Hi there! Swapping out my mantel with the seasons is one of the quickest ways to freshen up my home. It's my favorite part of decorating, and since I'm a summer girl at heart, a beachy summer mantel is a real treat!
I love changing out my decor in a simple way. No fuss needed here!
RELATED: How to Stencil Curtains
Now, let me introduce you to my simple beachy living room and mantel!
This is the view you see when you walk in my front door. It's the focal point of the house, so I want it all dressed up!
If you follow me on Instagram and watch my Stories, you already know about the DIY Beachy Frame I put together this past week. I never planned to make it, but when I hung that canvas on the wall without a frame, the whole wall seemed to swallow it up!
RELATED: My Summer Home Tour 2017
I knew it needed the perfect chunky wooden frame with plenty of beachy distressing and texture. So I set about building this frame from pieces in my scrap pile.
It was so much fun to make, and I shared the tutorial so you can make your own!
Full Tutorial: Beach-Inspired DIY Framed Canvas Art
I took that photo last year on our yearly beach trip and finally had it enlarged to display this year. Each day I walked up to that spot and saw those colors glowing on the horizon, it took my breath away. The beach is my happy place, and the ocean's turquoise, navy and mint are the inspiration behind this blog's name!
Since the frame isn't symmetrical, I decided to keep the side pieces perfectly matched.
These olive buckets have been showing up in stores and magazines for years, but I'd never bought any until this week. (Well, aside from the galvanized bucket on the floor, which isn't quite the same, but has a similar look.)
I stopped in Hobby Lobby to pick up some floral stems and maybe a few vases for either side of my framed picture. I spotted these olive buckets full of lamb's ears, eucalyptus and lavender in the front window. I grabbed them right up, already arranged. Yay! It saved me so much time.
So go ask your local Hobby Lobby flower arrangers to make one for you, too!
RELATED: 5 Ways to Add Summer Decor to Your Home
They were too pretty to pass up, and I just knew they'd be perfect next to my beach picture.
I filled the smaller vases with shells from our many beach trips. Just kidding! They're vase filler shells from Target last year.
The mantel is very simple, yet it works! It doesn't have to be fancy to look pretty. Just pick a centerpiece in good proportion and two smaller items to flank it, and you're set for decorating a mantel!
The wooden box on the table is a project I made this spring, and I'm still in love with it! The full tutorial for the wooden box is right here.
I added a few fun pillows to the couch this year to bring in more turquoise. These patterned pillows were on Target clearance about a year ago. I love them, yet I'd never used them until now! Affiliate links are used for your convenience. See my full disclosure policy here.
I didn't add much else to the room for summer. The stack of books on my end table are some of my recent favorites: The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, Grace Not Perfection and Present Over Perfect (my current favorite)!
And one of my favorite reading corners. I didn't change a thing here, but you can find the DIY blanket ladder tutorial here.
Now on to the entryway! I'm only sharing these two spaces today and will show more summer decor in a couple of weeks.
This entry uses so many of the items I bought last year. I did make that "relax" sign, and I want to share the tutorial. It's one of my favorite summer decor pieces ever, and so easy to make!
The sailboats are from Target, and they still have the navy striped one available this year. Yay!!
I'm so fond of this cute lemon wreath from Tar-jay! Now I just need a similar one for my front door, since it's been bare since Christmas.
Thank you for touring the living room and entryway of my home today!
