Fresh, pretty summer bedroom ideas for the new season (2024)

As summer brings its light nights and warm temperatures to our shores once more, we start to think about how we might tweak our interiors to reflect the new season. The bedroom is a great place to start, because it's a place we particularly need to feel cool and fresh as we wind down for the evening or wake up in the morning. Few of us can afford to give our houses a full overhaul for each season (much as we'd like to), but there are a few easy and affordable adjustments we might to bring a little seasonal style to our summer bedrooms.

Change your textiles

The obvious place to start is with a bedding overhaul. Linen bedding is made from the quintessential summer material, easy and relaxed in its aesthetic and cool and fresh to the touch. It can also be surprisingly affordable, and we love the range of pastel colours it tends to come in.

With a wide range of ready made curtains out there, changing your curtains for summer may not be as big a project as you think. There are quite a few affordable options out there in cottons, linens and voiles, which will look so pretty fluttering in a warm breeze.

Nothing says summer like flowers, and a few lightly printed floral patterns can instantly lift a room and transport it away from winter cosiness to summer freshness. A light summer quilt or blanket can change the entire look of your bed, which does after all take up plenty of space in a room, or a few cushions can add charm to plain white bedding. If florals aren't quite your thing, try gingham, which has an irresistibly airy feel.

If you're looking to invest a little more time and effort, we love the idea of a light canopy or bed hangings, constructed around a four-poster bed. Light metal or wooden frames can be bought relatively easily, and draping them in linen or sheer fabrics can create a magical, enveloping atmosphere.

Summery colours

If you're overhauling your bedding or indeed if you happen to be repainting your bedroom at this time of year, there are plenty of colours that provide a sense of summer. A simple white bedroom can take on a Mediterranean feel (think the whitewashed walls of the Greek islands), so don't reject white paint for being too boring; on the other hand pastel hues of pale blue, lilac and sage green feel particularly of the moment.

There are a few classic colour combinations that we cannot resist for summer. Red and white, especially in the form of a stripe, has unmistakeable associations with beach umbrellas and sun loungers, and has the capacity to bring a bit of the beach indoors (though not in the annoying, sand in your handbag sort of way). Blue and white is another unfailingly seaside-y combination, recalling the jaunty aesthetics of boats bobbing in a harbour. Add a touch of yellow in there to suggest sunshine, and summer will never be far away.

Natural materials

Begone, heavy, synthetic materials! Now is the season to think about the natural world and all its attendant beauties. There are certain materials that we always associate with holidays and sunshine, and rattan is first in line. It's almost impossible to avoid rattan these days, but we have no objection to that. A side chair in the tropical material could be a charming addition to your summer bedroom, or even something smaller like a tray or mirror.

And of course don't forget about the ubiquitous natural fibres of jute, sisal and seagrass, which we love for carpets and rugs at any time of year. They're perennially stylish and have the extra virtue of being very affordable, meaning you could easily swap in a jute rug over a woollen one when warmer weather approaches. It's also very easy to find and fit lampshades made from the same materials, which lend a pleasingly Caribbean vibe to any room.

Art, accessories and flowers

Switching out some artworks can be an easy way to transform the look of a room, and affordable prints are not exactly hard to come by. We love, for example, the covetable travel prints created by Guy Georget in the 1950s and 60s, which conjure up the landscapes of Greece, the south of France and California in bold, striking colours.

A little scene-setting can make all the difference in an interior. Remove all the old half-burned scented candles of winter and make way for some fresh fragrances, perhaps in the form of an essential oil diffuser. Make sure the bedside table is supplied with a cooling carafe of water and a decorative glass, and inject some style notes that are reminiscent of summer holidays.

Anything that reminds you of travel should have its place in your summer bedroom. A plate in southern Italian splatterware, perhaps? A scallop trompe l'oeil platter for serving early evening nibbles during apéro hour? We love Lucinda Chambers' idea of decorating her holiday house with straw hats hanging on the walls, each one found in a different market.

Now might be the time to brighten up the room with new plants and flowers. There's no doubt houseplants are having a serious cultural moment, so make the most of it with a charming little money plant or a trailing stem of devil's ivy. Flowers are an indispensable means of brightening up your bedroom at any time of year, so invest in a cheerful new vase and bring in the best of the season's roses.

Cooling apparatus

Once the style of your room is under control, it's time to get a bit more technical. There is a wealth of bedding out there designed specifically to keep your temperature under control: take a look through our guide to cooling pillows, and consider interesting innovations like bamboo sheets, which are naturally cooling.

And of course, let's not forget about fans, which should have a permanent place on a side table for the duration of the summer. Yes, they can be a bit of an eyesore, but there are a few stylish options out there if they're going to be in a prominent position.