Summer Living Room Decor

Update your living room for summer with these beautiful and simple summer living room decor ideas. Easy ideas that anyone can do.

I can’t believe how fast the summer is going! Our summer has been off to a slow start weather wise – so it seems to be going even quicker than usual. We have some nice weather forecasted for the upcoming week, however, so fingers crossed that summer has finally arrived!

I always think of summer as being a time to slow down, so I try to keep our summer decor simple as well. Less decor means less time cleaning and more time outside! I still like to create a cozy and relaxing vibe, however, through a few easy decor swaps and seasonal updates.

Easy Ideas for Summer Living Room Decor

Updating your living room for summer doesn’t have to be time-consuming or expensive. Just a few little touches can make all the difference! Here are some easy ideas to add some summer decor to your family room or living room.

Add some greenery.

Greenery is one of the quickest and easiest ways to add a little life to your room. While I do like to use some real greenery (you can see my herb plantar centerpiece tutorial HERE}, there are definite benefits to using faux stems and branches. Firstly, you don’t have to worry about remembering to water faux greenery or any water damage from spilled water. Secondly, I love the flexibility of being able to tuck little sprigs of green into whatever space I want – baskets, shelving, bowls, etc.

Display some fresh flowers.

Fresh flowers are one of my favorite things about summer! You can always find lots of inexpensive flower bouquets at the grocery store or, if you’re lucky, in your own backyard. You can even break a large bouquet up into smaller arrangements and spread them throughout the house.

If you prefer something that lasts a little longer, look for potted flowers like hydrangeas or roses.

Diffuse some summer scents.

Scents are strongly tied to our emotions and memories, so a nice, light scent can help to create a relaxing space and might even bring back some of your favorite summer memories. I prefer citrus scents like grapefruit, lemon, lime or orange but you could also use lavender, sandalwood, pine – whatever you’re drawn to! I have a diffuser that I keep in the corner and like to play around with different essentail oil blends. The essential oils are stored in one of the drawers in the television stand so they’re easy to access whenever I want them.

You can also make your own reed diffuser or DIY room spray with your favorite essentail oils and display them on a side table or console table.

Switch up the textiles.

Change up throw blankets or pillow covers for lighter materials or more summer colors. I always love the added texture and coziness that blankets and throw pillows add to a space – even in the summer! Blue and white always seem to be my go to summer colors. I often keep the white throw pillows out throughout the year and just switch out the larger pillows. If you want to save space on storage, keep the same inserts and just change up the covers.

Create a seasonal vignette or centerpiece.

I always like to create some kind of seasonal vignette and try to use a base item that can be used for multiple seasons. I’ve done a number of quick and easy displays using this white terrarium. For my summer display, I used some white ceramic birds, moss, and a couple little embellishments.

I also kept the centerpiece on the coffee table simple and just used a eucalyptus wreath with a white lantern in the middle.

Display some seasonal artwork.

Obviously, you’re not going to change out all of your artwork, but even displaying one piece of seasonal artwork can make a big difference. HomeSense is one of my favorite places to find inexpensive artwork. This beach canvas had the perfect summer colors for the room and drew me in. Another easy way to switch up art is to find a pretty frame that you like and then just change around the prints each season. There are tons of free summer printables that you can choose from and all you have to do is pay for the printing.