A Home Man’s Guide to Summer
Welcome to The Best Summer Ever , your guide to making the most of the sunny season. Whether you’re dreaming of the perfect summer of going on epic adventures or doing as little as possible (preferably somewhere with good air conditioning), we’ve got you covered, because the best summers don’t just happen. You must do this.
There are two types of people: indoor people and outdoor people. With its endless beach holidays, barbecues and outdoor games, summer is definitely the season for outdoor enthusiasts. But fear not, homebodies and agoraphobes: you, too, can have the best summer ever if you invite summer into your life by turning your home into a cool oasis, celebrating the season with new decor, and entertaining yourself and your friends until the evening hours. blessed day when autumn returns.
Prepare your home for summer
If you missed out on “spring cleaning” this year, don’t despair—early summer cleaning will do, too. So transform your home from a dreary winter den into a summer oasis by decluttering , deep cleaning, and sprucing up corners with seasonal decor.
Clean and Maintain Your Air Conditioner : I put this at the forefront because this summer is going to be as hot as global warming, and keeping your air conditioner running at peak efficiency is vital to making summers bearable indoors.
The air conditioner should be cleaned at least once a year. To clean the window unit, unplug it from the power source, remove the cover and get rid of any dust that has accumulated on the coils, then use dish soap and water to get rid of the dirt. Clean or replace the air filter according to the instructions in your owner’s manual, let everything dry, and put it back together. If you have an air conditioning system, call a professional.
If you don’t have an air conditioner, it’s not too late to get one. Our sister site PC Mag recently published a guide to the best smart air conditioners of 2024 , so if you’re shopping, start there.
Create air flow. Air conditioning is key, but that doesn’t mean you have to hermetically seal your space until September. Open windows and curtains on cool summer mornings and evenings. Attach a fan to the top window to draw out hot air while allowing another fan to circulate inside. Nothing reminds you of summer more than a warm breeze.
Declutter : The beginning of summer is the perfect time to get rid of things you no longer need. So throw away, donate and store your junk and give yourself a clean slate for summer. If you’re struggling with organization and decluttering, Lifehacker expert Lindsey Ellefson has laid out a ton of strategies to make it easier , so I won’t go into too much detail on this, but ask if you’re using Marie Kondo’s famous KonMari method or a more indie-rock approach. ski downhill technique , this is the perfect time to get rid of the Winter-You stuff so the Summer-You can shine.
Deep Cleaning : With less stuff now, it’s easier to get in there and give everything a thorough clean. Don’t just straighten up – get down to business and do it for real. Clean baseboards. Clean the oven. Be a civilized person. A clean home is an essential foundation for enjoying the rest of your summer spent indoors. Plus, a clean space is good for your mental health, and keeping dust, mold, and allergens free is good for your physical health, too.
Decorating tips to help create a summery feel indoors
Now that your home is tidy, cool, and clean, let’s talk about how to give it a summer look, because even if you’re leery of the whole “getting outside” part of summer, the power of seasonal fresh air ambience can’t be denied .
Summer Decor : You can make your home feel like summer without completely changing everything, going broke, emptying a truckload of sand into your living room like Brian Wilson, or succumbing to cheesy “beach living” decor that ruins the season. Simply by purchasing a few new throw pillows, hanging different curtains, and replacing the duvet cover with something appropriate for the season, you can go a long way toward making your home feel like an exotic bungalow in Tahiti. (Maybe that’s exaggerating a bit .)
Classic summer decorating styles include bold patterns and sunny yellows, ocean blues or jungle greens, but you can create a different, stylish summer vibe with calming linens and neutral colors. Or you can just go overboard and make it as funny as possible; this is your summer.
Below are some snippets that may make you think:
Houseplants. Indoor plants produce oxygen, improve your mood, and give your space a relaxing outdoor feel. You can’t go wrong with summer classics like birds of paradise or spider plants —they’re relatively easy to care for. If you want a truly hardy plant, you can stick with hard-to-kill succulents or flowering cacti while still maintaining that summer vibe.
Make it smell like summer : Fill your home with the scent of lemon or eucalyptus with essential oils to make it smell like summer too. These are more idealized summer scents: if you want realism, you can make your home smell like summer in a tourist town by mixing essential oils with the scent of coconut and the musk of stale beer . Luckily, there is no essential oil for New York Subway in August.
A Guide to Indoor Summer Fun
To make the season feel like summer instead of a warm winter, you need to change what you do and also change the appearance of your home. Outsiders take advantage of the summer by traveling, water skiing, or participating in other endless “activities” that can’t be done in cold weather, but you can take a different approach and read books about people traveling, surfing, falling into the sea. love, but instead be killed.
Summer “beach” reading for hermits
You don’t have to go to the beach to enjoy a beach romance. I’ve compiled a list of summer romances below, but I must admit that the only one of these books I’ve read is Barbarian Days , so I can’t personally vouch for the rest. But they all have at least four stars on Amazon, and if you can’t trust Amazon readers, then who can you trust?
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People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry: Reading a book about a vacation while you’re actually on vacation is too annoying, but if you’re staying at home, it’s escapism.
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“This Summer Will Be Different” Carly Fortune: Romance on the beach is fun to read about, but in real life it’s too gritty.
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William Finnegan’s Barbarian Days: A Life of Surfing : Surfing is hard. This book is easy to read.
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Pathfinders by Charles Fraser: This book is about an artist traveling during the Great Depression. I actually ordered it while I was researching this story.
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The Fourth Wing (Empyrean 1 ) by Rebecca Yarros: People love books about dragons, right?
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One of Us Knows by Alyssa Cole: Is there anything more suitable for a beach holiday than a mystery novel?
Complete list of summer movies
Besides reading trashy novels, you can also spend your summer watching summer movies. I love the classics, so here are the best summer movies made before 1980.
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Gidget (1959) : The film that introduced surfing to America, Gidget is a teen melodrama that’s far better than it has any right to be.
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Beach Party (1963) : The first in a series of schlocky teen mockeries starring Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello, a light-hearted “isn’t it fun?” The atmosphere of “Beach Party” deepens when you know that almost all the cheerful teenagers on screen are dead.
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Lord of the Flies (1963) : If you need a contrast to The Beach Party , released the same year, watch the film adaptation of Lord of the Flies. It is far superior to the more modern version.
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American Graffiti (1973 ) : George Lucas’s first film takes place one summer night in 1962 Modesto, California.
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Jaws (1975) : Spielberg’s monster shark film became a summer blockbuster. This is a GOAT.
Socializing indoors
Anyone who has served time in prison will tell you that communication is important, even if you never leave the house. Of course, you’ll need to invite friends over, but now that you have a clean, fresh home with a summer look and a selection of classic summer movies to watch, it should be easy. You may find that your outdoor-loving friends will be happy to spend a low-key summer Saturday in the air-conditioned house watching Annette Funicello films and sipping margaritas. Okay, maybe not, but you can sweeten the deal by serving one of these summer cocktails.
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Mai Tai : The Mai Tai is without a doubt the best cocktail ever invented and there is no debate about it, and it is even better in the summer. Just don’t order it at a bar unless you’re sure the bartender will stick to the original recipe .
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Classic margarita . The margarita is a drink that most people associate with summer, but despite being overly popular, the margarita is undoubtedly a great cocktail. It can withstand even variations (but it is best to use a simple original).
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Corona Lime : It’s time for everyone to admit that IPAs taste terrible. A light, refreshing Mexican pilsner like Corona with a squeeze of lime in the bottle tastes great and is quintessentially summer.
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Blue Hawaiian Drink : Blue Hawaiian Drink looks goofy, but when made correctly, it’s not a thick, sweet tastelessness despite the blue tint. Instead, it’s a kitschy classic.
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Ringer: In the 1983 film Cocktail , Tom Cruise gives a long list of gimmicky vodka-schnaps cocktails that were popular at the time (sex on the beach, prison in Alabama, etc.). But he also mentions a drink called ding-a-ling. No one knows how to make a ding-a-ling or if it ever existed. I mention this because who doesn’t love a summer mystery?
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Cucumber Collins : A mixture of gin, seltzer, cucumber, lime and mint. Cucumber Collins is a light, refreshing, sophisticated summer drink.
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Any cocktail made by the pitcher: What is summer if not the perfect time to mix 10 drinks at once and share the pitcher until everyone gets too sloppy to refill it?