SUMMER: decorate with tote bags?!

 

When we moved into our house in 2016, I created this feature in our entry hall, using a vintage porch post that had been cut in half lengthwise (Thanks to Don & Peggy at Down Home Antiques!). I collected a selection of various new and old hooks and added them to the wood post.

The pegrack project was published in Country Sampler Farmhouse Style Magazine in fall, 2024. That article shows it staged for the fall issue - I pretty much changed up what's hanging on this peg rack every season. Anything goes, trust me - including tote bags!

Continue reading to see how easily I styled it for summer...

Putting this look together was easy - I just 'shopped my house' and grabbed items that would fit our tropical theme and color palette, no matter what they were!

My collection of vintage canvas and burlap bags, satchels, and totes (that I have had since the NINTEEN HUNDREDS, folks!) went up first, and form a neutral arrangement. Some of the bags hang on the actual hooks, others are suspended on lengths of twine to hang lower on the wall, allowing me to stagger heights and create a visually interesting composition.

A bonus? Some of those tote bags store off-season decor elements. If you're frequently headed to the beach or park in summer, put toys, towels, and other necessities into fun totes and you've got a 'grab & go' system! Making them look like decor is all in how you arrange & style them.


To bring in some happy color to the wall, I added the bags in green tones (I've had those since 2007) and a vintage beaded purse from Hawai'i that I found at a thrift store last year.

The wood fruit crate on the floor is one of eight that I bought in 2020 on FBMP.
It's holding a bunch of dried leaves from our backyard tropical grasses - I save them when I trim the plants so I can use them in my tropical decor projects.

The wood 'welcome' sign was purchased years ago and has been used on door wreaths, too - it just hangs from a paper clip attached to the green tote bag!

The tropical leaves you see above the sign and in the large green tote are actually heavy weight paper party decor! Purchased on clearance a few years back - they come in handy for adding a touch of green and the feel of foliage to various vignettes in our home:

That sign is a cabinet door that I picked up in the Bellingham, Washington ReStore

back in 2009, and used it as a sign for our vintage business, RETREAThome:

This is one way I used it in our booths at vintage shows... this was at the BarnHouse Vintage Marketplace in Battle Ground, Washington in 2011. I LOVED that show!

A few years ago, I covered the center of the sign with fabric, then painted the 'Aloha' lettering on it - along with shadows. (My aunt looked at it on the wall and thought I had made 3-D letters out of bamboo sticks, so I guess I did a pretty good 'trompe' l'oeil' effect!)

The seashell mobile / windchime is handmade, by a gal who is always our 'neighbor' at an annual trailer rally at the beach. She makes amazing 'beach finds' art and sells it from her vintage trailer!

And even though you can't see it in any of the wide shots, up above it all is a light fixture that I had some fun with:

I simply used some clear push-pins to attach a raffia beach hat from Party City to the ceiling, to cover up the UGLY recessed LED can light. (I hate those things) The hat also causes the light in the space to appear MUCH warmer than the LED tone.

My wing of the house is located just off of this front entryway, and I see the pegrack wall as I walk out of my office and bedroom many times each day... so I decorate this are as much for ME as I do for our guests. It's a happy 'hello' for all of us!


Related Content:

Published in Country Sampler Farmhouse Style Magazine 2024

Straw Hat light cover

Wood Fruit Crate Porch Decor


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