During warm-weather months, you have a primitive urge to clean up, clean out, and re-arrange your living space. Maybe it was easy for our forebears to clean out their caves, but for many of us it becomes a real challenge.

Just about everyone would like to have more living space. Here’s the secret most professionals agree upon: clutter is the enemy. It’s a challenge for most people to be ruthless when cleaning out their living area (or closets). But the results are a more serene and peaceful environment that will soothe you when you open your front door.

Think about your options. Being tough is easier when you know you are giving away items to a charitable organization, and that someone in need will make good use of them; or, that you’ll make a little money by selling them. Live by the rule: reduce, resell, and recycle.

Lauren Wilkins, an Interior Design instructor at The Art Institute of New York City, says summer is prime time for entertaining when everything is more casual, so lighten the feel of your environment. She suggests having small occasional tables, benches or stools to pull out of the closet when company comes. Scale is important; remove a big table and add nesting tables.

Brightening up the whole color scheme is simple and can be done inexpensively. Vibrant colors are summery, or if you prefer, cool colors can create a serene environment — think of the blues and aquas of the ocean, a lake or a pool.

“The heavy objects like major pieces of furniture will stay, but pillows, throws and light-weight curtains can be bought very inexpensively, and can change the tone of the room,’ Wilkins says. ‘The dark colors of fall — burgundy, brown, deep olive — are switched to bright florals, stripes or light solids. These are inexpensive but effective changes.”

LaToya Nelson, also an interior design instructor at The Art Institute of New York City says, “Think about people in the space in summer. Most people do entertain more, so visualize how your interior and exterior interact together. Emphasize the flow between the interior and the patio, terrace or lawn.”

“Roll up your heavy rug, add a light colored straw rug,” she suggests. She too is an advocate of nesting tables for entertaining.

Nelson emphasizes sustainability: “Help the environment by making sure the sun doesn’t blaze through the windows leading to an increase in air conditioning use.  Window treatments can help. They contribute to the aesthetic environment but also act as thermal barriers by reducing the direct impact of the sun,” she says.

“If you have direct southern exposure, protect the room,” Nelson says. “Eco-friendly products utilizing rapidly renewable or recycled materials may enhance the interior atmosphere by connecting the interior environment with nature. And of course, bringing plants inside is a way of bringing the outside in.”

Both instructors agree that this season it can be more than furniture you rearrange — it can be your attitude and awareness of nature and its harmonious relationship with your home space.

To learn more about The Art Institutes system of schools, visit www.artinstitutes.edu/nz.

‘So many of us work really hard on our flower gardens and unfortunately those tender blossoms just don’t last all that long,’ says Keith Winkler, design expert at Replacements, Ltd., billed as the world’s largest supplier of old and new china, crystal, silver and collectibles. ‘Whether you have large flower beds or just a window box, it’s very easy to let nature be your guide and take advantage of the vibrant seasonal colors and textures by adding flowers and other greenery to your dinner table.’

Think fresh

Summer decorating can go way beyond simply picking a bouquet for your favorite vase. Winkler says with a little creativity you can come up with ideas as fresh as your summer flowers. Start by looking for the beautiful things blooming in your yard and work those into your table setting.

‘You can easily incorporate pieces of your china pattern as well by filling a soup tureen or other large serving pieces with water and floating fragrant blossoms such as gardenias, magnolias or peonies,’ Winkler says. ‘This will create great ambiance by filling your house with a lovely summer smell.’

Another suggestion is to tie cut flowers to colorful fabric napkins with ribbon or twine, or even wrapping running vines like ivy, jasmine or honeysuckle around candle sticks. You can also fill unused tea cups or crystal pieces with colorful blossoms to use at each individual place setting, or arrange candles and flowers on cake stands to use as table centerpieces or in any room of your home. If you live near a lake or the ocean, use sand, shells, driftwood or other materials found along the water’s edge.

Go green

Leaves, fern fronds and other greenery also make great accents. Winkler says another quick summer decorating trick is to take a pretty variegated leaf from a plant such as a hosta and lay it flat on a dinner plate, then place a clear glass luncheon or salad plate over the leaf to place food on. You can use various colored plates, leaves or flowers to create different looks for each guest.

Head outdoors

Why stay inside when you can go directly to Mother Nature?

‘So many people are trapped in the mindset that fine china should only be used for formal meals around the dining room table,’ says Jill Slatter, Replacements’ etiquette expert. ‘That’s just so limiting. You can have fantastic alfresco entertaining such as a beautiful dinner at sunset or under the stars simply by using ‘your good stuff’ outdoors.’

Slatter suggests even using nature as a theme for summer dinner parties. She says you can find thousands of patterns inspired by nature, or add to your own from the company’s inventory of more than 13 million pieces.

Don’t know the pattern name? Take advantage of the Replacements’ free pattern identification service. You can find more decorating tips at Replacements.com.

We love to light the citronella tiki torches and sit by the lake after the bar-b-que, kayaking, and fishing and enjoy the campfire (if  cool enough) and the singing to our friends guitar.  Our friend’s love to be outdoors in the spring, summer, and autumn.  What a great, fun way to entertain.