We took some time this past month to make sure our living room was ready to take advantage of the lazy days of summer. We don’t plan a lot of activities for our kids outside of the farm, or try not to, during the glorious summer break. Jonathan and I knew we had to quickly get things organized to accommodate our five children and ever-rotating cast of family and friends. When your answering machine says “We don’t check our messages this time of year and you know we love you so jump in your car or on a horse and come over,” you know we have to be ready to entertain at all times.

We typically greet our spontaneous guests just inside our front door. Since our policy is to leave our doors wide open, our friends simply walk right in. The entrance leads you almost immediately into our living room. Before the anticipated parade of guests arrive this summer, we took some to think about how we could give the space an organized and calm feeling. We were inspired by the Air Wick Scent Decorator and got to work. Just as it describes, the tool “enables you to pair the perfect scent and home decor ideas with the mood you want to create in your home.” We spent some time on the site, selecting mood images and got a recommendation for the Sweet Lavender Days Scented Oil.

The house seemed to have piles of creative children’s artifacts everywhere. This was our chance to remove evidence of a robust school year and reset with a clean slate. We decided to pay special attention to our five senses and to let them guide us to achieve a peaceful space. Check out how we transformed our home into an inviting and extremely chill summer lounge.

In our house, cooking and eating are always family events. The summer weather provides the most delicious local fruits and vegetables and we make sure to take advantage of those whenever possible.

Especially when guests are visiting, we make extra sure to have lots of healthy snacks and sweet treats on hand. Having fresh fruit in the house is always a great starting point – I set them out in a big bowl on our table so that both our kids and summer guests know they’re welcome to have a snack in between meals if they’re hungry.

I haven’t yet met a person who doesn’t like some sort of pie, so that’s often our go-to dessert in the summer. At the market we’ll buy whichever fruit or berry is in season and bake a couple for good measure. News of freshly baked pies travels fast, so they often get gobbled up in no time at all.

One of our goals for our living room was to create a space where your eyes want to wander but can then rest on items of interest. In such a large and busy household, we each have our own growing collections and hobbies. We wanted our living space to reflect all those things, but without feeling cluttered or overpowering.

Before starting to rearrange and display our favorite trinkets for the new season, we decided that the focus of our living room would be on peaceful storytelling. We each selected a few items that are especially significant to us that we wanted to put on display. Things like the kids’ art projects, souvenirs, and handmade gifts from close friends were a few of the things that made the cut. Everything else was put away and organized in storage until we decide mix things up again.

Everything isn’t perfectly “match-y,” but we didn’t want that. I love the thoughtfulness behind our living space, and all the happy memories and stories that it represents. We want our summer guests to feel relaxed and at home here most of all.

Our family loves the more relaxed pace of day-to-day life on our farm, especially in the summer. Scent is often underestimated, but it is such a key ingredient when setting a mood in your house. For us, summer is home to some of the most nostalgic experiences and smells – wildflowers blowing in the breeze, roasting marshmallows over a campfire, and clean laundry drying on the clothesline to name just a few!

The smells of summer wafting through the house always brighten my day. Another way we introduce scents in our home is using Air Wick Sweet Lavendar Days PlugIn Scented Oil. On the hot and humid days when we have to keep the windows shut to keep the cool air in, I’ll choose a fragrance or two to keep the house feeling fresh, peaceful, and welcoming. It’s impossible to be in a bad mood when you can smell fresh flowers in the air.

And of course, music can’t be left out when setting the mood for a relaxing summer weekend. On weekend mornings once I’m awake and fixing coffee in the kitchen, I’ll start some music and let it echo softly around the house. In my mind, there’s nothing better than waking up to some upbeat yet peaceful notes on a slow Saturday morning. The ritual reminds me of my childhood, and puts me in a positive mindset for the rest of the day.

Below we’ve included a playlist aptly named “Stay Calm” and think it sets the perfect mood for a summer Saturday. Calm music like this is great for starting the day, but also a nice way to wind down in the evenings. All the songs we’ve included are low key and restful, and definitely allow for long and winding conversations that last into the night.

Preparation is key when planning for an inviting and relaxing space for guests. It may seem a bit daunting at first, but breaking it down into the five scents is the best place to start. We knew we wanted our home to be welcoming, peaceful, and cheerful this summer so by thinking about taste, sight, touch, scent, and sound we were able to put together a to do list that helped us achieve the summer lounge of our dreams.

 

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This post is sponsored by Airwick. The views expressed in this post are solely from Handmade Charlotte and do not necessarily represent the views and opinions of Airwick.