Summers in Pakistan are generally quite warm, with some cities hitting 40°C or more during the peak of the season in mid-June. With the sweltering heat making your indoors stuffy, you might be eager to revamp your interior and make it light and airy for the season. Our home décor ideas for summer can help you there.
If you’ve followed our tips to bring spring indoors, all your winter fabrics are probably already packed up, and your home resembles springtime in bloom. The summer weather, though, demands a change of its own when it comes to a home’s interior and this includes creating additional space inside your rooms and opting for a lighter colour palette overall.
Here, we’ll share some of the best home décor ideas for summer, so you can breathe easy and feel cooler with your indoor surroundings. Let’s begin!
Opt for a Lighter Paint Colour
We’ve all heard that darker colours absorb more heat and it’s been scientifically proven too. Thus, rather than letting heat accumulate indoors, try to go for neutral or pastel wall paints. Beige, white and grey are some colours which are perfect for the summer months. If you don’t want a monotone house, there is no need to worry. You can incorporate colours such as bright oranges, vibrant greens, blazing yellows, or even calming sky blues for your throw pillows, curtains, and other fabrics. You can also opt for floral printed curtains or bedspreads to add vibrancy to your décor.
Add a Hint of Natural Elements
If you have a garden or a yard, setting up outdoor furniture can help you take a break from the stuffy indoor atmosphere. What if that’s not a possibility though? There’s very little room for gardening if you’re accustomed to apartment living, but that doesn’t mean you can’t add plants to your interior. Some plants are actually quite beneficial for your indoor environment and will add a greener touch to your home décor for summer. Wooden accents in your furnishing can also add a touch of nature to your interior, along with the use of ceramic, marble, and other natural materials.
Create the Illusion of Space
You live in a small apartment and obviously cannot move out just because it’s hot and stuffy indoors. However, you can create an illusion of space in a variety of ways. These illusions can trick the mind and prevent the stuffiness from creeping into your house. Some of the top tricks include:
Improve Air Flow Indoors
Firstly, open up the doors and windows. This will allow better ventilation in your apartment and bring natural light in. Don’t want the neighbours peeping in? Hang curtains in your windows or on your balcony door. If you don’t have curtains ready for the purpose, just hang a spare bedsheet over the entrance using hooks or cloth pins. It’s a quick and cost-effective way to ensure privacy as well as ventilation indoors. However, make sure that the sheet or curtain is made of a light and flowy material so that it moves with the breeze and does not restrict airflow.
Rearrange Bulky Furniture
Next, if you have a lot of chunky or bulky furniture in your central living space, consider rearranging the setting. Push your bulky pieces against the walls, and if there’s barely any space left for walking, skip that centre table or rug. While most of us cannot redesign our furnishings to suit the weather, you can still rearrange it in a manner that allows you to have ample space indoors. You can also remove extra throw pillows, decorative items, and end tables to achieve this purpose.
Declutter Your Home
If you have more stuff than space in the house, it’s no wonder that you’ve been feeling stuffy and claustrophobic. Remember, the more crowded your room appears to be, the stuffier you’ll feel in it. This is why it is important to make decluttering a priority. While it is perfectly possible to declutter your entire home over a weekend, it is best to start with one room or one cupboard at a time. This will make the task more manageable. Clear out stuff that you no longer need or use. This includes clothes, shoes, old toys that your kids no longer play with, and a range of other knickknacks that collect in a house over time.
Optimise the Use of Mirrors
If you want to create an illusion of space and want your home to appear more open and spacious than it truly is, opt for mirrors. Round, square, full-length or small, mirrors can reflect light and make your home look bigger if you know just how to go about it. It is all about placement. A strategically placed mirror can make your room look twice as big and trick you into believing that your interior is spacious and airy, especially if you have a breeze blowing in from the window.
Turn towards Your Last Resort
While we would all love to have a natural breeze blowing in all day, unfortunately, when the heat wave hits, the air turns hot, humid and stuffy. In such cases, letting it in can often do more damage to your cooler indoors. This is when you need to turn towards electronic appliances for cooling your home and keeping it light and airy throughout the heatwave. While the use of lighter colours, indoor plants, and space creating tricks can work wonders, invest in a standing fan or an air conditioner. When your ceiling fan refuses to cool down a room, you’ll thank yourself for having an alternative at hand.
The best home décor ideas for summer allow you to maximise space while revamping your interior to make it feel light and airy as a whole. Since summer in Pakistan is the longest season in most parts of the country, it is ideal to modify your indoor style to suit the weather. This can make it easier to beat the heat and bear the heatwave while staying indoors.
