Brighten Your Home For Summer With These 5 Steps

We've had some gloriously sunny days of late and I am now well and truly ready to embrace the summer ahead (please don't rain for the next 3 months, England)! When the beautiful sunlight had been pouring into the house, it soon became noticeable that parts of it were looking a little drab and tired and so I've decided to have a bit of a summer makeover! For me it's all about optimising natural light into our home as well as adding a splash of colour! You don't need to spend lots of money to notice a real difference in your home. Here are five steps to bring a bit of summer sparkle into your home. 

Flowers
Fresh flowers can have a positive impact on your mood! Studies have shown that flowers can actually decrease stress and anxiety. Their natural beauty alone can be enough to bring a smile to your face and they can be a fantastic feature within your home, reflecting your personal style. You can change them frequently, each time bringing something new and unique to the style of your home. I love bright yellow flowers, they make me think of sunshine! I've also added a few artificial flowers, an orchid with pink flowers for example, to certain rooms in the house and I love these just as much, they really brighten the rooms.

Cushions, throws and rugs
Cushions, throws and rugs can instantly add a pop of colour to your home. In spring and summer I like to add bright, light and sunny colours and in autumn and winter I will opt for oranges, reds, browns and golds. 

Window shutters 
Adding window shutters to your home can vastly increase light flow to your rooms. You can direct external light to wherever you choose as well as controlling glare to your rooms at particular parts of the day. Shutters add a sleek and stylish appearance to your rooms as well. Even when drawn back, curtains can be cumbersome and in our bay window in the lounge they certainly have been blocking out some of the light available to the room. We have decided that we will be adding shutters to our living room as this is the room we spend the most time in during the day. You can also purchase shutters in a range of different colours so you can seamlessly blend them with your chosen decor. 

A fresh coat of paint
I love a freshly painted room, it's amazing how much it can brighten a room. Our rooms often feature many a sneaky line of felt-tip or crayon (courtesy of my little boys), or a sticky hand-print and as much as I try to embrace it while they are little, eventually a new coat of paint is required. Adding a lighter shade to your walls instantly brightens, refreshes and opens up the room! 

Adding prints and paintings
Sometimes despite all our efforts, the British summertime just does not deliver and provides us with gloomy, drab days and so I like to pretend the sunshine is back with beautiful summery canvasses or framed prints. One of my favourite prints which I have in our living room is of sunlight rays seeping through woodland trees. I've had this picture for years and I love it as much as they day I bought it. It makes me think of happy, warm and peaceful summer days. I also have photographs featured around my home of my family on one of our first seaside holidays together, it always takes me right back to that sunny happy week! Another great idea is to hang colorful and summer-themed quotes on your wall to brighten your room. Even better, you can create your own design with your favorite quote using a free online editing tool and free fonts on Creative Fabrica. This is a great way to add a personal touch to the design! Also, don't forget to add some bright colors to the design to make it fun.

Do you have any tips for making your home summer-ready? I'd love to hear them! 

*Post written in collaboration