Vintage Farmhouse-Styled Summer Shelf
decorate a shelf with vintage farmhouse style using these tips
Hot summer days call for decorating that brings some relief from the heat! Styling your home with the colors of nature- cool aqua blues, grass green and sunshiny yellow just seems to fit the summertime vibe. And when it comes to farmhouse style, you can’t go wrong with classic utilitarian pieces that were used on the family farm everyday. Today I’m going to share the Vintage Farmhouse-Styled Summer Shelf we’ve been enjoying in our back entry.
Today’s post is part of a monthly Pinterest Challenge, dreamed up by Cindy of County Road 407. Every month a group of talented bloggers style around a themed picture. One picture, so many ways! If you’re coming over from Let’s Add Sprinkles, I’m sure you’ll see Katie and I had the same idea;) This month’s inspiration is a Bright and Cheery Summer Mantel by Samantha at Little Bits of Home.
Samantha styled her summer mantel with pretty aqua sea glass and bright yellow flowers in white vases to create a bright, fresh look. She switches out the flowers and adds or takes away elements to transition to different seasons.
Well, I guess great minds must think alike, because I basically do the same thing in my back entry, Samantha! Honestly, we’ve been enjoying a similar look in our back entry all summer! Since I don’t have a mantel I can decorate and make cute (there’s an ugly big T.V. above ours), I decided I’d share my very similar Vintage Farmhouse-styled Summer Shelf and some of the styling tricks you can do to achieve a similar look.
To get started, here are some of the styling elements I noticed in Little Bits of Home’s summer mantel:
Did you notice all these elements, too? You can take all these design clues and then give them your own vibe for your own home. Of course, I want to bring a more vintage vibe to my vignette to fit in with my style. To step in for Samantha’s large white curvy vessels and seaglass, I’ll be using farmhouse friendly white with black enamelware and aqua blue ball jars; utilitarian, vintage pieces, indeed!
Vintage Farmhouse-Styled Summer Shelf
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For Easy Seasonal Decorating, Use Foundational Elements to Anchor the Vignette
Just like Samantha keeps her foundational pieces in place, my white enamelware stays on my shelf all through the year. Last fall I added crows and spiders for a slightly scary Halloween look. {“Decorating with Crows and Enamelware”} And yes…that is a urinal. Don’t worry…it’s never been used! Years ago I bought a whole box of never-used ones at a garage sale. I had so much fun putting flowers in them and sold every one. Made a great profit and entertained quite a few customers, too;) I had to keep one for memories, of course!
Doesn’t that beautiful, character-filled old wood look beautiful with the white enamelware and the awesome brackets? A while back, I decided to add this long rustic shelf high up in our back hall, specifically to house my plentiful collection. I can have them all close and handy to use at a moment’s notice and swap out the other elements with them seasonally.
At the time, we gave the kitchen a mini refresh by swapping out our painted open shelves and supports for Farmhouse-Styled Shelf Brackets (You can get them HERE). Seeing rustic wood shelves on awesome metal brackets really updated the kitchen and was an easy way to give it vintage, farmhouse style. Gotta love cheap, easy refreshes!
For Interest, Add an Accent Colored Accessory to a Neutral-Styled Shelf
Rather than using seaglass like our imitation pic, I used vintage aqua ball jars in different sizes. They’re more fitting for my land-locked location and also fits with our country setting. The focus of my farmhouse-styled summer shelf is a vintage metal picnic basket. It provides some pattern interest and gives a big bolt of the aqua accent color.
Rather than seeing a brick fireplace down below, I’ve got a farm-y picture of sheep grazing. On either side, rusty metal chicken feeders provide some added junky texture with a couple chick yard ornaments tucked into greenery.
Create Your Own Look by Adding Different Textures
I love texture, which is obvious from my take on the imitation pic. I added pea gravel to the ball jars and green and white flowers to the yellow Gerber daisies. I had to hold myself back from scattering moss or grass around the bottom. Yes, my background wall is soft gray, but I can swap things out seasonally much more easily with my favorite green bedspring as the foundation!
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I also added some words, which personalizes the vignette. Because this whole scene is a celebration of Farmhouse love, I decided to whip up a simple sign. You can grab it for free in my Resource Library by becoming a Lora B Insider! You’ll get access to all my helpful and decorative resources, plus stay creatively inspired with my weekly email!
If you’re already an Insider, but have forgotten the password, check your email from me (or your junk or spam folder).
So…do you want to see my Vintage Farmhouse-Styled Summer Shelf? It’s a tricky spot to photograph:( I almost fall down the basement steps trying to get a straight on pic, and I have to stand on a ladder to get a good view of it. But it’s a fun summertime greeting when we’re coming and going from the Fake Farmhouse!
I love how the colors coordinate with the summertime colors outside the door. And love that the black and white enamelware fits right into our farmhouse-styled kitchen decor. (The schoolhouse light fixture can be found HERE). My junky clock display {“Repurposing a Vintage Printer’s Tray} is a happy greeting as we come and go, too.
Up next on today’s hop is Decorate and More with Tip. It’s always fun to see Terrie’s creativity in action!
Get the Look:
Yes, it would have been fun to be able to decorate a summertime mantel, but this Vintage Farmhouse-Styled Summer Shelf is thoroughly enjoyed in this high-traffic area. See how easy it is to take some inspiration from someone else and make it your own for your home? That’s why I love these Pinterest challenges!
Pin and Share and then enjoy the rest of the Inspiration!
Summer Mantel Pinterest Challenge
Sharing at these lovely parties:
Perfect shelf styling, Lora! Thanks for sharing at Vintage Charm!
LOVE this!
Can you share where you bought the shelf brackets?
Thanks!!
Thanks, Christine! There’s a link under the picture for some that are similar, but a better price;) You’ll love them!
Hello lovely friend! Your summer mantel is simply farmhouse perfection! I love how you break it all down, that’s so helpful when styling gets overwhelming. xo
Thanks, friend; glad you enjoyed it! Now I’m ready to move on to early fall;)
Oh my goodness, Lora! I LOVE this shelf and, yes, it does look like a mantel!!! It’s adorable and cozy with the old green bedspring and all the farmhouse pieces hanging underneath it. Really pretty!!! I’m sure it brightens your day every time you walk in there.
Enjoy,
Barb 🙂
It does, Barbara! Thanks!
Now that I’ve picked my jaw up from the floor, I can tell you I was speechless for a moment. Your shelf is like a reverse mantel. Wall art underneath and the mantel on top! Love everything you used. It looks just like you – adorable and precious! Thank you for always joining in. I love seeing your creativity at work.
You’re right, Cindy, it is like a reverse mantel! Guess I’m always trying something out-of-the-ordinary! Thanks for choosing such a great pic as inspiration!
Looks so summery and you covered all the design elements perfectly. You have the cutest style and i love it.
Thanks, Marlene! I do love having this well-used area reflect whatever season we’re in!
Hey Lora, How fun is this wonderful old shelf! So funny about the enamelware repurposed into “vases”. I love it! that metal lunchbasket is just adorable. the blue with daisies is so cute!
My mom gave me the picnic basket years ago as a birthday gift. She always knows she’s safe giving me anything aqua…especially if it’s vintage;) It’s so fun to decorate with in the summer!
What a cheery, welcoming sight. It adds so much visual interest and says who you and are family are. And, so many good links to enjoy.
This grouping makes my heart SO happy! It is going pitter-patter over that vintage picnic basket. Truly spectacular!
Just makes you want to put a vintage apron and kitschy frock on, doesn’t it, Laura? I love this sweet summertime look, too;) So glad you enjoyed it!
Lora B. your farmhouse mantle/shelf has so many awesome features. Love all the enamel, urinal included, and the sign and small blue jars. Is that a crib bed spring? I finally (like 5 years ago) gave ours away to a friend and wish I had kept it. It’s a great backdrop. Don’t fall down the stairs!
Thanks, Carol! I do have a couple bedsprings around my home, but this one is a twin sized, heavy one. I love the flexibility of being able to swap out decor whenever I want, and I love it’s vintage green color!
This is too adorable. I need to find a picnic basket like that. It’s fabulous. I’m so glad you didn’t take a tumble down the stairs showing off this cute space. I love it. The urinal is hilarious.
Me, too, Katie! It always makes me nervous when I have to take pics here! I’ve only ever seen one other picnic basket like mine, and it wasn’t in nearly as nice shape. I treasure mine greatly!
Lora your shelf looks amazing. Love that you shared a free printable too. Your shelf looks so full of summer vibes and beautiful. Love it!
Thanks, Terrie! This little farmhouse-styled collage just needed some words to explain it, so figured my readers may enjoy one, too!
Your shelf looks so pretty decorated for summer. Leaving the white enamelware in place year round makes a great base for adding different colors and decor to easily change the look for each season. I like how you used pebbles in your jars to anchor your flowers. It adds texture and it gives you a way to get your flower to turn the exact way that you want it to go. Good job on photographing this awkward place!
You’re so right, Paula: the pebbles make it much easier to “plant” the flower stems in. I try to always have a stash around; they come in handy!