As the weather gets warmer, it’s time to start thinking about your summer decorating plans! If you’re unsure where to start, why not begin with your front entryway? The entryway is where your guests will enter your home and get their first impressions of your space. To help you out, we’ve prepared a guide on how to decorate your front entryway for summer. Let’s get started!
When you’re choosing decorations for a season, it’s important to focus on the essence of that time of year. Summer, for instance, is bright and playful. The sun is out, the kids are out of school, and we get to enjoy eating colorful tropical fruits. It’s a season that makes us think of relaxing beach vacations and evening barbeques with friends.
You can make a summer palette to match just about any decorating scheme you want. However, there are some colors that are just so classically “summer” that we want to make sure we mention them here:
White is a color we associate with the beach because it’s used frequently in Mediterranean decorating. Plus, it reflects light better than any other color, helping your home make the most of natural light sources. We think that bright, tropical colors make amazing accents, but it’s important not to use too many of them in the same room. If you do, your entryway could start to look chaotic, and that’s not very relaxing!
When we think of summer wood tones, tropical trees often come to mind. If you want to evoke some of the feelings of a beach vacation in your entryway, stick to lighter, warmer wood tones. We also think that decorating with driftwood can help make your space look unique! You can hang a piece of driftwood on the wall or turn it into a piece of furniture.
Texture is a key part of interior design. When we think of the textures of summer, what comes to mind are palm trees, thatch roofs on beach cabanas, rattan patio furniture, and wiry coconut husks. As you’re planning your new entryway design, think of ways to bring these textures into the spotlight.
To get those summer textures, you might use wallpaper with a palm design or put a coir doormat in your entryway. Some of our favorite summer accessories are bamboo fans that you can stand inside vases to add vertical dimension to your shelves.
You can’t have a happy summer entryway without at least one plant (fake is fine—we won’t tell!) Summer brings to mind lemons and other citrus trees that are popular in the Mediterranean. It also makes us think of banana leaf trees, monstera plants, dangling pothos, and the bright reddish-green hues of the croton plant. Smaller plants can decorate side tables and wall-hanging shelves, while taller ones are perfectly happy sitting on the floor.
Don’t get much sunlight in your front entryway? You can still grow real plants. Just be sure to choose something that loves the shade, like spider plants, snake plants, lucky bamboo, or parlor palm. These plants will be fine with only a few hours of sunlight each day.
And if your entryway is very dark, there’s no shame in choosing fake plants. We recommend paying for high-quality fake plants that look as close to the real thing as possible.
Entryway furniture should be both beautiful and purposeful. There’s a lot that goes on in this room, so you want to make sure your decorating leaves plenty of room for life to happen.
A bench is an amazing piece of furniture to have in your entryway because it allows people to sit down while they take shoes off or put them on. Bonus points if your bench has a built-in shoe rack!
Side tables are our other favorite entryway accessories because there’s so much you can do with them in terms of decorating. However, a side table is also a pretty convenient place to store things like keys, notepads, dog leashes, and mail.
If you can’t find a bench with a built-in shoe rack, don’t worry! There are plenty of standalone styles that allow you and your house guests to keep your shoes tidied away.
As we said earlier in this post, summer decorating is all about sunny weather and natural light. If you don’t have tons of natural light in your entryway, it’s okay. There are tricks you can use to make the most of the light you have.
As we said before, white is an amazing color for reflecting light. If you use a lot of white in your decorating, it will help bounce those light waves around the space, making it seem more spacious.
Here’s a pro decorating tip: if you hang up a mirror on the wall opposite a window, it will reflect light into the rest of the house. So if you’ve only got one small window, make the most of it by placing a mirror on the other side of the room. You’ll be amazed at how much brighter the room feels!
When you’re decorating your front entryway for summer, don’t forget about your floor. A rug or doormat is the best way to keep the water, dirt, and garden soil outside and your home clean. You can even double-layer your doormats to include multiple designs and textures.
Speaking of texture, did you know that those natural brown fiber doormats are made from coconut husks? That’s right! It’s called coir, and it’s a popular material for making doormats because it’s durable and has the right texture for wiping shoes. More importantly, coir is the perfect accent for your summer entryway since it’s a tropical product.
If you’re looking for coir doormats, you can find them at The Personalized Doormat Company. We also carry extra-large front doormats so you can layer your coir mat over another design. Layering up doormats also helps them last longer since the bottom mat protects the top one from dirt and moisture. Contact us today if you need assistance choosing the right doormat for your home.
