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Summer Home Tour 2016

Summer Home Tour 2016 with Country Living Magazine | blesserhouse.com

Hey, sweet friend! Plop on down on our porch for a visit and help yourself to some lemonade.

Can I tell you something? And you pinky promise not to tell anyone else? My house is never this tidy in the summertime. Just so you don’t think we have it totally together around here or anything.

Summer Home Tour 2016 with Country Living Magazine | blesserhouse.com

Normally, while my daughter Olivia is out of preschool for the summer, my husband Robert and I along with both sets of grandparents are soaking up the sun every chance we get- swimming and having road trips and running around making memories.

But since we’re opening up our home for the Simply Summer Tour with Country Living Magazine, Birch Lane, Nina Hendrick, and 29 incredibly talented bloggers today, I figured I’d hide the wet swimsuits and dirty flip flops for a minute.

I had a lot of fun playing around with some color this summer with blues and yellows that always make everything come to life in our very neutral home. Those two colors always say “summer” to me.

Summer Home Tour 2016 with Country Living Magazine | blesserhouse.com

I gave our porch a little refresh with these navy print outdoor pillows and gray striped throw from Birch Lane (who generously gave me a gift card for this tour), so sitting out here with Robert and Olivia on stormy summer evenings to watch the rain fall has become one of my new favorite things to do.

Summer Home Tour 2016 with Country Living Magazine | blesserhouse.com

Even though I have the blackest thumb on the planet, I couldn’t resist picking up these sunny flowers the other day. They make our porch smile.

Summer Home Tour 2016 with Country Living Magazine | blesserhouse.com

Since we live in a “cookie cutter” subdivision with a strict HOA, I can’t make very many changes to the exterior of our house. But Robert and I made these DIY wooden shutters that at least give our front door some “oomph”.

Summer Home Tour 2016 with Country Living Magazine | blesserhouse.com

Porch Sources:  Wicker (similar) | Navy Pillow | Stripe Pillow | Gray Stripe Throw | Blue Moroccan Rug

Our foyer doesn’t change much day to day, but it pretty much always has a summer quality to it with these DIY botanical print frames I made (you can download a set for yourself by signing up for my design e-course too).

Summer Home Tour 2016 with Country Living Magazine | blesserhouse.com

Pretty much everything in our foyer has been thrifted and madeover. I found these chemist bottles for just 25 cents the other day that are now the cutest vases.

Summer Home Tour 2016 with Country Living Magazine | blesserhouse.com

Our foyer table was a Craigslist find too that was a simple flip just by using some paint and a few planks nailed on top. It’s made a great spot for tossing our keys when we walk through the door and storing items in the drawers that are easy to grab on our way out.

Summer Home Tour 2016 with Country Living Magazine | blesserhouse.com

Summer Home Tour 2016 with Country Living Magazine | blesserhouse.com

Foyer Sources:  Table (similar) | Lamp (similar) | Runner Rug | Light Fixture (similar) | Candle Holders

We turned our hallway into a makeshift mudroom where we can toss jackets and shoes too. (Can you tell we just toss things around here? If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em. And do your best to corral the mess.)

I found this bench on Craigslist for $35 a year ago and it is my favorite! We installed DIY board and batten to brighten up our dark hallway and I made this Irish blessing sign a few months ago to greet friends and family as they walk in.

Summer Home Tour 2016 with Country Living Magazine | blesserhouse.com

I picked up this lemon wreath a few weeks ago that has made this spot extra sunny and cheerful

Summer Home Tour 2016 with Country Living Magazine | blesserhouse.com

And I made this botanical print pillow cover this spring that is still right at home in here.

Summer Home Tour 2016 with Country Living Magazine | blesserhouse.com

Hallway Sources: Lemon Wreath | Yellow Pillow | Olive Bucket | Wire Baskets

Our kitchen has just seen a massive transformation in the past few weeks and we are very close to having it 100% finished! This space finally feels like it belongs with the rest of our house now since it used to be so dark and cave-like before.

Summer Home Tour 2016 with Country Living Magazine | blesserhouse.com

During the hot, humid months (which let’s be honest is most of the year here in the Carolinas) I drink lemon water like it’s my job, so I keep a constant lemon stockpile. Since planting our backyard garden a few months ago, we have loved cooking with herbs and making mint mojitos this month too.

Summer Home Tour 2016 with Country Living Magazine | blesserhouse.com

Kitchen Sources:  Glass Canisters | Cup Drying Rack | Berry Basket | Cutting Board | Pitcher

Our kitchen table is right between our kitchen, our back patio, and our living room, so it sees a lot of action in the summertime. We eat all of our meals here and sprawl out with craft projects and coloring and Play-Doh when it’s unbearably hot out.

Summer Home Tour 2016 with Country Living Magazine | blesserhouse.com

And every now and then, we set it all pretty to have family and friends over for a cookout. My husband would grill out every day if he didn’t actually have to go in to work at the office.

Summer Home Tour 2016 with Country Living Magazine | blesserhouse.com

Summer Home Tour 2016 with Country Living Magazine | blesserhouse.com

Fun Fact: (Maybe you should ignore this one if you’re slightly OCD) Only two clocks on our wall actually tell the correct time. Usually because the only time I think about changing the batteries is when I’m taking pictures of them. Oops.

Summer Home Tour 2016 with Country Living Magazine | blesserhouse.com

Summer Home Tour 2016 with Country Living Magazine | blesserhouse.com

Summer Home Tour 2016 with Country Living Magazine | blesserhouse.com

Breakfast Room Sources:  Table Runner | Placemats | Driftwood Chargers | Glass Pitcher | Cake Stand

One of my favorite architectural DIYs we’ve done is our wood beam doorway that we installed last summer for $80. It opens right up into our living room and makes a massive statement in here. I still can’t believe how easy it was to do.

Summer Home Tour 2016 with Country Living Magazine | blesserhouse.com

But the DIY that started it all in our house was really our oversized faux fireplace. It never really gets cold enough for a real fire around here anyway and definitely not in the summer.

That ceiling fan though… it gets a workout. Don’t ever tell a Southern girl she can’t have her ceiling fan. Wink wink.

Summer Home Tour 2016 with Country Living Magazine | blesserhouse.com

Our living room is home to a lot of thrifty finds, like that card catalog coffee table that keeps all of our DVDs super organized for our summer movie nights.

Summer Home Tour 2016 with Country Living Magazine | blesserhouse.com

And our mantel mirror that I found for $10 and gave a distressed makeover.

Summer Home Tour 2016 with Country Living Magazine | blesserhouse.com

And our media cabinet we found on Craigslist and gave a Restoration Hardware inspired flip.

Summer Home Tour 2016 with Country Living Magazine | blesserhouse.com

I actually have plans to change this space a bit in the near future for a little refresh, but it’s amazing what some fresh grocery store flowers can do for a room all by themselves.

Summer Home Tour 2016 with Country Living Magazine | blesserhouse.com

Living Room Sources:  Ceiling Fan | Rug | Wicker Chest | Curtains | Coffee Table (similar) | Boxwood Wreath | Lanterns | Woven Tray | Slate Pillows (similar)

In the past few months, our master bedroom has seen lots of changes too since it was hardly more than a white box not too long ago. And yeah… I went all flower-happy in here too with a few clippings from our hydrangea bushes. I really can’t help myself.

Summer Home Tour 2016 with Country Living Magazine | blesserhouse.com

About once a week, Robert gets a hankering for bacon and fries up a batch, then brings me a little surprise plate of it in bed. (Then Olivia usually steals half of it.)  Bacon is basically the social equivalent of flowers, am I right? It’s currency in our house.

Summer Home Tour 2016 with Country Living Magazine | blesserhouse.com

I wouldn’t trade our lazy summer mornings together for anything. I love how the sunshine streams through the windows to wake us up every day.

Summer Home Tour 2016 with Country Living Magazine | blesserhouse.com

Summer Home Tour 2016 with Country Living Magazine | blesserhouse.com

On mild summer evenings, we’re known to invite over our nearby family for impromptu cookouts on our back patio that we gave a makeover this spring.

Growing up, my dad was a grill master and he’s passed on the love of the grill to Robert. Together, they could give Bobby Flay a run for the money. Being the barbeque judge is hard work, but somebody’s gotta do it. (Ha!)

Summer Home Tour 2016 with Country Living Magazine | blesserhouse.com

Olivia’s favorite thing out here though is devouring s’mores and playing on her playground. She runs barefoot through the backyard every chance she gets.

Not much has really changed out here since the last time I shared it, except maybe I’ve killed another plant or two. Shhh… I’ll never tell.

Summer Home Tour 2016 with Country Living Magazine | blesserhouse.com

Patio Sources: Metal Tray | Barrel Table | Outdoor Rug | Throw Pillows | Green Stripe Throw | Lanterns | String Lights | Chairs | Firepit

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69 Comments

  1. Great pictures of your home outside and inside. Love the shutters on the sides of your front door!
    After all that’s a visitor’s First Impression!!
    Enjoy the Summer!!!
    Cheers,
    Cindy

  2. Wow!!!! I just love your home! It may not look like that everyday, but I’m totally impressed with your “summer best!”
    You have mad styling skills! I’m prob going to be coming back to this post for styling ideas myself. Thanks so much for sharing your home. It looks beautiful!
    >> Christene

  3. Hi Lauren,
    I have been following your blog for about 6 months now and I really, really like your style. It is very similar to mine 🙂 I love that you make it look accessible and that you are honest with what the reality sometimes looks like. I’m not into renovating, thrifting etc…BUT, I want to learn!
    Thank you for sharing your experiences with us and sending new inspiration my way!
    Happy Summer to you!

    1. Thank you, Audrey! I’m so glad to hear that! Definitely all for the “real life” style. Stuffy is pretty but it wouldn’t last a minute around here. 😉 Hope you have a beautiful summer too!