5 ways to keep your home cool this summer
Posted on Wednesday, July 5th, 2017
Want to know how to keep your house cool this summer without resorting to air conditioning? Then read on to find our recommendations for staying cool and comfortable in your home this summer.
- Choose natural fabrics
Choose cotton for your bed linen, for a breathable fabric that will help you keep comfortable whatever the temperature. Turf out your polyester or at least put it away for the winter months. Breathable fabric such as cotton will help airflow and ventilation, helping you to stay cool even in hot temperatures. Also, dress your windows with curtains or blinds made with cotton muslin fabric, allowing a subtle light into your interiors.
- Cool colours
You can summon up a cool summer breeze in your home with a clever use of colours. Mix cool blues and greens with white to create a soothing, calm, cool space. It’s amazing what a quick lick of paint can do to rejuvenate and refresh a room. If you don’t have the time or inclination to redecorate a room in its entirety, think about adding cool colour accents, such as painting mirror or picture frames, adding a rug or simply painting a feature wall.
If you are going for a full-scale redecoration project, then keep your expensive, investment pieces in neutral colours, giving you a versatile interior, then add accents of colour with items that you can easily change should the need arise – such as pictures or scatter cushions. You could embrace a cool seaside cottage or beach hut theme, but it’s not a necessity, it’s the cool colours, rather than the style of the accessories, that will create a cool ambiance.
- Cut down on electricity
To keep cool in summer weather cut down on your electricity use. Not only will it help your bills, but it will keep the temperature down too, so refrain from leaving appliances on standby – as anything plugged in will creates heat. Also, make the use of the great natural light levels at this time of year and don’t put your lights on unless necessary as they give off heat. Switch from cooking dishes that necessitate having your oven on for long periods of time to cooking more quickly using your grill.
- Let air circulate
Let air circulate around your house as much as possible, throughout the day keep bathroom and bedroom doors open to encourage good circulation. Keep windows open at night to make the most of any breeze and if you can, open a loft window too, helping to keep temperatures down. Keep your windows open throughout the cool part of the day, but close your blinds and curtains if one side of your house faces the full glare of the sun.
- Don’t forget your garden
Make your garden an oasis of calm and cool by creating pockets of shade. Put up a canopy or alternatively encourage climbing plants such as roses, honeysuckle, and clematis to grow up structures such as arbours, trellis and rose arches. You can create height, colour and shade in your garden quickly by growing annual climbers such as sweet peas, not only will they provide some added interest in a very short space of time, but they’ll also envelop your garden with an attractive, calming scent too.
If you do have the space, consider planting small trees suitable for domestic gardens, the RHS provides lots of advice on appropriate trees to choose. Also, think about planting heritage fruit trees, and you could be enjoying a cool homegrown smoothie and be doing your bit to preserve older varieties of fruit trees. Whichever option you choose, you’ll be creating a cool oasis in which to enjoy a summer evening – what could be better?
So there you have our five ideas for keeping cool during the hot summer months. We hope your home stays cool and comfortable this summer.