Ahhh, sumptuous days of summer. Clear skies, green lawns, barbeques and trips to beach. Who wouldn’t want to capture that feeling year-round?

Believe it or not, it is easy to bring style of summer into your own home. Follow these simple, inexpensive tips, and be on your way to enjoying a summer home in your own home... any time of year! Color is Key Paint is a simple tool that can be used to create a summery atmosphere in any room of your home. Brighten up a living room with lime green walls, a dining room with canary yellow, or a playroom with creamsicle orange.

Lighten up dark wood coffee tables, side tables or bookshelves with salmon pink or eggshell blue. Even painting inside of a dark bookshelf a bright, summery color can freshen up a room considerably.

Store or cover darker colored items, such as maroon pillows and brown couches, replacing them or covering them with lighter, brighter covers. Floral patterns are nice and summery, as is a beach motif. Hang white or see-through curtains over dark drapes to quickly achieve a summery feel.

White is perennial summery non-color. Repainting walls, bookshelves, coffee tables, and even framed mirrors a cool, crisp white will transform any room. With all that white, don’t be surprised if you and your family feel like you’ve been instantly transported to Miami Beach! Fabric of Life Store or cover wintry wares like velvet drapes and pillows, wool throws, and dark leather couches, ottomans and chairs. Don’t worry, you can always rotate them back out again when you are ready to return from your summer retreat!

Add summery fabrics, like linen table cloths, cotton flower-print curtains, and gauzy bed skirts.

Parlez-vous Françes? Don’t worry - you don’t need to speak French in order to enjoy bright, comfortable and classic style of French Country in your home. From weathered walls to wide wooden tables, it is not hard to achieve French Country look using following guidelines.

French Country style is all about well-used, worn-in, imperfect but beautiful architectural elements, furniture and accessories. Forget sleek lines, fine china, and black, white and gray color combos. Instead, fill your house with chunky wood tables, dozens of sweet-smelling flowers, and brightly patterned couches, curtains and pillows styled after look of Provence, southeast region in France that borders Mediterranean Sea.

When choosing a French Country style home, think along lines of cracked wood beams, curved panels, hand-carved decorations and raw material flooring and walls, like stone or exposed brick. Raw or distressed wood also can be used to cultivate a French Country atmosphere, as do uneven plaster walls.

Don’t worry about that spider crack in paint in your kitchen, or slight discoloration of paint in your bedroom or living room. In French Country "speak", these imperfections simply add character.

Other French Country architectural features include shutters for your windows, narrow, deeply cut window sills, and striped fabric awnings over windows to afford home dweller extra protect from heat.

But what if you just want to add some French Country flair to home you already have, without changing its walls, floors and windows? No sweat. Rustic furniture is a key element to French Country style. Think oversized rectangle or round wooden dining room tables, with a dull waxed or natural finish.

Chairs and occasional tables of French Country style can be curved or boast carved designs in woodwork. Dining room chairs can have a ladderback style or vertical slats. Also, large armoires are well-suited to French Country look, giving owner a nice cool place to store dishes, linens, or even clothing.