5 Affordable Ways to Transition Your Home For Summer

Flowers are in bloom, the air is warming, and school is letting out. Summer is gearing up everywhere, but is your home ready for the change of season? For tips on how to make the transition from Winter to Summer as smooth and affordable as possible, we spoke with the design partners at Cullman & Kravis, an acclaimed New York City-based interior design firm. With 30 years in the industry, they were full of invaluable tips. Here's what they had to say.

Repurpose Winter Accessories

Repurpose Winter Accessories

Use a Winter blanket as a Summer picnic blanket or even a seat cushion for a backyard wooden table. We also love arranging silver and gold Christmas tree ornaments in a large bowl or glass vase in the Summer months. As an added bonus, it saves on storage!

Have a Few Perennial "Go-To" Summer Items

Have a Few Perennial "Go-To" Summer Items

Switch Winter accessories for decor with seasonally appropriate materials and colors. We recommend investing in a couple of high-quality items that you can use year after year for overall savings; for example, swap a favorite heavy wool blanket for a lighter-weight cotton one in an enduring style, retrieve brightly striped throw pillows from storage and toss on your upholstery, or change spiced soaps and candles for fresh scents. Jo Malone's Orange Blossom is our favorite — it's the perfect reminder Summer is here!

Bring In Living Decor

Bring In Living Decor

Just as pumpkins are ubiquitous for October and November, fresh flowers, like peonies or hydrangeas, are a beautiful and affordable way to bring the warmer seasons to life. Best of all, bouquets don't break the bank!

Pay Special Attention to Your Home's Points of Interest

Pay Special Attention to Your Home's Points of Interest

Different shapes, sizes, and colors of vases and bowls will pop against heavy bookshelves that tend to darken a room in Summer. Tabletops are another point of interest, so arrange different sizes of glass accessories in a cluster or pair with flowers. Check out stores like HomeGoods and Michaels for great deals on small decor or paint existing glass and ceramic pieces bright colors yourself.

Add Seasonal Colors Through Decor

Add Seasonal Colors Through Decor

Crisp whites and fresh neutrals are great go-tos for Summer. We also love pale blues and greens, cheery yellows, oranges, coral, and, of course, marine blues and turquoise — all colors that transport you to the tropics even when you are stuck in the real world. You can easily swap in these seasonal tones with affordable decor, such as bright throw pillows, tabletop trays, decorative boxes, and even lampshades.