Summer is here, and the signs are everywhere. The school year has ended and the kiddos are home, summer vacation plans are swirling around in your head, your garden tools are dirty and your plants are popping. But is your home ready for summer? Are the floors waterproof, kidproof, petproof and, most importantly, easy to clean? Will your living space be cool enough on hot days? If you’re not sure, we’ve collected 5 of the smartest summer tips, from outdoor living to flooring ideas so that you can upgrade your space for your sweetest summer ever.
1. Create A Smoother Transition Between Your Indoors And Outdoors
Over the past few years, home stylists have enjoyed blurring the line between indoors and outdoors to magical effect. Whether you want to extend your living space to your deck or bring more greenery indoors, you’re responding to the genuine human need to connect with nature without the discomfort of roughing it. Consider extending your deck or patio living space with weatherproof furniture and adding shade with a vine-draped, shade-giving pergola or other outdoor deck covering. Adding a fountain or water feature near the egress is a gorgeous way to create that cooling trickle of water that sounds so good on a hot day. Updating your indoor transition space with best-rated vinyl plank flooring can help make your home more summer-ready. And, since COREtec planks and tiles are super easy to clean up the inevitable dirt, water, mud, melted popsicles and BBQ sauce spills of summer, you can breathe a sigh of relief and enjoy the moments.
Featured Color: COREtec Tile Bianco Marble
2. Consider Switching To A Heat Pump
It’s not exactly a “sexy” revamp of summer renovation ideas, but it could save you significant money and electricity, not to mention enhance your summer indoor comfort levels. U.S. Department of Energy data reports that consumers could slash their summer electricity usage for cooling by around 50% by choosing heat pumps over conventional air conditioners. Not only will this keep your home cool on hot days, but it can also warm your home on cold days. It’s a great, all-season way to save money while also going lighter on the planet.
3. Switch From Carpet To Waterproof, Kidproof, Petproof Luxury Vinyl Flooring
Not only will this flooring idea keep your rooms cooler in the summer, but if you use COREtec’s best-rated vinyl plank and tile flooring, you can enjoy how much easier it is to keep your home clean from pet stains, kid messes, party fouls, general indoor-outdoor traffic and spills from summer to all year round. LVP is waterproof and works well in the kitchen, bathroom, playroom and living room. It looks just like real hardwood or tile, but you can skip over the care and maintenance headaches. And because it creates a soft footfall, it’s even great in bedrooms because of its noise-dampening properties compared to other hard surface flooring.
Featured Color: COREtec Originals Manila Oak
4. Update Your Ceiling Fans
Ceiling fans are another cost-efficient way to keep your indoor space cooler on hot days as they improve air circulation, whether you have AC or a heat pump. Also, newer ceiling fans are more energy efficient and come with more modern-looking lights and programmable dimmers that can help save you even more energy over the summer and create the desired ambiance for entertaining.
5. Update Your Landscaping
Trimming, pruning, planting new native-area plants and removing dead or non-native area plants is a great way to spend more time outdoors this summer while making your home look fabulous. You can contribute to bolstering native plant populations while also beautifying your home so you’ll enjoy spending more time outside. Landscaping with shrubs, flowers and trees native to your area can help you save water and reduce maintenance time spent preventing plant diseases and problems you might have with non-native plant species. And if you’re trying to impress your neighbors or sell your home, this is a surprisingly effective way to do it!
If you’re in the mood to freshen up your home this summer with easy-to-clean flooring ideas, check out COREtec’s best-rated vinyl plank flooring options. With waterproof, easy-to-clean floors that can withstand all the fun from kids, pets, guests and gardening, your home will be beautiful and summer-ready! Cheers to a glorious summer!
Featured Color: COREtec Tile Classic Travertine