2021 Spring Into Summer Blog Tour

Happy Tuesday friends!

I'm delighted to be participating in the 2021 Spring Into Summer Home Tour hosted by French Creek Farmhouse and I hope you'll visit all of the amazing bloggers in this tour! You can find links to all of their homes at the bottom of this blog post.

Although we are currently going into Winter here in Australia, I'm writing this post for my friends in the northern hemisphere who are getting ready for Summer. 

Let me introduce myself. I'm a wife, mother of two, and DIY blogger living in Sydney, Australia. I would describe my style of decorating as Neutral Farmhouse. I love white and wood and distressing. I love wainscotting and shiplap walls. I love vintage furniture and decor and lots of natural textures and fabrics. Most of all I love a DIY project! 

So if you are a first timer to my blog, welcome! I'm so happy you are here! 😊 I hope you love my decorating as much as I do. 

For this blog tour I'm sharing my Farmhouse Style Entryway and showing you how I gave it a big bright burst of Summer vibes. 

Summer to me spells lots of light. And our entryway gets plenty of it. We have glass bricks on the other side the of the entry door and the morning sun streams in and warms up this area so much. 

In front of the glass bricks is my road side rescue vintage table.  With a coat of white paint and some distressing it came up a treat! It's also the perfect size for this area. I've teamed it with a faux Fiddle Fig plant I purchased from Adairs in a cute hyacinth basket. I love how the sun catches it's large glossy green leaves in the mornings. 

As you walk in, don't forget to wipe your feet on our jute mat! 😄

Okay, I love jute rugs and mats! I love their natural colours and rough textures. I especially love how the jute massages your bare feet in Summer.  I have a large jute rug under our dining room table to catch (and hide) all the crumbs. 😜 Which reminds me, they are super forgiving with dirt and stains so they make a great rug for high traffic areas.  And our two cats love sharpening their claws on them. 😼 

On the left hand side of our entry way I've hung my DIY Flower Market sign. I made this sign almost 4 years ago and I still love it! I used a scrap piece of pine timber which I painted white. Then I created a stencil on my computer, printed it off and transferred the words by shading the back of the stencil with lead pencil, then tracing the front to transfer the lead. Next I used a black marker to fill in the wording. Lastly I used black paint on my finger to smudge across wording and around the edges of the canvas to create an aged effect. Large worded signs make a huge impact and give a real farmhouse feel. 

And it wouldn't be a Flower Market without flowers!

And nothing says Summer more than large bouquets of beautiful flowers. 

And who doesn't love themselves some peonies! 😊

Let me just say here that if I could have real flowers I would, but we have had sick kitties after they ate plant leaves so we try to stick with the faux variety now. And they last longer. 😛 

I purchased these gorgeous bunches of faux cream coloured peonies from Early Settler a few years back. They are a constant in my decor because they go with everything and look perfect in my baskets and metal wall vases. (I also love metal wall vases. I have some in our living room and our bedroom. It's so simple to change up the flowers with the season.)

Peonies remind me of Summer as in the real world they generally bloom from late spring to early Summer. And fun facts, they represent good fortune and a happy marriage. They are the floral symbol of China and the state flower of Indiana. Coincidentally my husband is Chinese, we are happily married, and we are fortunate and blessed in many ways. There you go!

Summer also reminds me of pretty woven baskets made from natural materials.  And I love this one I purchased it a few years ago from The French Ladder. It's hand made from natural raffia and is a gorgeous texture and generous size. You could also take it to the beach or a farmers market! 

This wall also is where I display our large entry mirror. We bought it when we moved here approximately 11 years ago! I love the size and how it reflects into the living room. I have recently considered switching it out with a large gold framed mirror so that might be something I do in the future to change it up. Large mirrors can make a small space feel bigger, brighter and lighter and this mirror does all of that for our cosy entryway. 

As you enter our home, directly in front of you is our entryway table.

I built this table all by myself! In fact, some might say it was custom made for the space. 😁 Which makes it just a bit more special. 

I decided to make a table as this space is very small. Just over 100cms in width and about 30cms in depth. So it had to be relatively shallow so you didn't bang into it as you walked past. 

And I'll be honest, this piece of furniture was a bit of trial and error. The initial construction was a bit more blockish. I swapped out the straight legs for spindles. They just add so much more character.  And the original wood was clear varnished. Later I used a whitewash followed by a walnut stain and clear wax to achieve the current look. And I love it! Walnut furniture adds warmth to a room which this piece definitely does. 

You may remember I decided to use faux brick wallpaper behind our freestanding fireplace in the lounge room. It looked so go I decided it would be fun to incorporate it into our entryway. I only did a small area to make it appear like a brick pylon in the centre of the entryway.  I love the muted brown tone of the bricks. It was a very inexpensive way to add a bit of contrast to the DIY Board and Baton white wall I installed a few years ago.

Another prominent feature of our entryway is the beautiful scroll wooden mirror. This might be my most favourite ever item in our house. I purchased it 3 years ago from Early Settler and it hasn't left this wall since. The design was love at first sight. 😍 Am I right or am I right?

Originally it was a greenish grey colour. But like everything that comes into my possession, it had to have a makeover. And I love it even more now. I used an off white to paint it and then distressed the edges. The slightly different shade of white provides great contrast to the bright white wall and bricks behind.

This wasn't a cheap purchase and it wasn't on sale, but it was definitely coming home with me! No way could I leave the store without it. 😂 And I'm so glad I did. I haven't seen a similar one anywhere. 

This area really is the focal point of the entryway and the first thing you see when you walk in our front door. For that reason I love to have it always looking pretty and inviting. It's fun to decorate for Easter and Christmas and throughout the seasons, and Summer is no exception. 

 

For my table display, I decided to use my DIY You Are My Sunshine sign I made from a garage sale cupboard door. I made this sign a few years ago and it has been hidden in the laundry. It was nice to bring it out to enjoy again. I loved singing this song to the kids when they were little and having them sing with me. We still occasionally break out in song. It's one of those songs where one of us starts and you can't help but join in. Am I right? It always brings a smile to my face and warmth to my heart. 💖

 

The whitewash round footed tray I found at Kmart around Christmas time. It's made from a light, smooth mango wood and is also one of my favourite pieces. The decorative beads were a recent purchase also from Kmart. The beads are made from a pretty light schima wood and the tassels are a mix of hemp and cotton. More beautiful Summery natural resources. 

 

On the right side of my table I used the rule of three to incorporate a large glass vase filled with Stock flowers, a whitewashed wooden pillar candle holder and one of my favourite candles. 

The large glass vase is a new purchase from Kmart and displays the whole flowers. So while the blooms are the main attraction of the stock flowers, putting them in a glass vase puts the entire flower on display, showing the natural beauty of the entire bouquet. I usually trim my stems but I love the long stems on these flowers and the height they provide to the display. 

Stock flowers bloom from Spring to Summer and are highly fragrant. They add a charming cottage/farmhouse feel to any room. Additionally, they are popular in bouquets but I also love displaying them as a bunch. 

It totally wouldn't be Summer without my Cotton Flower and Freesia candle from Cira Home. This candle smells so amazing! Maybe it's because Freesias are my favourite flower. Freesias bring back Summer memories from my childhood. We had a small cluster growing in our front yard just outside my window! I used to pick some and put them in a vase in my bedroom. I could sniff them all day!  

 

On the left hand side I have the matching wooden pillar candle holder, a large glass cloche and white ceramic birdie. 

 

The large pinecone I collected on a Summer beach holiday a few years back. We were driving and kept passing all these pine trees. I asked hubby to pull over and there were hundreds of large pinecones in the long grass by the roadside. I made/asked the kids to hop out of the car with me and collect them. It was so windy but we got heaps. I still remember being so excited bringing them home. (I've previously paid $1 each for them!) I've used them mainly for decorating at Christmas but they also remind me of the beach in Summer.

 

The glass cloche I purchased from Ikea. It didn't come with a base, but I found a wooden lid from a glass container served pretty well as a base. And the sweet little ceramic birdie is a recent find at Spotlight. I'd been looking for something similar for ages so very happy I found it. He's pretty cute don't you think?

 

When I made this table I knew I wanted a bottom shelf so I could display more items.  For my Summer display I've added a natural water hyacinth basket from Kmart. It's a beautiful colour and weave and the perfect size to fit a couple of light, cool, cotton blankets.  And the natural cotton tasseled cushion balances everything out. 

 

I find a great way to freshen up the entryway is to occasionally add some linen spray on the blankets. That way when you enter or walk through you are greeted with a fresh and inviting scent. One of my favourite linen sprays is the Aroma Wash Retreat scent from Adairs. It's a delicious smells of citrus and cedar wood. I also use it on our towels and bed linen and it doesn't stain.

 

Here is the view into the entryway from our living room through our pretty farmhouse style wooden French doors. If you'd like to see more of my home please check out some of my other room tours on my blog.

Thank you so much for dropping by! I loved having you! 😘

I'd love to hear how you incorporate Summer into your home decorating. 

I'm thrilled to be joining in today as 29 talented bloggers bring you the best of all things home! Please continue along this inspiring Spring Into Summer tour, and visit the other participants in each of the following categories.