Sand, Summer and Shells

Well it's officially been a very long time since I was able to blog...mostly because I went back to work full time, have a little one who is now 6 1/2 months old and all the other responsibilities of a mommy, wife, daughter and employee.

Recently I took down my Easter decorations and just couldn't bring myself to put up my "standard" design elements in my house. After Christmas then Easter, it just seemed so ho-hum. Then viola! The new Potter Barn catalog came in the mail. Now usually I don't have time to look at magazines anymore (I miss you InStyle, Southern Living and People StyleWatch) but on a recent road trip I took a stack with me. Afterall, we were going to be in the car for what turned out to be years 6 hours. I was instantly drawn in to Pottery Barn's summer coastal style (well, in truth I'm always drawn in by their stuff but this time especially so) and it was just the right thing to get my creative juices flowing.

Here is how I brought the summer in to our home with some simple design elements...

This is a side table with a little glass bowl filled with sand, seashells and a simple white candle.

The coffee table adorned with 3 glass containers filled with a combination of candles, moss,
seashells and sand. I added a few of the larger shells on top of the books to make it more casual.
Just enough to make you feel like summer is here.

a close-up of a jar so you can see the innards

And when you add a natural colored basket to the mix, it gives you a place to store your junk stuff
but still keeps with the natural elements of the table

And for the dining table, which happens to be in the same room...

(I have since changed out the candles in front since these didn't match as well as I had hoped)

And it doesn't all need to be seashells and sand...you don't want people thinking you tried to bring the entire coast inside your house. Most of the shells you see in these pictures I found last summer at the beach. But for some variety, I also used natural elements on other tables:

Excuse the foam ball in the bowl...it's supposed to be covered with green moss but
I haven't had a chance to do that yet. The little silver items are a turtle and frog votive holders -
just another symbol of summer.

And while I don't have pictures of them yet because they haven't made it to my front step, I also will be adding these pillows to my sofa. Well, the long one anyway. I couldn't afford the whole set. These pillows are also cute if you want a less expensive but chic way to spruce up your couch (I got them in terra cotta with our monogram).


And don't forget the front door! Here are some options for you. Now I won't give you my opinion on all of these wreaths...some are very classy...some not so much. (Hint: fake is never good...in anything. Opt for real when you can).  I opted for a natural floral wreath versus keeping with the seashell theme, just in case I decide not to do seashells next year.

So be inspired by summer and bring your favorite aspects indoors to spruce up your home! If you have other ideas, please share them with me.