell in love with this octopus print fabric.

I also like to change out the picture over the mantel seasonally.

It is not expensive to have different artwork during the year
because I just get art prints and use a technique to make them
look similar to a painting (from print to painting tutorial here).

The wood pilings on the end of the mantel are actually pool
noodles wrapped in wood-look contact paper. A diluted coat of
paint gives them that whitewashed look.

Bookcases on either side of the mantel hold more Summer items.

The seahorse, faux turtle shell and octopus on this bookcase
were not colors that I liked. I painted them with a DIY chalk



I used the more colorful items in the double bookcase.

The buoys on the top shelf had a color change to make them
look older (tutorial here). I've tried several times to make glass
fishing floats. To me they never look as good as the ones you 
can purchase in stores but I use them anyway.

Buoys, mirror, shell vase all painted with DIY chalk paint.

This mirrored console holds our radio and CD player.

Over the console are two frames with chicken wire that
are easy to change seasonally. (framed chicken wire tutorial).
These are two Summer sayings that I like:


I tried to make these saying boards look similar to the pilings
on the mantel so I covered foam board with the wood-look
contact paper to write on. I might have used too much water to
dilute the paint (to give it a whitewashed look) but then I 
liked the way it beaded up on the contact paper so I left it. 

Thanks again for visiting!!!
Here's a good "pinnable" image if you want to come again.


8 comments

  1. Your creativity is unmatched! I haven't looked at all of the tutorials but the wood-grain paper with whitewash is amazing.

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  2. I love your Summer Home Tour. Honestly, you don't get nearly enough recognition for how talented you are and how beautifully you decorate! I love it all!!!
    I am hoping this comes through to your email. Let me know if it does. Fingers crossed that this works for us! xo Diana

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  3. Love it all! I am a sheller and love all your decorating with shells ideas! I need to "summerize" our living room and will try out some of your charming vignettes there. Thanks so much for sharing!

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  4. So many shells!!! You have decorated with shells in such beautiful and creative ways!
    ~Emily @ LeCultivateur.com

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  5. What a beautiful summer home! You KNOW I love your creativity with shells. The fans are my favorite. And I'll be trying that olive bucket painting technique -- I have the exact same buckets! Thanks for sharing at Vintage Charm! Pinned! xo Kathleen

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  6. Your home is so beautiful and really shows off your love of the sea. There are special details everywhere and all done in such a tasteful way! Can I move in with you?

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