Welcome to the second UK Home Blog Hop organised by the oh, so stylish Kimberly of Swoonworthy Blog. The first Blog Hop was in December and all of the participating bloggers did themselves proud sharing their Christmas preparations. This time around, we’ll be sharing our Summer Style. So expect lots of seasonal inspiration and make sure you hop over to the next blog on the list because you wouldn’t want to miss any of it.

If this is your first time on Dear Designer’s blog and you’ve popped over from French for Pineapple you might like to know a little bit about me. I’m an Interior Designer and I started this blog in 2009 as a way to document and share anything and everything, that interested me about home decor. And I’m still doing it! What started as a hobby turned into a full time job, and I now spend my days writing this blog, including documenting my own decorating projects (because us home bloggers always have a project on the go!), doing occasional interior design jobs, and writing for other websites. And I love it.

My Summer Style is relaxed and casual. It’s definitely my favourite time of year. Not much inside the house changes to be honest. The winter duvet gets cleaned and stored and the summer one comes out. But apart from that, it’s just a question of throwing open all the windows and letting the fresh air in. We all call it ‘blowing away the cobwebs’ and it feels exactly like that. Fresh flowers replace the artificial ones, and I might change the scented diffusers for a more summery scent. That’s it. Because in summer we spend so much more time in the garden.

Our pergola (last years’ project) really comes into it’s own in summer. It’s one of my morning rituals to get the cushions out of the garage and arrange them so that I can pop out and enjoy it any spare five minutes I get. It makes so much difference to enjoy a coffee outside. And it’s also an evening ritual to have a drink out there before dinner. It’s especially relaxing after the plants have been watered and the garden smells fresh.

And entertaining in the summer is just as relaxed and casual. The table gets moved to the centre of the garden where there is much more space and because it’s closer to the kitchen. The parasol goes up, and I just use whatever I have in the house and kitchen to make it look special for guests. In fact, the Wayfair parasol (a gift btw) is the only new thing I have added this year. It’s big and cantilevered so that we can shade the entire table, and it creates a more intimate atmosphere for everyone.

I like to use a freshly ironed white tablecloth, although not necessarily over the entire table, and white plates and napkins. The glass hurricane lamps I have had for years, and I supplement them with nightlights dotted around the table. This time I’ve used miniature lanterns but it could just as easily be any combination of glass or silver holders. Another time I may also hang lanterns from the parasol to add even more twinkling lights.

I’m not a big fan of plastic tableware even in the garden so I use our chunky, French style wine glasses. They are thick and rustic looking and don’t topple over easily. Always a bonus on slightly uneven ground. I have used artificial plants this time though, for adding a bit of green to the table. But I’m sure that these will be replaced with potted herbs after my next visit to the garden centre.

For serving, I like to use a combination of wood or marble platters. Their robust appearance is suited to outdoor dining and the wood adds texture and colour. The platters with metal handles came from Sainsbury’s earlier this year. As did the metal bottle carrier I’m using for the wine. And to make sure the benches are going to be comfy I add blankets and furs from inside, because no one wants a numb bum.

And when dinner is over we can always move across the garden to the sofa under the pergola for coffee and mints.

And that’s not all peeps. Please pop over to Seasons in Colour for some more summer vibes.

And if you want to catch up on the entire blog hop, here’s the full schedule.

Monday

Swoon Worthy

Apartment No. 4

The Ordinary Lovely

French for Pineapple

Dear Designer (that’s me)

Seasons in Colour

Tuesday

Melanie Lissack Interiors

Candy Pop

Sarah Akwisombe

Design Soda

Around The Houses

Lazy Daisy Jones

Wednesday

Old Fashioned Susie

Mademoiselle Poirot

Lisa Dawson Styling

Lust Living

The Pink House

Thursday

Fabric of My Life

Making Spaces

Ana Mum Diary

A Beautiful Space

We Love Home

Friday

Renovation Bay-Bee

Fresh Design Blog

Don’t Cramp My Style

Well I Guess This is Growing Up

Tidy Life