{"id":420,"date":"2014-06-25T13:12:42","date_gmt":"2014-06-25T13:12:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thechesterfieldcompany.com\/blog\/?p=420"},"modified":"2024-06-20T12:51:56","modified_gmt":"2024-06-20T11:51:56","slug":"summer-14-interior-design-ideas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thechesterfieldcompany.com\/blog\/2014\/06\/summer-14-interior-design-ideas\/","title":{"rendered":"Summer ’14 Interior Design Ideas"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It’s been a long time coming, but summer 2014 is finally here, and the long warm days make it an ideal time for some home makeovers – paint and plaster will dry faster, there’s still the August bank holiday weekend ahead, and the better weather means you can do some of the work outdoors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here’s five interior design ideas that can have a big impact on your home, often with relatively little effort or creativity required.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Lifelike Laminates<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you’ve always found laminate flooring to be a bit plasticky and fake-looking, it’s time to get ‘floorthentic’.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Laminates that look like authentic wood are now commonplace and quite affordable, yet still provide all of the performance that you’ve come to expect from ‘fake’ floors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Snap them together, usually using tongue and groove edges, and you can quickly cover a room with no gaps between individual ‘floorboards’ or laminate tiles.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"flooring\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

2. Outside In<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Summer is the perfect time to bring the outdoors indoors, and there are a few ways to do this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fresh or dried flowers are an accessory but, paradoxically, they can also be the starting point for this decorating trend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Use their natural colour scheme and circular or leaf-shaped patterns as inspiration for the themes you introduce in your wall coverings, artworks and so on.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"flowers\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

3. Pastel Palettes<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is a season of tranquil shades, and while pastels leave some people feeling underwhelmed, they can be a relaxing starting point for a colour scheme.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pale blues and yellows bring to mind the ocean and the summer sky, while green can be reminiscent of a seasonal grassy meadow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Again, this is about taking inspiration from nature, and bringing the summer into your interiors.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"pastel\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

4. Summer Chic<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aside from the good weather, summer is a season all about ageing – it’s when the days begin to get shorter, and the year moves into its closing autumn and winter phases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But far from trying to fight this annual cycle, you can embrace it with some vintage items that acknowledge the passing of the years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even just a couple of modest antique investments, from old clocks or lamps, to vases and ornaments, can provide a focal point and a sense of longevity for your interiors.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"vintage<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

5. Let the Light In<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are plenty of good reasons to make the most of the summer sunshine – and they go beyond simple design considerations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sunlight contains the full range of visible light wavelengths, so it will always be the best way to light your room so that those colours look as natural as possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And best of all, it’s free – so a picture window, or a mirror to reflect more light back into the room, is a great way to save on electricity, so you don’t have to switch on lamps when it’s still light outside.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"interior<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like us on Facebook<\/a> and follow us on Twitter<\/a> and Google +<\/a> for all the latest news, offers and events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ryan Mohieddin Google +<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It’s been a long time coming, but summer 2014 is finally here, and the long warm days make it an ideal time for some home makeovers – paint and plaster will dry faster, there’s still the August bank holiday weekend ahead, and the better weather means you can do some of the work outdoors. Here’s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":538,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[129,48,131,70],"tags":[144,103,121,161,107,105,102,188],"class_list":["post-420","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-inspiration","category-interior-design","category-tips","category-trends","tag-furniture","tag-home","tag-inspiration","tag-interior-design","tag-interiors","tag-living-room","tag-sofa","tag-summer-decor"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thechesterfieldcompany.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/420","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thechesterfieldcompany.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thechesterfieldcompany.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thechesterfieldcompany.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thechesterfieldcompany.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=420"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.thechesterfieldcompany.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/420\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1554,"href":"https:\/\/www.thechesterfieldcompany.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/420\/revisions\/1554"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thechesterfieldcompany.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/538"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thechesterfieldcompany.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=420"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thechesterfieldcompany.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=420"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thechesterfieldcompany.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=420"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}