‘Summerize’ Home For That Relaxed Look

Hey, you. It’s time to break outta the glooms. If you’d like to turn up the heat on the decorating front as the temperature rises, we think we’ve got one hot way to do it, compliments of designer Dana Eggerts, president of Creative Design Consultants in Costa Mesa, Calif.

Each year about this time - or a little earlier; she’s on a particularly fast-moving treadmill this season - Eggerts summerizes her compact Balboa Island home, giving it a breezy, color-splashed look that’s the perfect prescription for relaxed summer living.

Summerizing, says Eggerts, is a simple enough project. It entails packing away accessories and slipcovers in more subdued shades that whisper fall/winter and replacing them with brighter, lighter pieces.

We’re not changing furnishings here. Not a chance. This is decorating cosmetic surgery that doesn’t require especially deep pockets. Consider it an investment, Eggerts says. You can use your summer-look pieces year after year.

“Summerizing,” Eggerts says, “helps define summer in an area where it seems to be summer year-round.” There’s a psychological angle, too. “It lifts the spirits,” she says. “When I see the bright colors and the doors open, I feel happier. I want to have people around.”

Here’s what Eggerts did to her living room and dining area. Check for colorful, inexpensive summer accessories at mass merchandisers and import stores.

Coffee table. It’s an antique Irish pine and goes with any season. Out: Large, dark wooden bowl filled with moss spheres and ceramic Italian pears. Chunky free-standing candles in brown, off-white and mossy green. Two small ferns. Tall, white orchid remains.

In: Deep blue glass bowl overflowing with lemons. Lemon-yellow glass vase with blue base. Tall cone-shaped yellow candle with accents in red, green, blue. Clear glass candlesticks with blue bead bases holding white candles. English primroses in a white ceramic pot.

Dining table. A draped round with a glass top. Out: Winter white chenille table skirt with winter white damask overlay. Pewter-and-glass candlesticks with sage-colored candles. Large fern in a white ceramic pot and crystal candlesticks remain.

In: Bold black-and-white-striped table skirt. Black overlay trimmed with white border decorated with black squiggle pattern and dots. Frosted glass goblets in sherbet tangerine, lime, lemon, ice blue and pink grapefruit (they hold votive candles). Three small free-standing candles in lime, strawberry and lemon with star and moon designs. Candles in crystal candlesticks change from sage to white.

Sofa and chair. Out: Winter white slipcovers. Earth-tone, smoky green, bronze throw pillows with tassels and fringe. In: Black slipcovers with white stylized palm, star, bird and squiggle designs. Crisp cornflower yellow, shocking pink, emerald green and periwinkle blue throw pillows.

Living room floor covering. The floor is wood. Out: Needlepoint area rug with medallion design in earth tones, black, bronze and dusty green. In: Summery sisal area rug with black fabric trim.