How to Declutter and Brighten Your Home for Summer

Let's light up your home with these simple tips!

Article taken off oprah.com

How to Declutter and Brighten Your Home for Summer

1. Create a Winter Storage Area

Create a winter storage area in your attic or basement, using a canvas-covered clothing rack and heavy-duty plastic shelving. This makes everything easily accessible—and lets you annually appraise inventory and throw away or donate things you no longer use or wear. (Dry-clean your coats before storing them, and use cedar blocks to keep away pests.)


2. Replace Dark Throw Pillows

Replace dark throw pillows and slipcovers with affordable white or bright-colored versions; clean and store winter fabrics with your linens. Consider adding an extra lamp to further lighten things up.


3. Add Brighter Accents

Swap out dark photo frames on your shelves for white. Ask kids to pick their favorite piece of artwork each week and drop it into a frame; toss the rest (after photographing for posterity).


4. Keep Surfaces Clear

Keep surfaces clear by instituting daily cleanups ten minutes before dinner, when everyone puts away his or her own possessions. Cynthia Tobin, like many moms, finds it easier and faster to pick up after everyone herself, but "why bark when you've already got a dog?" says Walsh.

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Do's and Don'ts of Summer Home Decor

Summer is here. It's time to lighten, brighten, and freshen up your home. Whether you want to go all out and make big changes or keep things simple and budget-friendly, there are plenty of things that can be done to revitalize your décor for the season. Just follow few simple do's and don'ts:

Do:

• Pack up and put away all things that says “winter”. And this includes cozy throws, rugs and carpets, and snuggly pillows.
• Go for light colors such as white, aqua, lavender or lime green. This applies for wall paints as well as furnishings and upholstery.
• Opt for lighter sheets and bedspreads.
• Replace your heavy drapes with a lighter, breezier material.
• Go green, go natural. Think sisal rugs, bamboo blinds, rattan furniture, canvas slipcovers, and wicker baskets.
• Accessorize with nautical-themed pieces such as seashells.
• Flowers, flowers, and more flowers! Add flower decorations in every thinkable form to bring in a whiff of natural freshness.

Do not:

• Underestimate the importance of cleaning windows. This helps to brighten up any room instantly.
• Continue with those dark lampshades on the mantelpiece. Replace them with something lighter.
• Flaunt those grim looking brass candlesticks anymore. There are lots of other options that work great as summer accents.
  
• Increase the clutter by adding more new things to your home. Editing a few excess objects would help your basic furniture breathe properly.

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Ten Ideas To Give Your Bathroom A Fresh Summer Look

Summer is almost here, and very soon all of us will be spending fair shares of our mornings as well as rest of the day in the coolest place of our house that is bathroom. So, it's high time we get into the mood of redecorating and give our shower rooms a well-deserved face lift.

Bathroom accessories for summer abounds with fresh looks from the outdoors. From coastal decor to other nature-inspired designs, there are many ways how you can brighten up your bathroom.

Read more for ten ideas to spruce up your bathroom.Try these to have a great summer ahead!

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Cricket song

Field crickets are singing loudly tonight, clearly in great numbers based on the volume. I can't say it's melodious, since it's basically one call over and over. But it's remarkably loud, and it fills the night, so we're surrounded with warm humid air and the shu-shu two note calls, over and over. It's the sound of southern summer nights in the Eastern U.S.

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Summer

Coming home after dinner with friends, it was a perfect summer evening in the South. The air was humid and heavy from the afternoon thunderstorm, and the crickets and other insects well underway with their evening songs.

The crescent moon was high in the sky. My camera 'saw' the entire moon as well as stars that I couldn't see.

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Time for gardening

The humid spring air early this morning felt fresh and mild. It rained yesterday and last night, leaving small leafy branches scattered about. It must have rained hard; the Spanish lavender and parsley looked pummeled, but everything else seemed to have grown overnight, soaking up moisture.

The early morning light was soft, with the pink humid edges we see in tropical areas, and with no hint of the hot hazy humidity to come.

Today is the first day of summer break, bringing with it a delightful sense of anticipation, and days of poking around in the garden and in the field ahead. I love what I do, and actually in summer, I don't really do much differently, but am grateful for being able to reorient my time to focus on the natural world without the schedule of work and programs.

The garden is waiting outside my study window.

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