Easy Summer Kitchen Ideas And Tour
Looking to refresh your kitchen for the summer season? Check out these 7 summer decorating ideas that will add a pop of color and style to your space.
Welcome to the season of sunshine, warmth, and garden flowers! Summer is the perfect time to infuse your kitchen with a fresh and inviting atmosphere reflecting the season. Here are seven easy, breezy ideas that will add a touch of summer charm to your kitchen.
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The kitchen is my favorite room in our home, so I saved it and a few other surprises for today’s tour. Summer is when I want everything to be simplified, even in the kitchen. Simple but fresh and delicious meals, simple decor, simple entertaining, simple ways to keep things clean, and simply enjoying every minute in the kitchen this summer!
I thought you might like to tour our summer kitchen and get 7 easy kitchen summer decorating ideas, too!
Clean, Organize And Simplify
The best kitchen decorating tip I can give you is to keep your kitchen clean and organized. Because no matter how nice your summer decor is, it won’t look nice in a messy kitchen!
It seems we entertain and have more family here at the Tanglewood House in the summer. When my home is full of people, noise, and laughter, I am the happiest! So it’s important to me, and probably you too, that everything is clean and organized.
Here are a few simple tips for a clean and tidy kitchen…
When I use my kitchen, I clean everything right up. Nothing sits unless one of our grandchildren wants to play a game or the baby wants me to read him a book (sigh).
When I cook, I clean as I go! And when the kitchen closes for the night, I clean my sink. All the appliances in our kitchen are stainless steel, but we opted for a Blanco composite apron sink in truffle. It’s easy to clean and antibacterial. So when I wake up every morning, I have a nice clean sink to start the day! And starting my day with a clean kitchen is honestly better than any decor!
Even though I clean up everything as I cook, I still wipe down all my cabinets, counters, and appliances once a week. It does not take long, and it makes my kitchen look, smell, and feel so clean!
I also spend a few minutes a couple times a week organizing a kitchen drawer or cabinet. I learned this trick decades ago. I do the same with the rest of our home, too! I spend 15 minutes a day organizing something.
I think there are three steps for keeping a kitchen organized.
- One: Get everything organized in your kitchen.
- Two: Always put everything back where it goes.
- Three: Spend a little time cleaning, organizing, and refining your kitchen organization a couple times a week.
The first step you do once (or when things get out of hand). The second step is a habit you cultivate. And the third step is ensuring things don’t get away from you again.
Clean And Organize Your Home- The Ultimate Guide is a huge post jammed packed with the best ways to keep your home in tip-top shape!
Less Is Best
I’m a less is best decorator. Our home is very open, so it looks better with less layering and less decor. In the summer, simple decor is best, with just a hint of the season incorporated in it!
I keep my knives in a crock with a kapoosh insert on a small cutting board. Next to the crock, I keep herbs I cut from my herb garden in a small mason jar.
I keep herbs on my kitchen counters all summer long. The mason jar is near where I prep when I cook, so the cut herbs are a nod to summer and are used often. I count this as summer decor. It’s very simple and pretty.
Choose A Summer Color Palette
I create a new color palette whenever I decorate for a new season. It’s fun to choose a new color to celebrate a new season!
I added a bit of blue to our home’s neutral color palette for summer. I love blue and white. However, our home does not! I’ve tried adding blue to our home several times, but it never seems to work.
But this summer, I snuck some of this popular color into my kitchen!
In the kitchen, dishes are a pretty way to add a pop of color. I have always been so partial to a stack of dishes! Here’s a little peek at some of the flowers I cut from containers and raised beds to bring inside to decorate.
Create Zones In Your Kitchen
My kitchen has designated zones. A prep zone, coffee station zone, cooking zone, clean-up zone, and a zone for setting up drinks and a pop-up bar.
This is a really easy way to keep my kitchen uncluttered, organized, and tidy. It’s also a great way to know where to add a bit of summer decor. I keep summer decor to a minimum in the areas where I prep, cook, and clean up.
There are five glass containers on the counter to the left of our stove. The large one holds flour for making bread. Artisan yeast bread is my favorite, but I also like quick breads. Make sure to check out my No-Knead, No-Starter, No-Mess 5-Minute A-Day Bread and 5 Easy Quick Bread Recipes You Will Love.
The container holding split peas is just for pretty! I don’t like peas.
A blue and white pitcher filled with flowers from my gardens sits on a stack of blue and white dishes.
The left side of our long wall of cabinets and countertops is for our coffee station. Right now, it is set up as a self-serve continental breakfast station.
And on the right side of the same countertop is where we put our pop-up bar. When we are not entertaining and do not need a bar, I usually decorate this area. This summer, I put a cookbook on a stand.
We added something new to our kitchen this summer. A new zone of sorts!
We added a round table we used in the living room as a side table to a corner of the banquette—and a rug, too! I really never wanted a table in this area. I thought it would make this part of the kitchen look crowded and cluttered.
We recently got birdfeeders and put them in our yard near the windows over our banquette. And have spent lots of time there watching the birds. I thought it might be nice to have a table to put my coffee, cookbooks, or computer on while enjoying all the bird antics going on outside the window. I remembered the round table down in the basement, so we brought it up to see how it would work and look. And it has stayed.
Then I got an inexpensive rug (I haven’t worked out the folds yet) to put under the pedestal table. I’m not sure the rug will stay, but I have my eye on another one that I think will work better. We will see!
I sit at the banquette table every day with my 2nd cup of morning coffee and Bible study and watch the birds. And most afternoons, I grab my computer and work here. It’s amazing that such a small space would make a huge difference in my life. It’s wonderful!
Bring The Outside Indoors
One of the best ways to celebrate summer and decorate your kitchen for the season is to use flowers and herbs… liberally.
They are the gifts of the season!
This is such a beautiful time to bring the bounty of the outdoors inside! I’m a huge container gardener. I plant annuals, perennials, and herbs in containers and raised beds. It’s so easy to take care of my container gardens. Over the last couple of years, all but two of our regular planters are now self-watering. You can see Everything You Need To Know About Container Gardening and A Guide For Planting And Caring For Herbs.
The best summer decor is garden flowers.
Set Up A Coffee Bar
One of the zones in my kitchen is a coffee station. Like I said earlier, we get lots of company and family in the summer, so I set up a simple continental breakfast bar.
I’ve done this for years and years. It’s nice for company to come down for breakfast and get their coffee and a little light nosh. Then, I can take my time to get breakfast ready. I love leisurely mornings with family and friends.
I like to use cloth napkins, so I loosely fluff them in a coffee mug along with a spoon. This summer, I’ll serve in-season fruit and a coffee cake or other sweet bread. Today’s sweet treat is a mixed berry streusel sweet bread.
A summer breakfast bar could not be any sweeter seasonal decor!
Set A Default Summer Table
I have a group of friends who are amazing hosts, and I’ve gotten so many great tips from them.
Summer is the time to set an easy table, inside or out!
My friend Loretta sets what I call a summer default tablescape. She entertains a lot—it’s a ministry for her—and everyone who comes to her home feels so blessed!
She sets a table and, for a season, uses it over and over again as she has new groups of people to her home for a meal.
She plans dinners on two consecutive days of the week and makes the same menu. And she uses the same tablescape. After the first meal, everything gets washed and dried and put back on the table, fresh and ready for more company. What an easy summer idea!
So set a pretty and simple summer table and use it over and over again, indoors and out, when you entertain!
I hope these 7 summer kitchen decorating ideas will inspire you when decorating your kitchen.
Now, head over to My Wee Abode. Julie is a blogging friend turned real-life friend. Her blog has smart and savvy small space and apartment living solutions. She is sharing her summer balcony refresh. I love it, Julie!
Make sure you visit the summer blog tours below.
Thank you so much for stopping by, friend! Happy Summer.
I love all of it. Your endless energy amazes me! I know I couldn’t keep up with all the tasks you do on a weekly basis. Everything spotless and sparkly.
Love how you put scoops in your canisters. Just one of your endless great ideas!
I love, love, love your summer kitchen! Your ideas and photos are great…my favorite is the round table at the banquette.
I love theses Saturday posts. Starts the Saturday morning off great!
Reading weekly for over six years and always fresh and exciting!
I love your easy breezy summer ideas!
Great blog post
Your kitchen looks so summery. I always love blue and white. It’s so crisp and clean. I also love that little creamer. It’s just beautiful. And the new rug and table look really nice in the kitchen. It’s a great addition.
Love the window seat, and the rug! So pretty and inviting! Your home is lovely
The kitchen is beautiful and everything blue and white is pleasing to the eye as well.
I enjoyed your helps and ideas for organizing your kitchen. I had to laugh when you wrote split peas were for pretty and then ended that you don’t like peas. 😂
Waking up to Home Style Saturday every week is such a delight! What a treat to start my weekend. I love, love, love your style. Your home makes me calm just seeing the pictures! And those recipes? I have made many and each one has been scrumptious!! Hope HSS continues!!
Simple and easy is my new motto! Thank you for sharing details of a simple summer kitchen. I also believe in cook and clean as you go- makes life soo much easier! Everything has a place, so why not return to its location??? Our styles are very similar.
We purchased an older home (next year 85 years young) and have enjoyed reviving it. Lots of work and energy, but so worth the effort. For me, it’s been learning to live with the options of an older home and using items we already had to make it home. I shop almost daily from room to room!!!
Thank you for sharing, and I look forward to reading your new Friday Digest.
Thanks for all the great ideas!
Great suggestions!
Your kitchen seems like an area that people would navigate to! A comfortable place to sit, have a drink, and talk over all things summer! Thanks!
Less is best…I’m working on that as I continue to purge and organize. Love your blog, your ideas, and all the inspiration you give us. Thank you for all your hard work! You are appreciated!
I love you eye. Thank you
Thanks for all the lovely inspiration!
Love the hints of blue you added – I also lean toward adding blue accents in to my neutral decor but too much of it just doesn’t feel right in my home. As usual you have found the “cinderella” solution to adding some blue. Thanks!
Lovely kitchen and summer ideas! Thank you.
Always love your posts and the wonderful decorating & cooking posts. We have les room than before but even with smaller spaces one can decorate with style.
I follow in your footsteps.I have the same glass canisters on my counter.Always try and keep it simple.
I love all of your ideas. Thank you so much for all the inspiration.
I love your bright, beautiful, summery home! You’re always in touch with each season!
The kapoosh is brilliant. I had never heard of one but it is now on my list of things to purchase. Thank you for the great ideas.
Love how you use a spark of color!
LOve the kitchen since it’s my dream one!
Thank you for the post. I enjoy reading your blog!
Great tips, Beautiful photos & design :-))
Yvonne, You always give me inspiration when I read your blogs. What a great idea to have your herbs at the ready in a jar of water – and they add a little fresh garden decor to the kitchen! Now i just have to wait for my herbs to grow a bit more so I can use this idea in my own kitchen…..
Your kitchen is to die for and I love that you added the table in the nook! Great ideas.
Yvonne, your ideas and your creativity are so inspiring. I too, have a banquette in my kitchen. I will be on the lookout for the right size table to place there.
Looks like a lovely kitchen. I clean when I cook as well. No ones likes an untidy kitchen. Fresh flowers always make me happy and they smell so good.
Thank you for so many ideas to freshen up my kitchen!
I’ve followed your blog for so long! Your style and decor is at the top of my list! You are the place I land when I’m looking for new inspiration! Thank you!!
Such a lovely, serene home with pops of color for interest. I’m taking your less is more & default table setting to heart and putting them into practice in my own home!
That’s what I did these last 3 days. Got all my cleaning done & so ready for Memorial Weekend. U even give me some extra hints to get it done & tip if all off with easy red white & blue decorations. Thks Donna
Simpler looks for summer…so refreshing. Time to get out the seagrass placemats etc! Love your sryle
Such practical ideas! East to implement too.
I look forward to your posts each week! Love what you have done to your home! Very beautiful!
My favorite of the photos today has the little blue and white striped pitcher and the fresh flowers! It’s all good, as always!
Sad to say I never thought about an organized kitchen would simplify my life. I have a small kitchen and it is hard to keep everything cleaned off. Today, before I get distracted I’m going to organize and clean everything and then walk outside and cut some hydrangea’s for my vase Thank you for the inspiration, because your kitchen is awesome.
I love your home! I get so much inspiration from your posts!
Such great tips. Most importantly, the edit one. I just wish I was that disciplined.
Love your kitchen. Everything looks so pretty and clean. Great tips.
I also love cloth napkins and the idea of putting in a mug with spoon.
My kitchen is way smaller than yours, but you’ve inspired me to try and do some decluttering – thanks!
Seeing all different styles, but yet all gorgeous. The patio is somewhere I could spend my days and nights
I also love blue and white and am looking for ways to incorprate it into kitchen along with my newly painted white cabinets. The round table and rug looks great!
Yvonne your home is amazing! I agree that a clean organized kitchen is the best way to start the day!
I like how you’ve divided your kitchen into zones. It’s looks clean, neat and organized without being cluttered.
Your blog is very informative and I appreciate the insight you give us as to why you do what you do.
I love your decorating ideas. It seems whenever I dust I move something to a different area. Today I am going to use your stacked dish idea on my dining table.
Wow…400! I always your inspiring posts on simple, light, and clean seasonal looks and ideas!
Love the jars full of things! One of my favorite decor ideas. I’ll have to buy some split peas as I love green—not so much peas though.
Me too, Elaine!
The table looks great! It does not make your kitchen look crowded. I have an open concept house and my kitchen is similar to yours. I have followed you for several years, before we moved into this house. You have inspired my kitchen decorating. I have done many of your decor ideas.
I love all the ideas. The small flower arrangement is just perfect. I wish I had the gene to clean as I cook in my kitchen. I just make a mess and then have to deal with it! I like the glass canisters but have to tell you those green lentils make the best split pea soup! Ha
Totally agree less is best!
I have a small kitchen with limited counter space. I’m struggling with where to put a Kitchen-Aid mixer. It was my mother-in-law’s so it’s vintage and the yellow finish isn’t something I’d choose. Thanks for encouraging me to think of ways to make the best choices to work with what I have.
You always inspire me to try your ideas and I am always glad I took your advice! Thank you for sharing and I look forward to every future post.
Lovely, simple ideas to take our design to the next level.
So refreshing and inviting!! I love the entertaining idea of using the same menu twice and having people over. Enjoy your summer!
The bright red and purple flowers in the blue striped vases and pitchers are so eye catching. I like the various zones you have set up. The banquette is where I would be spending my coffee time too!
Your kitchen is lovely. That little table looks perfect by the banquette and windows.
I love the pops of color you put in your white kitchen!
Fabulous ideas and tips! Thanks so much–love that “less is more” theory!
It’s so good to hear you cook and clean as you go….me too! When company comes, my goal is to have no dirty dishes in sight! Thanks for all your encouragement and helpful hints over the years!
Great ideas for summer in the kitchen! And I think your white kitchen is beautiful!
We must have the same background. I can’t go to bed with a dirty kitchen and the best decorations are fresh flowers.
Love your floral arrangements!
Beautiful flower arrangement. Flowers are the best!
Yvonne,
Great summer time tips. I can hear my Mother saying clean up as you go along!!!
It was some of the best advice I ever got but I can
‘t seem to pass it on to my daughters or grand children
and my husband of 56 yrs has never used derstood the value of this simple rule.
I am still finishing up my outside containers. We have had so much rain this spring I am behind schedule. Tommorow is supposed to be just cloudy so maybe I can get my Caladiums planted. I summer alone of my houseplants outside so that helps give my deck and porch a lush tropical look.
Have a good weekend.
Wonderful post. I love your kitchen. Every time I see it I smile. I truly wish I had a white kitchen.
Lovely table setting. I also do your kitchen clean up. I too, believe that the kitchen clean up is a great habit to learn. I have been doing that routine since I was a child. I enjoy your post very much. Thank you.
Love the idea of a clean countertop and then clear away everything except a coffee counter. My appliances are going to find a new home. Thanks .
I learn so many little things from you! You’re the hostess with the mostest and I know the people coming into your home can feel your love and warmth.
Love your recipes and easy style. Thanks!
I always enjoy and learn from your posts. Wonderful idea to keep herbs in a jar in your kitchen all summer. Often, I am in a hurry and don’t take time to go out to snip some herbs for a dish I’m preparing. I’m going to use your way of having them handy. Thank you for sharing your ideas.
Wow! Great kitchen organization ideas and appreciate the details for consistency. Too funny about the peas – agree they look pretty.
Yvonne – I always enjoy your Blog! Thank you for these great ideas to add summer to my kitchen. We have the Blanco sink – after cleaning, I polish with food grade mineral oil.
Your summer kitchen looks so welcoming and inviting!! I love your use of blue and white… it adds a freshness that says ‘summer’!
I love all your ideas and the recipes! Thanks for all your hard work.
I love your Sunday blog!!
Love your kitchen. Nothing like a white kitchen. Great tips for the summer. I agree clean and organized makes cooking easy.
It’s so nice to be able to use an item you already have. The table is so nice where you can have your coffee, have your Bible Study and look out and see the birds. The herbs look lovely in kitchen and handy to use.
And I learned something new – I had no idea what a kapoosh was.
There are so many reasons to enjoy your blog.
Thank you!
Congratulations on 400 episodes! That’s a lot of work and much appreciated by many viewers. Thanks for all you do.
While my kitchen is smaller, this post has given me such inspiration for a refresh!
Great ideas for a summer kitchen! Thank you for sharing them with us!
Love your blue and white pieces!
Thanks for the great ideas!
I like your idea of organizing 15 minutes a day. I’m going to try that.
Beautiful as always! I love the continental breakfast station!
Your kitchen is so clean and inviting. I love the glass jar with peas, great color addition. The table you added by the banquet is perfect, I’d sit there often, as well. Thanks so much for all of the useful and beautiful ideas.
Especially enjoyed the segment on the kitchen–really nice for summer.
You have some great advice on things to do in your kitchen. I will be moing to a small apartment to be closer to my daughter and grandkids. The kitchen is very small and I can see it getting cluttered easily so I need ideas on how to avoid that. Thank you
Love the “less is best”. We sold everything and we are now living in a 32′ RV…less is definitely better here 🙂 Also so easy to bring in fresh flowers…no matter how big or small your space is, makes a world of difference.
Good for you! You might want to go to My Wee Abode:https://myweeabode.com/senior-adult-stationary-travel-trailer-living/. My dear friend Julie just bought a trailer and is working on making is a gorgeous home to live in,
You have such informative and beautiful posts. I appreciate your Sunday devotionals, too.
I ALWAYS look forward to reading your blog! You have great ideas that are easy for anyone. Thank you for helping us create a beautiful home environment!
What a wonderful post. Thanks Yvonne!
Love the blue and white. Great ideas as always and your place calls out “Welcome, come sit and visit awhile”.
Thank you for the tips. I love your knife holder.
I’ve learned from you over the years! I keep things simple in the kitchen and keep countertops functional. Trays are a girl’s best friend!
I love the table in your nook!
Hi Yvonne!
I love your bright and uncluttered kitchen. Do you have a link to the beautiful white container to the right of your sink with flowers? I love the freshness of this!
Thank you
Nina
The container is a drink container. We put lots of ice in it and then add soda, water other cold drinks. I found it at Pottery Barn years ago. I don’t see it any more.
Thank You!