The Indoor Person’s Guide to Summer

There are two kinds of people: people who see summer as a time to hike, grill, tan, and experience “the world,” and us indoor people, who would rather keep the AC and the TV cranked up all the way until September rolls around. If you’re the type who thinks summer is best when experienced through a window, you can still have an amazing season. With a few tweaks to your home decor, some indoor-friendly activities, and some comfort-enhancing gear, your summer can pass by blissfully (or at least tolerably).

How to prepare your home for summer

Start by cleaning and servicing your air conditioner. This summer is likely to be global-warming hot, so keeping your air conditioner performing at peak efficiency is vital to having a tolerable home. That starts with cleaning. You should clean your AC at least once a year; why not this weekend? Look up the owner’s manual and get going. If you have central air, call a professional.

If you don’t have an air conditioner, our sister site, PC Mag, recently posted a guide to the best smart air conditioners of 2026—so if you’re shopping, start there.

Create air flow. Air conditioning is king, but that doesn’t mean you should hermetically seal your place until September. Open the windows and shades strategically during cooler summer mornings and evenings. Stick a fan in an upper window to suck the hot air out, while letting another fan circulate air inside. Nothing makes it feel like summer more than warm breezes blowing through.

Declutter. The beginning of summer is the perfect time to get rid of things you don’t need anymore. So toss, donate, and store your junk and give yourself a clean summer slate. If you find it hard to organize and declutter, Lifehacker has laid out a ton of strategies to make it easier, so I won’t belabor the point—but whether you use the Marie Kondo’s famous KonMari method or the more indie rock ski-slope technique, it’s the perfect time to rid yourself of Winter-You’s possessions, so Summer-You can shine.

Deep cleaning: Now that’s there’s less stuff, it’s easier to give everything a deep clean. A clean house is a necessary foundation for enjoying everything else about your indoor summer, so don’t just straighten up—get in there and really do it. Clean the baseboards. Clean the oven. Be a civilized person. It’s good for your mental health to have a clean place, and getting rid of dust, mold, and allergens is good for your physical health too. Check out our in-depth guide to spring cleaning for everything you could ever need to know about sprucing up your place.

Decorating tips for bringing a summertime vibe indoors 

Now that your house is decluttered, cooled off, and clean, let’s talk about how to make it look, feel, and smell summery, because even if you’re suspicious of the whole “going outside” part of summer, the power of the season’s breezy vibe can’t be denied.

Make your house smell like summer: Every season has a scent, so I asked perfumer Sarah Horowitz of Sarah Horowitz Parfums for some expert tips on making your house smell like summer. According to Horowitz, you can’t beat a scented candle. “Look for notes like sea salt, tropical florals or fruits, or subtle coconut to bring the sun-kissed seaside straight to your space,” she suggests.

Another trick: Lightly spritz your favorite summer fragrance onto a cool light bulb before turning it on. “The warmth will gently diffuse the scent throughout the room,” Horowitz said.

Fresh flowers are another simple way to set the mood. “I love to weave sprigs of fresh mint into a bouquet—it adds a crisp, unexpected note that feels instantly refreshing. Plus, they look gorgeous,” Horowitz said.

Summer decor: You can create a summertime feeling in your home without a complete overhaul or surrendering to cheesy “life’s a beach”-style decor. A few simple swaps—adding bright new throw pillows, switching out your drapes, or swapping your heavy duvet for something lighter—could turn your apartment into a Tahitian bungalow. (Maybe that’s overstating it a bit.)

Bold patterns and sun-washed colors like ocean blue, jungle green, or golden yellow, are summer classics. But if you’re after something calming, go with airy linen fabrics and soft neutral tones for a breezy, upscale vibe. Or you can just go overboard and make it as ridiculous as possible; it’s your summer.

Houseplants: Houseplants produce oxygen, improve your mood, and give your place an outdoorsy vibe, like a tiny organic oasis in your living room. You can’t go wrong with summer classics like birds of paradise or spider plants—both of which are relatively easy to care for. If you want a hardier, even lower maintenance plant, you could stick with hard-to-kill succulents or flowering cacti, and still project a summer vibe. Plant them in colorful pots or by a sunny window for instant seasonal charm.

A guide to indoor summer entertainment

Being an indoor person doesn’t (necessarily) mean being antisocial. Interacting with others is important even if you stay indoors. You have to get your friends to come to you, of course, but now that you have a clean, breezy house with a summer look and smell, you might find your outdoorsy friends are only too happy to spend a low-key summer Saturday in an air conditioned house watching Annette Funicello movies and drinking margaritas. Here are some ideas:

Movie night: Lifehacker’s Ross Johnson has compiled a list of the ultimate summer movies. Watching any one of these movies with good friends is a perfect hot August night.

Board games: For a Summer board game night, you can’t go wrong with easy-to-play classics like Uno or Sorry, but if you are feeling more ambitious, check out Daggerheart, a table-top RPG that plays like Dungeons and Dragons with less math.

Doing nothing: Themed parties and activities are great, but doing nothing can be the best thing about summer, so invite friends over to do as little as possible. Pick a summer Spotify list and sit around and scroll Instagram or trash talk about pals who didn’t show up. No pressure is what summer is about. Oh, make sure you have refreshing drinks.

Summer cocktails: Whether you’re mixing drinks or pouring from a pitcher, these beverages bring the summer:

• The classic margarita: The margarita is the drink most people associate with summer. It stands up to endless variations, so pick your favorite flavor and go to town.

• Corona with lime: It’s time we all admit that IPAs taste terrible. A light, refreshing Mexican pilsner like Corona with a wedge of lime in the bottle tastes great, and is quintessentially summer.

• The blue Hawaiian: The blue Hawaiian looks ridiculous, but if it’s mixed correctly it’s a kitschy classic instead of a syrupy gross-out.

• The cucumber Collins: A mixture of gin, seltzer, cucumber, lime, and mint, the cucumber Collins is a light, refreshing, sophisticated summer tipple.

• Any cocktail made by the pitcher: What is summer if not the perfect time to mix up 10 drinks at once and share the pitcher until everyone is too sloppy to fill it up again?