The Magic of Accessories: Our Summer Dining Room Decor

Accessories in a room are like accessories with an outfit - they can add so much personality and they can completely change a look! I love being able to change the feel of a room by swapping out accessories like art, pillows and drapes to give my home different feelings in different seasons, and to see what kinds of moods I can create. Recently, I changed our front sitting room into a dining room. Today I wanted to show you the magic of accessories and how the mood of this dining room can be easily changed for summer by changing accessories.

Here's how our dining room looked this Spring:

You can read more about this makeover here.

And here's how it looks now, for summer:

This is a brighter, simpler look that took me less than an hour to create by switching out a few accessories.

First, I stripped the room down to its bare bones - the large furniture and the area rug. Investing in either neutral furniture or furniture in colours you've loved for years is always a good idea so that you can change accessories on a whim.

Instead of a plant in the corner, I opted to tuck the vintage cane chairs on either side of my updated side table.

Something that I think made a huge difference in this room was swapping the bold artwork for this more light & feminine mirror. This is the Mansard Mirror from The Brick, and I love that it can look a little French Country, but a little Bohemian too. Isn't it gorgeous?!

Paring down on the accessories on this piece helped make the room feel lighter and brighter too.

While I love the dramatic floral drapes, they were starting to feel too heavy for summer. I traded them with some light linen drapes in a solid cream colour.

Our peonies are so close to being finished for the year, but I was able to collect a bunch to add a simple elegance to the dining table.

Editing the pillows on the sofa down to only a couple makes the room feel more summery too.

Watch me transform this room for summer:

Don't you think accessories can make all the difference? Which dining room look do you prefer - the Spring look or the Summer look?

Disclaimer: This post is sponsored by The Brick. As always, all of the opinions here are my own.