Eclectic Summer Home Tour and Blog Hop 2016
Are you ready for summer? It’s a great time to spruce up your space with different colors and textures in an eclectic vibe! There are loads of inspiration for you this week and just after seeing a few of the first tours, I’m really excited to see the rest.
If you are coming from {Home-ology} Modern Vintage welcome!! We live in a Japanese rental home in Okinawa (for at least 1 and a half more years). I don’t do much for our front porch because of the frequent typhoons but here is a picture of our neighborhood. These few houses were built for Americans.
We live in one of the pink houses. 🙂 Konichiwa! Come on in.
We have an “L” shaped foyer with plenty of storage for books, shoes, and art. I love displaying local beach finds and decor from all of our travels in this space. The floral paper lantern light was a fun DIY to brighten up the space.
On the other side is a cute mantel I found at a local gift shop. It’s really fun to create seasonal vignettes with it.
The bottom floor is one large open space so we’ve been creative by making different zones. This five feet of wall space is my office. It was interesting decorating around a fire extinguisher and fuse boxes but if you can’t make the ugly go away, make it pretty!
I also teach piano lessons so my music studio sits in the corner of the living space.
The rest of the space is our living room and kitchen. Our home is always filled with natural light and we can peek at the ocean through our windows. That totally makes up for the linoleum floors!
We found most of our furniture at local thrift stores like the two gorgeous barrel chairs and the asian media stand. It’s hard to find American size furniture here. My husband looks like he is sitting on doll furniture in the local stores. 😉
Simple DIYS (black washi tape on white candles) and painted furniture really made this space feel like home.
I just participated in my first ORC and made over our kitchen. (You can read about it here.) I REALLY wanted floral in my kitchen so I added removable wallpaper to the cabinets.
There is washi tape everywhere here so there are washi tape DIYS all over our house! The black swiss crosses and our china cabinet both are spruced up with a pop of color.
Our laundry and downstairs bathroom are tucked behind the kitchen. I shared the latest makeover during the New Year New Room Refresh. Let’s head upstairs!
Most recently, I’ve changed around our bedroom furniture and added more summer inspired decor with seaside colors and textures.
Behind our house are local Japanese families. They are very friendly and I enjoy seeing the same neighbors every day.
Just a couple of more blocks is the Pacific ocean. It’s a dream come true to live close to the water.
Thanks so much for stopping by today. Next stop on the home tours is Bigger Than the Three of Us.
Monday
Ciburbanity
The Striped House
Style Mutt Home
This is Our Bliss
Wednesday
Copper Dot Interiors
Up to Date Interiors
Bigger Than the Three of Us
Thursday
Rain on a Tin Roof
Domicile 37
Friday
Primitive & Proper
A Designer at Home
Suburban Bitches
Casa Watkins Living
Make sure to check out my summer page full of DIYs, decorating tips, and printables for the season.
Such a pretty home and you get bonus points for making the most of a rental, and double bonus point for moving with a giant piano. I would cringe every time they moved it. Love your home, well done!
Thanks Maggie! I do have some stories about moving that piano. This last move was great though. The Japanese were very efficient and professional.
Kathy, I ALWAYS love seeing your home. Your eye for mixing and matching accents is so fantastic. Love the summer refresh and your master bedroom side table is superb.
Thank you Steph! I’m going to miss this place when we move in another year or so.
so lovely! that pale pink in the china cabinet…. LOVE!
Thanks Cassie!! The pink was a little darker than I had imagine but with all of the sunlight, it’s perfect.
I am always so amazed at what a brilliant job you do making your rental feel everything but temporary. It looks like you’ve been there a decade and plan to stay forever in the best possible way!
AW!! Thanks Melissa. That made my day! xoxo
I am so jealous that you are so close to the water! I adore the floral wallpaper on your kitchen cabinets and the campaign dresser in your living room. Your bedroom is so bright and colorful – perfect for summer 😉
Thanks Jen! We LOVE it here.
I love every bit of your home! Having that beautiful view and all that natural light absolutely makes up for the vinyl floor! I also spied that awesome wood sofa table, and I want!
Thanks Sarah! The wood is a piece of Okinawan pine that we picked up here and I just attached hairpin legs. 🙂
Wow, I totally love the wood pieces in your bedroom. They are so incredibly unique. Also, I really like how you turned the cabinet sideways in the living room. I would have never thought to do that!
Thanks Ashley!
I always enjoy your home tours! Your home is so bright and airy and I love how you style it. Your photographs are beautiful, too. I think the linoleum would be preferable to carpeting, especially since it’s white, which always looks good. I hope you’ll post about your girls’ weekend soon–I love when you share posts about living and traveling in Japan. 🙂
Thanks Sharon! Oh, maybe I will. It’s nice to hear that someone enjoys seeing my traveling pics. 🙂
I am constantly amazed by your home and the way you are able to take a temporary rental space and make it look like you’ve been tweaking and perfecting the design of it for a lifetime. You have serious skills my friend!
Thank you so much Angela! It’s been challenging but so much fun. 🙂
Kathy! This was such a beautiful tour. You have done a great job at making this rental your home and the extra beach pics and neighborhood pictures are great for memories and would look so pretty framed. You are so talented and your pics are always on point!
AW! Thanks friend. This island is so pretty, even the dirty concrete houses look picturesque. xoxo
How did I miss you were in JAPAN?! LOVE it!!!! I don’t know where to start with your home!! It’s so fun and interesting and curated! I love the buddha head and the raw edge wood sofa table! The bench at the foot of your bed is A+ also… Now that I know where you live, I REALLY want to come over. 😉
lol, anytime. We don’t get too many visitors but it sure is beautiful here. The sofa table, buddha head, and bench all came from Okinawa. 🙂 It’s so much fun shopping on this island.
Your home is so charming!! I’m particularly in love with your little turkish rug and the bench at the foot of your bed!
Thanks Karen! We found that little bench at a local boutique where everything was expensive except for that bench. Imported from Indonesia I believe. It’s teak.
Your home is gorgeous, Kathy! I’ve seen bits and pieces before (like your fabulous kitchen cabinets), but never all together. It’s so bright and happy! And love that you’re so close to the ocean. Perfect.
Thank you Arielle! I love opening the curtains in the morning and seeing the ocean first thing. Then I step outside and am covered in sweat in seconds bc of the humidity. lol
You have such a lovely home, it’s an inspiration! The neighbourhood looks peaceful too. I love the mixture of styles and the muted colours, especially the way the kitchen chairs are painted! Great job and thank you for sharing 🙂
Thank you so much! We really enjoy it here.