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Tips for Furnishing Your Summer Home

Owning your own vacation property means you can spend weeks or months on end on holiday in the comfort of, well…home. After all, no one knows what you like better than yourself, which is why your summer home should express your own personal style and personality. Whether your vacation property is in the Hamptons or secluded in the mountains, if you are unsure of how to furnish your second home, take a glance at these tips for selecting the furniture and décor that will be host to your family’s enjoyment for years to come.

Atmosphere

Before you decorate or select furnishings for your summer home, you must determine the overall atmosphere you want the house to convey to your family and guests. The ambiance of traditional summer properties usually reflects the simplicity of life during the summertime, when work and school take a backseat to carefree days watching sunsets and sipping tropical beverages.

In keeping with those trends, select furniture and décor in bright summer hues and neutrals, such as beige, summer white and pale blues. Also, do not cover up your windows with thick blinds or heavy draperies. Instead, choose light and bright fabrics that filter natural light into every room, bringing the outdoors inside.

Kitchen

The kitchen is the heart of every home – including summer homes. Because you and your family will spend so much time in this special area, choose furnishings that are welcoming and make the space feel more like home. Try blending kitchen appliances into the cabinetry. Dishwashers, French door refrigerators and even wine chillers are easily blended into the room to shift the attention of the room to the people and food that fill it. To lighten up the mood, paint cabinets white, install smooth natural stone countertops, and replace tile floors with a hardwood.

Outdoors

The outdoor spaces at your summer home are of great importance if you plan to spend a great deal of time soaking up the sun. In fact, the outdoor spaces should be extensions of the inside of your vacation home, with plush seating areas and sturdy cast aluminum patio furniture. No summer home is complete without an outdoor kitchen and grill, as well as a stone fire pit for making nighttime s’mores with the kids or grandchildren.

Basement

The basement may be one of the most overlooked areas of a summer home, but the space has great potential. What better way to spend a rainy summer night than relaxing on plush leather sofas, thick area rugs, and watching old movies on a large flat screen TV? If the room is big enough, you could also transform it into a game room, complete with a pool table, dart board and poker table. On the other hand, if you already have a TV room and will not make use of a game space, consider having the basement transformed into an underground wine cellar and tasting room. After having dinner at the neighbor’s home, it would be the perfect place to invite them back for an after dinner dessert wine and chocolates.

Vacay Anytime

Kicking back to relax at your newly furnished summer home will feel like vacationing with all the comforts of home. Why stay at a hotel when you have your own luxury resort right at home?

 

Megan

Megan Brown is a couture-obsessed jetsetter who has a no-nonsense approach to blogging her views on the latest style and travel trends. When not daydreaming about the perfect Lily Pulitzer sundress to wear on her next trip to the Cayman Islands, Megan works as a social media networker, cycles, cheers on her favorite sports teams, and attempts develop her taste for good wine....(Read More)

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