Summer Vignettes & Prep for House Guests
After just having finished our kitchen, the calendar is about to get crazy again (I’m currently in the air on my way to Arizona for a work trip as we speak). Emmett and I have four(!) sets of house guests scheduled to visit this summer and I figured a little home styling was in order! Our friends also moved in with us (as of last night), and they’ll be staying for three weeks (more on that in the post). Anyway… I want our friends & family to feel welcome during their summer travels. We love sharing our favorite seasonal Utah activities with visitors- from kayaking on the lake, hiking, tubing through the canyons on the river, live music, and anything in between- this is always such a fun time of year to host. I “fluffed” our outdoor areas, did some cleaning, and made the guest rooms feel a bit more welcoming. I thought it would be fun to share some summer vignettes and the prep I did for our house guests with you! Click through to read about it, see how things are currently looking- and to shop some of my summertime decor finds from Walmart Home.
*This post is sponsored by Walmart. All content, ideas, and words are my own. Thank you for supporting the brands that allow us to create unique content while featuring products we actually use & enjoy!
First up, the guest rooms… without getting into the long version of this story, our friends purchased a home and are moving into our neighborhood (yay!). We’re super excited to have them nearby, but their closing, move-out, and move-in dates didn’t exactly align as they had hoped. Long story short- they’re moving in with us for a few weeks until they take possession of their new home- which is a really cool a-frame! I’ll have to show you once they’re in. All of this to say- I tried to pay a little more attention to the guest rooms in an effort to make them feel like home-away-from-home during their awkward transition. I guess there is no time like the present to style things a bit better and get our upstairs in order. We have four bedrooms upstairs and one in the basement… obviously we haven’t renovated any of them yet, but someday it will happen!
I brought some things upstairs from my prop closet and added some new items for summer as well. I hit the jackpot with these candles! I bought them because I loved the size, shape, and texture of the glass vessel they come in, but believe me when I say- these are my best find in this entire post! They’re SO good. I realllllly love the scent and was pleasantly surprised when they arrived. I actually bought 5 because I love them so much- and you can’t beat the $6 price tag! I also scored this cute little marble tray.
In another guest room, you might recognize the table lamp from my latest thrifting adventure. I went diving around some guy’s garage and scored so many treasures! This room got a candle as well… along with a cozy throw. We don’t have a bed frame in this room yet, but I’m not really in a rush to find one. I’m hoping the comfortable bedding and mattress will make our guests happy enough to forget about the lack of bed frame. I ended up buying a few of those throws, because I wanted to keep a basket of them outside. Evenings get chilly here! The throws are really quite heavy and are awesome quality.
In that same bedroom, you might remember the window nook? I bought two of these woven ottomans for the balcony and was happily surprised by the large scale (clearly, I didn’t check dimensions). I ended up only needing one outside, so the remaining pouf made its way into the window lounge area. Speaking of the balcony…
It basically looks the same (if you missed the reveal, click here). I added a basket filled with the aforementioned throws because I’m guessing we’ll end up hanging out up here- or down below on the patio. I also have a bunch of our friend’s plants outside that I’m trying to keep alive until the move. Did you notice I pruned my tree? It doesn’t look as fluffy anymore!
Cash has basically claimed the ottoman as his personal perch, but my plan was to have additional floating seating for our extra guests. It’s a pretty versatile pouf- I like it both indoors and out.
Moving back inside to the basement, in our smallest guest room- I felt kind of bad for giving whoever sleeps downstairs the “bad” bathroom. Our friends who sleep upstairs are basically living the dream with our newly renovated guest bath. Downstairs isn’t too terrible, but it’s definitely outdated and there is carpet in the bath (yikes!! I know). I guess the plus side is the basement kitchen? Anyway, I moved my little console table downstairs into the bedroom and added some toiletries (including my DIY sugar scrub). I’m hoping it’s the thought that counts and makes that area of our house a little more enjoyable.
I layered the toiletries onto this gorgeous, heavy marble tray. I love the brass botanical handles! This thing looks SO much more expensive than it actually is! Surprise- another candle too. I wasn’t kidding when I said I bought five. Haha!
Shop my finds by clicking directly on each item below!
01: bistro chair // 02: textured candle // 03: small marble tray // 04: accent pouf // 05: marble tray // 06: seagrass basket // 07: striped throw // 08: tassel pillow
In between busy work projects and lots of house guests, you better believe I’ll be over here soaking up every ounce of summer. I’m hoping for some outdoor adventures, pool days, wine on the patio, and plenty of summer sunsets from the balcony. How is your summer going so far?