Red, Rustic & Reclaimed for Summer

Looking for easy ways to add a rustic touch to your patriotic summer outdoor decor? Let me share a few ideas!

Summertime is here and it is thyme to celebrate the Red, White & Blue!  I love to decorate with these three colors throughout the Summer!  I’d love to share a few of my favorite rustic patriotic summer decor ideas with you!

Today I am sharing not only my tips on garden & patio decor, I have joined together with nine of my blogging friends to share an abundance of garden inspiration!  My friend, Cindy from Cloches & Lavender  is the hostess of this blog hop.  You will find all the links to my friends’ posts at the bottom of this post!  Once you have completed the hop, you garden trug will be filled with creative ideas!

Before we really get started

No matter how you arrived here today, whether you are joining me from Crystal’s blog or you are one of my regular readers or you found me on Google or via Hometalk, I am so glad you are here!  My name is Kimberly and I have a passion for flowers (a former florist) and flour (a former pizzeria owner) and many things in between!  Especially rusty and chippy items!

I love to share all the things I have learned over the years.  Sometimes I tell stories about my life.  Other times, I will share a craft or a recipe. I hope you enjoy your thyme here today and learn at least one thing during your visit!

Let’s get ready for some garden & outdoor inspiration!

Rustic Inspiration

I love to take items I already have and add a few patriotic accents for an easy summer decorating idea.  By incorporating touches of red, white and blue to your decor you can be ready to celebrate in Patriotic style for the summer!

Let’s see what’s behind the door!

 

Outdoor Projects from Reclaimed Barn Wood

A piece of reclaimed barn wood makes a great base for an outdoor patio display.  This piece came off of an old crib on my family’s former farmstead in Illinois.

I love using this trio of spindles!  All of the details to make this display can be found here: Red, Rustic & Reclaimed Patriotic Spindles

Where did the barnwood come from for the garden/outdoor projects?

Pictured above is one of two corn cribs that were originally part of my family’s homestead in rural Central Illinois.  This one is still standing but its twin was dismantled in several years ago and stored in the barn pictured below.

If you are just starting to follow me, my husband & I lived on my family homestead for a number of years.  After my parents’ passed away, we decided to start a new chapter of our lives in Florida.  The downsizing/moving to Florida journey is detailed in series of blog posts titled “Thyme to Let Go: How I Downsized the Family Homestead “.

One of the major endeavors was getting the barn cleaned out.  Some of the pieces of the corn crib had been used in various projects while we were all still living on the farm.  However, there was still quite a bit left so my realtor suggested listing it on Facebook Marketplace.  It wasn’t long before one of my Dad’s nieces contacted me to let me know her granddaughter was interested in the barn wood.  On Father’s Day one year, Alison and her family came with a trailer and loaded up the wood.  There was so much wood, it took two trips that day.  It was a rainy, dreary day.  I am not sure that is what Alison’s Dad and her husband really wanted to do on Father’s Day, but they were really good sports about it!  More about that Father’s Day outing can be found here:

Here are some of the patriotic ways she & her husband used their reclaimed barnwood:

A barn gate under the tree

A Barn Wood Door with a Fresh Coat of Red Paint

Not Necessarily Patriotic but still a great outdoor project!

I may have saved a few pieces of barn wood for myself!

I had a local artist make these wall hangings for me using pieces of barn wood and barn tin that were in the barn.  The piece of wood for the seahorse wall hanging is actually a swing seat from a tree swing that was used by one of my cousin’s when her family lived at the farm before my parents moved there!

Let me share some easy ideas for a festive outdoor centerpiece!

Simple 4th of July Centerpiece

Are you looking for a unique way to incorporate something that represents your love of our country into your 4th of July Celebration?

At this point in my life, I am really focusing on a “Love” theme and using it throughout the year.   One thing that really represents “Love” to me is anything heart shaped.

This angel vine heart shaped topiary was just what I needed for the centerpiece of our 4th of July themed tablescape.  I placed the topiary in a decorative ceramic pot and then centered it on an acrylic tray with red, white and blue stripes. How easy is that?

The “love” sign  looks like it is made out of barn wood.  I really like that because it reminds me of the barn on my family farm.  If you are interested in learning more about what awesome things I found in the barn last year, you can read about it here! 

I used a long linen runner down the center of the table.  The runner has narrow stripes of navy blue running along the edge.  You can see the stripe in the runner a little better in the picture below. I love how versatile this runner it.  It can be used in so many different ways.

To help bring out the navy blue, I used navy blue round placemats. The silver chargers are ready to hold whatever type of plate I decide to use for the holiday festivities.

Of course, you can’t have a 4th of July celebration without flags and red, white & blue accents!

In addition to my heart shaped angel vine topiary, I used two tall gray toned candlesticks topped with flags.  On top of the shorter of the two candlesticks is a vintage inspired Uncle Sam hat with two flags.  The Uncle Sam hat motif is repeated in the place settings.  I actually found these cute little hats at the Dollar Store. They came in a pack of 5 hats for $1.00.

Each place has a blue placemat with a silver charger.  On top of the charger is a star shaped red paper plate accented with the Uncle Sam hat.  The star paper plates also came from the Dollar Store.  The linen runner is gray toned and has double stripes of navy blue running along the edge.

In case you are wondering what happened to the 5th hat….. Gracie Mae decided she should wear it for the festivities!

One More Look at the Table

 

I hope my ideas gave you some inspiration for your garden decor and summer celebrations! Next on the hop is my friend, Renae!  She has designed a lovely citrus themed outdoor tablescape.

This is a great time to see more garden & outdoor decor Ideas! 

Click the links below the images to go straight to their posts. We hope this inspires you to create and get ready for the upcoming summer season!