How to Make Your House Feel Like a Vacation Home
Practical tips for making your home a summer oasis, pen pal matches, summer charm necklaces, a coastal playlist, and coloring pages.
Good morning and happy Monday to you! New York is aglow with a Knicks victory in a way that is palpable in the air. Everyone seems to have a pep in their step, including the multiple dogs I’ve encountered fully clad in Knicks jerseys on their neighborhood walks. Patios are full, summer flowers are blooming, and the city feels more vibrant than ever.
I write often about embracing the seasonality of life. Out of curiosity, which season is your favorite?
As you might surmise from some of my posts, I am a champion of summer. It’s the season of vivid color, cold water, more sunshine, delicious food, and increased gatherings. Even though I work year-round, it still feels like summer vacation to me when June comes around. I find myself more serious about leisure. More bubbly drinks. More reading for pleasure. More exploring. Something about the slow-to-set sun is like an elixir to me.
Feeling: Summer Vacation
How to Make Your House Feel Like a Vacation Home
I’ve been curious if there is a way to foster the feeling of vacation in my own space. I spend most days working from home in a tight one-bedroom apartment. The sun cooks the sidewalk outside while I’m writing on the computer running up the AC bill — which doesn’t necessarily elicit the magical feeling of summer.
I’ve tried out some new practices, decor changes, and found practical ways to make any home — whether a small apartment or a big house full of small children — feel like it’s your vacation home. I’m excited to share my findings below:
1. Accessorize with Abandon
Let’s identify a truth. Most vacation homes have design choices that are a bit weird. Usually, a beach house rental is not firstly described as “tasteful.” It’s more shall we say…eccentric? You’d likely never pick a wooden mountain lion carving for your regular home, but in a summer home, it somehow makes sense. It is the sign of vacation. These quirks are excepted as part of the vacation experience, whether that be large fish art, shell decor, a dolphin shower curtain, or a googly-eyed puffer fish.
Vacation homes have a distinct freedom to accessorize with abandon. It’s expected. For better or worse, the irreverent cheeky decor pieces do make it feel like a summer vacation. I’m not suggesting a mounted swordfish necessarily, but that you micro dose this concept into your space. What pieces do you already have that are quirky and bold? Do you own any dishes, objects, or decor pieces that feel like summer? An old Gurgle Pot? Anything funky animal-shaped? A bold color? It is time to pull these pieces out of hiding and put them on display for summer.
If you don’t have anything funky stashed away, a trip to the thrift store or a local craft fair is going to be your best bet for finding pieces that feel vacation-forward yet still livable. The goal is the piece makes you smile a bit when you pass it.
2. Brew Iced Tea Daily
In Florida, all summer long (which is all year, to be clear), your fridge has a freshly brewed pitcher of iced tea. This is the rule. I grew up visiting my grandparents, who always had a pitcher of iced sweet and unsweet tea at the ready.
I found an iced tea brewer that allows me to combine that deeply rooted feeling of home with my love for loose leaf teas.
Batch-brewing iced tea will change you. You will always have a treat in your fridge that is much more fun to make, better for you, and less expensive than a million cans of other little drinks. This flash chill iced tea pitcher allows you to brew a big pitcher of tea quickly.
I use it with chamomile (add lemonade in there and boom!), iced earl grey (for iced london fogs), chai (iced chai lattes), strawberry oolong, etc. Brewing a flavor each week is a life-enhancing practice! I still get all my loose leaf teas from my favorite tea shop back home, Tebella. My mom took me for tea when I was twelve, I formed a newfound identity as a tea drinker in that instant, and I’ve never been able to find a better shop. It’s the best.
If you are looking for something more creamy, but still quick to make: I have a newfound recommendation! Clevr’s Strawberry Matcha and Chai Chill blends are a delightful kitchen edition. Simply scoop, top with milk, froth, and add ice. I am very particular about things tasting too-powdery, sweet, etc. But I am craving the strawberry matcha every morning now; a new summer tradition.
3. Make Summer Salads a Main Course
Big, giant salads are an essential part of summer. Visit the farmers market for the freshest, darkest green leafy vegetables you can find, and get creative with combinations. Snap peas, beets, rhubarb, homemade sourdough croutons, green beans, okra. Balance crunch, tang, with sweetness. Invite friends over for big salad nights.
Serve in a large ceramic or enamel bowl with a decorative serving set. I think an essential hosting piece is your signature serving utensils — make them fun! This spiral set from small business jamie at lazy jamie is a summer hosting staple. (You can also get them engraved which would be a really lovely housewarming or wedding gift!)
Something about a fresh salad feels like a summer indulgence.
4. Make your bed a coastal oasis with striped sheets
Striped sheets make an instant coastal oasis at bedtime. Add a fiction book and you are practically inside a seaside bed & breakfast. If you’ve got striped sheets, put them through the wash and bring them out for the season to create that beachside feeling.
I find myself cozied up and reading books more frequently in the summer, so a lightweight bedding set is necessary for beating the heat but still staying cozy. The striped percale sheets from Parachute actually breathe! My bedding feels soft, cool, and airy. I paired the striped blue percale sheets, and the adobe striped duvet cover for a summer look.
A few other ideas for making the bedroom like a coastal cottage: wash the sheets in a lavender detergent (I like the concentrated one from Seventh Generation), play music in the bedroom throughout the day, thrift some ocean painting with thick oil paint, keep the windows open, and keep a carafe on the bedside table.
5. Add interesting pattern and texture to your lights
Think tiki room: glowing lamps, interesting shapes, funky lampshades, and amber glass throughout.
I wanted to soften my lights, but since I am in a rental and cannot hardwire a new overhead light, I used a Tulip cover to create an interesting lighting feature. The canvas cloth covers the overhead light, producing a warm glow and focal point for the room. The new “blurry floral” pattern feels especially like summer.
Consider warming up your lamps with fresh bulbs or the classic colored scarf drape (LED bulbs only). The Goodwill lampshade isle usually has something interesting to consider, if you are up for a project. Sew on tassels, paint a pattern, or otherwise add a crafty upgrade to your current lighting to produce the feeling of a warmly lit evening at a summer house.
6. Transport to the beach through scent
Okay, all my tips have been fun so far but this one is the most serious summer house tip I have. If you actually want your space to feel like a vacation home, it has to smell like one!
There is a fragrance that can instantly transport you to the beach mentally. I first discovered Vacation sunscreen back in 2023, when I grabbed a whipped bottle of sunscreen, took it to Anna Maria Island, and my summer nostalgia grew tenfold. I have the perfume now too, and it is truly the closest scent to summer I have ever found. Sometimes I wistfully sniff it while it’s snowing outside.
Naturally, I did a backflip when I found out they put their signature scent into a buffing bar in a collaboration with Soft Services. The soap bar has some grit to it, which makes it an excellent exfoliant (great for beach legs) and the smell will transform your bathroom into summer trip. I currently have an unwrapped bar of this soap sitting on my living room bookshelf to make my space smell like Vacation. That’s how serious I am.
The soap bar comes as a two pack and makes a fabulous gift for anyone you are summering with (the soap packing would look cute with a twine ribbon and thoughtful note). I’d add to your list the body lotion to hydrate after exfoliating — it saved my skin this winter, and will save it from sandy-beach-related dehydration too. And finally the hand cream (which serves as a jewelry dish too) is a lifesaver for nighttime hydration repair, and coincidentally smells like a summer resort to me.
7. Put fruit on display, everywhere + bring out the summer reads
The most underrated home decor is fruit. It’s useful, inexpensive, and visually impactful. Pull out some bowls you already have and put lemons, oranges, and citrus on display throughout your space. Enjoy for a while, and then make refreshing iced lemon water. Repeat.
Additionally, go through your bookshelf and begin to pull out and books that feel like summer to you. Put those on display! Use on your coffee table, prominently facing out on the bookshelf, or in a decorative corner. This could be topical, or based on vibrant color, personal memories, or just because a book cover takes you to a summer place in your mind.
8. Open the windows!
Finally, open the windows every morning for a gust of summer energy. In the cool evenings, prop a window open for a bit after dinner and let the breeze in.
To tie together all the summer feelings, I’ve made a playlist that feels like a vacation home:
I asked readers of Feeling! “What makes your house feel like summer?” And here is what you said:
✸ Se: “Flowers, lots of sunlight, linen kitchen cloths, light colors and curtains.”
✸ Amber Carter: “Going on an early morning walk to try to get outside before the heat of the day. Iced teas of all varieties. Growing up in the south we always had sweet tea in the fridge. Now I make hibiscus ginger lemon tea and it’s perfect for hot days.”
✸ Tricia Amidon: “Flowers, watermelon and windows open.”
✸ Ali: “Peaches from the peach truck!!!”
✸ Aimee Huck: “dinner al fresco under the patio lights, lightning bugs flickering, summer breeze, dinner from the grill, the smell of flowers from the garden.”
✸ The Purple Penguin: “We don’t have a backyard or balcony as we live in an apartment. So we take our dinners and eat them on the roof.”
✸ Ved: “Fruits and veggies sitting on the kitchen counter.”
✸ Cassandra Jackson-Baker: “Open windows and a fresh breeze rolling in. Dining alfresco. Falling asleep to the sound of crickets.”
✸ Bridget Borel: “This doesn’t happen so often now that my kids are older, but I love seeing beach towels drying on the deck railing. Colorful reminder of sweet moments on a beach or at a pool.”
✸ Alix McManus: “Open windows and late night breezes. the sound of crickets as you’re falling asleep.”
✸ Garden Witch: “Tuning the Aga off for the 12 seconds that summer in England actually lasts and then putting it back on again with relief.”
✸ The Crusty Table: “My farmers market haul on the counter, fresh flowers and the fruit jams I make with in season fruits that I love to throw into my iced matchas for a little sweetness.”
✸ Taylor West: “Touches of lemon: scent, decor, in the fridge, wherever!”
✸ Lilly Chandler: “The blinds open (grew up in a mosquito-heavy region, so windows fully open wasn’t an option lol), the doors constantly opening and closing as people ran inside and out, and music playing on the TV.”
✸ Karla Morgan: “Drinking my coffee in the yard before everyone wakes up. Cleaning sticky ice pop from my daughter’s water table and filling it up each morning as I water the plants. Pool towels drying on our Adirondack chairs.”
✸ Liana Garcia: “Sunscreen finger prints from my kids on the sliding glass door.”
✸ Reese-Eileen: “My screened porch and listening to the birds with a nice espresso before the world wakes up!”
✸ Holly Knight ✨: “Watermelon, popsicles in the freezer, frisbee in the yard, fruit salads, and fans going.”
✸ CALM: “Hanging out on the porch after dinner. Eating outside. Good tomatoes.”
✸ ak🫶🏻: “Waking up with the sun and the birds that are singing in the trees blooming with delicate white blossoms outside my window. Summer fruits in perfectly vibrant hues of red, golden, and bright pink, juicy and sweet. picking cherries and eating them straight from the tree. Long nights sitting out on the back porch, barefoot and reclined, talking with loved ones until the sky fades to deep orange. A fizzy drink after a long run in the sunshine. Waking up knowing that each day will be beautiful and holds potential for great joy.”
✸ Beth Anna Parnell: “Homegrown flowers in little vases around the house!”
✸ Brianna Byers: “Tomatoes, fresh flowers, clothes /swim suits on the line , popsicles , color pallet: blues/creams/yellows/sage, iced drinks on the deck, evening firefly appreciation.”
✸ Amy: “Slightly musty, slightly damp towels thrown everywhere that smell like sunscreen upon closer inspection.”
✸ And in the true words of Sharon Radice Pearson, “The sound of the air-conditioning unit burning dollars.”
✸ I’ve made a “summer camp” course (because summer camp has a wonderful balance of structure and fun) that teaches you how to live creatively with ease in every facet of life. After completing this series, you will find a personal creative practice you can actually maintain, a collection of very joyful completed projects, tools for moving through fears, and a community of people on the same journey. The first class is out now!
✸ The Summer Reading Challenge is going strong! Email me at jenna@feelingpress.com with your completed list of books. Details about what type of books, how many books, deadline, and prizes can be found here.
✸ I am celebrating the launch of my first published work! My color dot calendar was picked up by a publisher and will be available for 2027. Sometimes online, things seem so simple, but in actuality, there were years of loss and confusion behind them. I shared more about the process of self-publishing for six years here. It's currently available for preorder on Bookshop and Amazon, but after July 21, it will be available in stores too.
✸ The inaugural round of pen pal matching is complete. If you applied, you will be getting a message (via Substack) from me shortly introducing you to your match! If you’d like to be a part of the next batch, make sure you are a paid subscriber and you will get an update when applications are out.
Here are 7 Things I use, wear, and enjoy!
Sailor Necklace: For the full summer-on-a-boat-feeling (perhaps, despite actually being on a boat), this Joiana beaded necklace would pair so nicely with a striped top. I love every piece I have from this small business!
Lip Jelly: Tower28 released a lip-plumping gloss that actually works like magic. It’s like air conditioning for your lips! It’s an icy, tingling sensation that feels cool to touch and gives you a noticeable pout. I love the “Only Choice” and “Chill Heat” options.
Beach Body Wash: This lime and coconut body wash is an instant vacation in the shower. It smells and feels like the kind of wash that would be leisurely placed in the outdoor shower on the side of a family beach house. Tropical magic.
Only Human Perfume Milk: Noyz makes such lovely scents. This one feels like a warm vanilla with a bit of musk and is applied in a “milk” form. A drop or two will do — so the bottle will last forever. A fantastic signature scent investment.
Bob Hat: This little French hat is the perfect beach accessory because it covers your eyes juuust right as you read a favorite chapter book. A very Audrey-Hepburn-reads-by-the-shore type of look.
Magnet Frame: St. Bingo created a new collection of magnets that will turn your refrigerator into an ever-changing gallery of framed memories.
Coastal Interchangeable Charm Necklace: I have not found jewelry this fun in a long time. This necklace includes FIVE summery-coastal charms that you can interchange, combine, or use all at once. It is essentially like buying ten different necklaces for the price of one. Creative options abound!
✸ Back in 2020, I self-published a coloring book called “Pleasant Things.” I pulled some pages out for you to print and color at home. Feel free to share with friends, family, neighborhood kids, or anyone who could use a little something colorful to do this summer. (To save the image on phone: hold down with your thumb and a “save” option will pop up. To save on desktop: click image, and right click and “save.”)
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Working with brands and businesses helps me make this magazine dream come true! If I do work directly with a brand, I am very picky about it, and I disclose the partnership to you, my readers. A few of the links I included in this article are from ShopMy, which gives a small payment if someone buys a product from a recommendation. This helps fund future creative projects for this publication — thank you!
P.S. Telling my Substack friends before anyone else…new secret Instagram for the upcoming greeting card business is here. I would love to have you join the journey and see some familiar names!
Team Summertime forever! I want it all - the longer days, cotton sheets, cosmos in a mason jar, bike rides just because, novels on the patio, poking around for sea glass, SALADS and grill smoke and I'll even take the humidity. Feel the June!
Thanks for the mention and for the cute coloring pages! Post nap activity handled! 🙌🏽