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Blue and White Vintage Decor for Summer

By Rachel

published 06/13/2024

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Blue and white vintage decor for Summer is light, airy, and oh so charming!

Summer is a time of warmth, relaxation, and vibrant colors. What better way to bring that energy into your home than with a splash of blue and white vintage decor for Summer? Join me for part one of a three part Summer home series and learn how you can effortlessly incorporate this easy, breezy vibe into your home!

Summer Decor with Vintage Finds

From breezy beach cottages to rustic country homes, the classic blue and white color combination has been making a comeback in interior design trends. According to a recent study, 60% of homeowners are now embracing a vintage aesthetic for their Summer home decor.

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So, if you’re looking to add a touch of timeless, beach-y charm to your space, read on to learn about the budget-friendly nature and versatility of blue and white vintage decor!

Why Decorate with Vintage Decor for Summer?

Well, my short answer to this question is ‘why not?!’

Vintage decor lovers like myself will fully understand the appeal, charm, and overall peaceful aesthetic that vintage items bring to any space.

Vintage finds are worn, loved, and well-used items from years past. Each piece infuses its unique and character-rich qualities into your home, gifting you with a space that no one else has!

Here are some benefits of using vintage decor to style your Summer home:

being able to source most items from thrift shops or antique stores, it’s a budget-friendly option
using secondhand decor is sustainable and eco-friendly
your home will not be like anyone else’s
each decor item will feel special because you took the time to look for it and hand-chose it for a specific purpose
vintage decor contains so much more character than mass-produced items
these are quality items will last for many, many years

Shop Vintage Summer Decor

Blue and White Vintage Decor for Summer

Hello, guys! Welcome to my 2024 Summer home tour. It’s great to have you!

In an effort to keep these seasonal tour posts shorter, you may notice a different blog post layout than previous years. Today is part one of a three part Summer home series that will span four weeks. This first post in the series includes the mantel, living room credenza, bathroom, and dining table styling.

So, grab a tasty beverage and settle in for some thrifty ideas on how to style blue and white vintage decor for Summer!

Summer Decorating on the Mantel

Let us begin the Summer tour with the mantel and hearth.

As you probably know, due to its shape, my mantel gives me the most grief when thinking of new ways to decorate it. But, this is the first time, for whatever reason, that my creative juices just flowed out of me. I had the mantel styled within 30 minutes and it’s, by far, my most favorite styling variation!

Blue and White Mantel Decor

Within the blue and white theme, I knew I wanted to infuse yellow throughout. So, on the right side of the mantel, the yellow accents first come into play.

The yellow enamel teapot makes a huge statement against the black. I placed the teapot on top of a vintage wooden cheesebox for added height and dimension.

The wood also adds warmth to this small space!

In the back, I filled a large white enamel kettle with faux ferns and yellow ranunculus stems. The stems help to bring in more height while the stems add movement and life to this area.

Decorating Tip: When styling any area of your home, greenery or flowers are your best friend. If any space feels flat or like something is missing, place a few stems into a vase or jar. It will immediately change the whole look!

To the right of the kettle, a thrifted teal glass jug, reminiscent of sea glass, infuses coastal color. Paired with some hobnail milk glass cups, the beach-y blue and white elements anchor the theme.

On the left side of the mantel, I decided to use my collection of vintage blue books and line them up across the middle. To solidify each end, I used a pair of hobnail milk glass creamers to act as bookends!

To bring cohesion to both sides of the mantel, I used white vintage hankies as a base as well as yellow billy ball stems inside milk glass cups.

When you look at the mantel full on, yes there are two ‘separate’ displays or sides.

But, the similar elements incorporated on both sides helps to achieve balance within, creating one unified and harmonious mantel display.

My advice for you, if you have a disjointed mantel like mine, is to incorporate like items.

These items don’t have to necessarily match but rather act as amicable accents, playing off each other to offer balance.

Overall, this mantel display makes me so happy. Through the use of some of my very favorite vintage decor pieces, the mantel brought my Summer home vision to life!

Simple Hearth Decor for Summer

To conclude this section, I want to briefly touch on the hearth.

As we move our gaze to the bottom portion of the fireplace, I have my very favorite transferware pitcher styled with faux ferns. The blue book breaks up the white on white color tones and the yellow gingham ribbon is a nod to the yellow happening up above.

Decorating your home for Summer can be as simple as sticking some stems in a vessel with a coordinating ribbon, book, or linen. Let your house breathe this season and use decor that feels light and airy!

How to Use Ribbon for Summer Decor Styling

As we move to the credenza, you will notice the white and blue theme really take hold.

I wanted to keep this piece of furniture and accompanying vignette fairly minimal. Since it butts up against the windows, I wanted to let as much as Summer sun in as possible and not cover the whole surface with decor pieces.

Using a white eyelet table runner as a base, I built a Summer vignette off of it. Each piece of vintage decor styled here ties in with the next, helping to move your eyes down the credenza.

Starting with the blue jug on the left, this thrifted decor piece acts as a visual anchor for the vignette, bringing height and texture with the use of trailing greenery.

In the middle of the display, I styled lower-profile decor options such as a blue and white ironstone tureen, a milk glass pitcher, and a vintage blue spritzer. These smaller decor accessories are just as important as the large ones because they help tie the whole display together!

The yellow gingham ribbon is the same ribbon that I tied to the pitcher on the hearth.

Using ribbon for seasonal decorating is one of the most budget-friendly and eye-catching decorating hacks that I’ve learned over the years.

Simple seasonal ideas for incorporating ribbon include:

tie it onto a wreath
make a bow around handles of pitchers, around the tops of vases or jugs, or onto knobs
weave ribbon in and out of a vignette display
tie onto the top of a tureen
place a tied ribbon bow onto books or a linen
tie around a row of vintage books

Vintage and Thrifted Decor on a Summer Credenza

To add more height near the right side, I placed my milk glass banana stand on top of a vintage book. Then, to pull in the yellow theme, I laid a bunch of faux yellow wildflowers inside.

Summer decorating does not need to be complicated nor expensive.

Through the use of a few thrifted decor pieces, you can achieve a well-thought out and creative display for mere dollars!

There is truly nothing like vintage and thrifted decor for any season but especially for Summer when the vibe is laid back and carefree.

Bathroom Decor for Summer

From experience, the bathroom is the last spot in the house to be decorated for the seasons. But, we spend so much time in the bathroom throughout the day so it makes sense to infuse pretty decor throughout the small space!

To tie the hall bath in with the rest of the house, I incorporated more gingham ribbon by simply tying a piece around this vintage glass jar. A vintage blue book underneath a milk glass bowl brings the blue and white theme into this space, as well.

On the opposite wall, a Summer vignette carries the theme in such lovely way. Using leftover decor that I didn’t use in the rest of the house, I was able to style this shelf in coordinating colors and patterns.

You can use many different types of vintage items on a shelf such as enamelware, ironstone, and glass as long as you have cohesive elements that tie the area together.

In this case, it’s the blue and white color theme paired with yellow accents.

You could use similar floral stems, greenery, or linens to tie a shelf together, as well.

Again, I used two larger pieces of vintage decor to anchor the ends of the shelf. To add more height and dimension, I utilized a long-neck green vase so that this bunch of faux daisies would stand up taller than the rest.

Lastly, the two vintage platters stacked one in front of the other offer a layered look, creating depth and contrast.

See? Even bathroom decor for Summer doesn’t need to be complicated or over-done. Use what you have, add a few unique touches, and call it good!

Simple Summer Dining Table Styling with Gingham

In this last section of today’s tour, I wanted to briefly touch on simple dining table decor for Summer. Again, in keeping with the overarching light and airy aesthetic, you can keep the dining area very minimal.

My very favorite pattern to use for the Summer months is gingham.

It’s quintessentially Summer, you know?! From picnic blankets to napkins to table linens, this beloved pattern is the staple on my table for the season.

To start, I used a vintage blue and white table cloth for the base. Then, to pull the blue and white theme to the dining area, I paired blue and white gingham placemats with vintage yellow and white gingham napkins. The combination of the large and small gingham prints unites the table but also offers variety amongst the space as a whole.

For a simple centerpiece, I placed fresh flowers from Trader Joe’s inside my favorite ironstone pitcher. To anchor the pitcher and give it a bit more substance, I set a vintage bowl underneath it.

The yellow and white flowers complement the table in such a natural way!

As I’ve mentioned throughout this post, Summer decor is all about feeling light, airy, breezy, and uncomplicated.

For Summer especially, where the days are long, warm, and bright, it’s important for the decor in your home to mimic how you want to feel. Fill it with unstuffy, inexpensive, and simple things in life because that’s how Summer is…carefree, wild, and adventurous.

I urge you to slow down and really live this Summer season. Treat your home as an extension of you and fill it with things that bring you joy!

Shop the Gingham Look

Closing Tidbits on Blue and White Vintage Decor for Summer

That rounds out the first part of my Summer home series of blue and white vintage decor for Summer! Truly, if you are looking to infuse a coastal, vintage charm into your home this Summer, vintage finds are the absolute perfect solution.

As we have explored in this post, incorporating these classic colors and timeless pieces can add a sense of freshness and simplicity to any space. Let us take a cue from the past and fill our homes with these delightful hues for Summer.

Vintage decor isn’t not just about aesthetics – it’s about creating a sense of warmth and nostalgia that can transport us to a simpler time. Be encouraged to find a slow way of living this season, finding a sense of wonder along the way.

Leave me a comment. How do you decorate your home for Summer? I love hearing from you!

PIN it to remember it for later!

If you are new here, I’m Rachel, the writer and content creator here at The Antiqued Journey. I’m so happy to have you! I encourage you to stop by the ‘about me’ page to get to know me a little more.

Here on the blog, you will find loads of inspiration for decorating with vintage and antique decor, simple DIY crafts and many thrifting adventures. If that interests you, I invite you to sign up for my e-mail. You will receive a free digital download as a thank you!

My New E-Book is Available!

My new book, ‘An Introduction to: Antique and Vintage Home Decor’, is a piece of work that has been two years in the making.

This 32 page, downloadable e-book is full of valuable information such as tips for sourcing, finding, and styling vintage decor. I touch on many different types of decor including milk glass, copper, and linens.

You can find it below!

‘An Introduction to: Antique and Vintage Home Decor’