Summer Vibes in Our Collected Home

Happy summer solstice day for all you in the Northern Hemisphere! Right now I've got summer vibes throughout our home. Today I'm inviting you inside my collected home for a little tour of updates I've made since the first of the year. It's kind of a vintage armchair shopping (hence, collected) / home tour thing, since it's our first summer in this new home. Grab a beverage, and come virtually inside!

Front entry summer 2022

Foyer summer 2022

It was winter when I gave a first inside look of our current home. For those unaware, I purged more than 50% of our furniture and decor when we downsized into a condo in 2019. We moved into this home in October 2021. I've continued scouting estate sales and our local ReStore for a few key pieces I still wanted to furnish rooms with to my satisfaction.  I also bought a couple things new, and even started unboxing some of my things I've had stored the past three years. I'll take you room by room.

Great room entry from garage summer 2022

We have an entry into our great room (kitchen/dining/living area) from our garage, so I purchased the bench (above) for placing just inside the door. It was sold as an outdoor bench, but for now it's an indoor landing pad. This is where we take off and put on shoes as we come and go. I hung my botanicals here (previously in the master bedroom in the condo). I bought a new floor lamp to replace the one we had here (moved to the guest room). 

The photo below is how our great room was furnished in my winter post, Bare Necessities. You can see the blank wall with the older floor lamp and ottoman.

BEFORE: Great room winter 2022

Now that wall inside is where the bench, botanicals and new floor lamp are.

AFTER: Great room summer 2022

Great room decor detail summer 2022

I switched up a few of the wall units' shelves with some summer decor I already had. The swimmer art glass was used in this tablescape at the condo. The blue bowl of glass orbs are mostly vintage Blenko, with additional orbs and knots scattered on one shelf. The small [local] art sketches are a boonie hat and outline of our state (West Virginia). The small pottery lamp was made by a local artisan whose trademark is an applied maple leaf (our state's tree). 

Dining room bookcase summer 2022

I kept blues in the dining room bookcase while only tweaking its look for summer. I added a bit more blue & white (chinoiserie orbs), and added more green (preserved boxwood). Classic Blenko water bottles, handmade ceramic bowl and pottery vase, along with two stray sheep from my 'flock'  complete the shelves.

Now, let's go upstairs. The ballerina copperplate oil painting at the landing was an auction win many years ago. The first room to the right from the landing is my 'all things girly' room.

Summer 2022: landing area, looking toward 'girly' room

Last winter, all I had furnished in this room was the corner sitting area near the dormer window (bottom right frame of the collage below). Now I've shuffled a few pieces of furniture from other rooms, and hung my most precious photos of my girls in here. 

 'Girly' room decor summer 2022

The curio cabinets were in the room, but not yet filled. Y'all, I managed to excavate my purse collection from my storage unit and filled those curios this past spring! They've been in storage for over three years! You'll see more of that detail in an upcoming post.

Beyond the 'girly' room is my office space. The view below is from the doorway of the 'girly' room.

Office space summer 2022

This is a space where I spend quite a bit of time - on my computer, reading, watching tv, and playing with my granddaughter Jacqueline. It's also where I store many (not all) of my dish collections (along the left wall cabinets). 

Office seating summer 2022

Newly found estate items in here include the pair of custom upholstered chairs ($115 for the pair), the area rug (Facebook Marketplace), and two lamps. I've hung some of my Art Deco/Flapper girl prints and needlework in this room. I had Parsons chairs in here before, but wanted cozier seating.

Office summer 2022, looking back toward 'girly' room

The above photo is looking from the office into the 'girly' room. We'll pass these two rooms, beyond the landing, and into the guest room next. 

Just inside the guest room door and to the left is this sitting area beneath the dormer window. The seating pictured below is how it looked winter through spring, 2022

BEFORE: Guest room sitting area, winter through spring, 2022

Below is how that same sitting area looks now, summer 2022. The floor lamp from downstairs landed here. The chair was purchased from our local ReStore a couple months ago. The game table was here previously, folded in half with the two spare chairs from our casual dining area in the great room.

AFTER: Guest room sitting area summer 2022

Opposite the seating area, behind the entry door into the guest room, is the chest of drawers I previously scored at an estate sale. One of the chairs from the casual dining set is now here (the other is in the dining room downstairs, near the bookcase).

Guest room dresser corner summer 2022

This room is really large. Standing from the opposite end of the room, here's a bird's eye view of the room (below). You can see the 'girly' room in the far distance.

Guest room summer 2022

From the same estate sale in which I bought the pair of chairs for my office space, I also bought the nightstand in the foreground of the picture above. It's a close match to the other one noted in my winter post Vintage Shopping Finds: Design on a Dime, and now makes this room completely furnished.

After nearly eight months since moving into our cottage home, I feel like I have the interior furnished as I want it. The collage below is the all the previously loved furnishings I've bought and shared today since my Design on a Dime post. (The lilac painting was shared in previous tablescape posts, here and here).

Collage of reloved furnishings bought since winter 2022

The accountant in me keeps a running tab on these collected purchases (if you know me, no surprise there). All of the items pictured above cost less than the combined price of the bench and floor lamp for the entry in the great room. In total, I have spent less on everything purchased second hand for this house since moving in (by nearly 25%) than what I spent for four items which were purchased new (desk, rolling file cart, bench and floor lamp). 

I said this once and I'll say it again. Buying second-hand furniture and other accessories can really give you a bang for your buck. Think about that the next time you or a family member are in need of a certain furnishing. Comb your local newspaper or Facebook marketplace ads, or search estate sales on your Facebook page. 'Like' the business pages of estate sales hosts local to you. Visit your local ReStore, antique mall, and consignment shops. It is so worth your time. Furniture of yesterday is typically made so much better than big box store furniture of today.

Anything else I may buy now will simply be impulsive or to replace something already here. My outlet for rotating collected furnishings and decor has been and always will be the booth spaces in our antique mall where my two Panoply sisters and I have rented since 2008 - almost 14 years now!

While you may not like my collected style, I'm pretty sure most, if not all, of you like the thought of saving some cash. Buying a home is probably one of - if not the - most expensive personal investment one can make. Saving some cash furnishing it not only helps the budget, but makes your home unique. I hope that's the inspiration you take away today. Let me know your thoughts with a comment!

Rita C. at Panoply

A special thank you to Kathleen of Our Hopeful Home's Vintage Charm Party #343  and Richella of Imparting Grace's Grace at Home #473  and Suzanne of Pieced Pastimes' Saturday Sparks Link Party # 152 for featuring this post!

Parties I Share With: Pieced Pastimes, Love Your Creativity, BNOTP Metamorphosis Monday, where sharing before and afters is always inspiring!, All About Home Common Ground, All About Home Follow the Yellow Brick Home, A Stroll Thru Life, My Wee Abode, My Family Thyme,  French Ethereal SYS, Happiness is Homemade, Traffic Jam Weekend, Katherine's Corner TFT, Eclectic Red Barn TFT, Follow the Yellow Brick Home TFT, Grace at Home, My Thrift Store Addiction, Our Hopeful Home, Karin's Kottage, County Road 407 Farmhouse Friday