How to Give Your Living Room a Quick and Easy Refresh for Summer

Lisa Milbrand

May 21, 2021 at 12:03 PM·3 min read

Is your home ready for summer? Once your spring cleaning is handled, you can give your space a summer-ready look. But as Simply host Hailey Cairo points out, you don't have to spend a small fortune to give your living room a warm-weather makeover.

Instead, invest in a few cool accessories that make your home feel refreshed—think swapping out pillow covers, artwork, and even your curtains and coffee table books. (Bonus: The fall/winter stuff you stash won't take up a lot of storage space, so you can easily break them out again when the seasons change.)

Think natural, light, and beachy with your accessory picks, and you'll get that vacation vibe—even if you're staying at home.

Linen Curtains

Replace heavy window coverings with breezy linen in light, summery hues.

Curtain Rings

These simple curtain rings make it super easy to switch out your curtains as the seasons change.

Around The World In 80 Plants

If you're lacking a green thumb, you can still add a touch of greenery to your home with a botanically themed coffee table book.

The Art of Outdoor Living

Get inspiration to tackle your next summer project (a backyard or balcony redo)—or just enjoy the pictures in this beautiful coffee table book.

Plant Families

If you're an aspiring plant mom, this stylish guide will give you all the info you need to keep your greenery thriving.

Windowpane Throw Pillow

Light-colored pillows (like this soft neutral with checks of blue) add a summery vibe to your sofa.

Woven Asymmetrical Pillow

Hailey likes to stick with soft neutrals, like this beachy pillow, for her summer living room.

Varigated Stripe Pillow

Soft-hued pillows are an inexpensive way to update your living room.

Floral Stripe Lumbar Pillow

This pretty floral pillow adds a touch of botanical pattern to your living room.

Blue Floral Lumbar Pillow

Mixing in bold patterns like this bright blue floral adds a pop of color to a neutral-hued living room.

Oversized Lumbar Pillow

Look for pillows in an array of sizes—like this large lumbar pillow—to add interest to your sofa.

Woven Washed Windowpane Pillow

Not into color? Go with soft neutrals with intriguing textures to add a touch of summer to your living room.

Textured Fringe Coverlet

Trade out your furry or heavier throws for a lighter knit coverlet that's perfect for cool summer nights.

Moss Balls

Bring some no-maintenance greenery into your home with an arrangement of balls of preserved moss.

Wood Bowl

This pretty wood bowl would be the perfect vessel for balls of moss, seashells and beachy treasures, or fresh fruit.

Woven Tray

This woven basket gives off serious picnic basket vibes—use it to hold potted plants or serve snacks and cocktails.

Oil Painting

Another easy way to freshen up your space for summer is to change out the artwork with lighter nature scenes, such as this pretty oil painting.

Ocean Sketch Art

Change up your artwork inexpensively by buying digital reproductions of classic artworks—like this lovely sketch of the ocean—and getting prints made.