To keep the soul of a family home, you do not decorate it like a new flat: you keep the furniture that has a story, hang the places you love around the house and leave room for the memories of every generation. Everything else should stay simple, sturdy and easy to live in with fifteen people. ☀️
Here is what gives a family holiday house its charm, and 12 ideas to refresh it without losing its character, whether it is by the sea, in the mountains or in the countryside.
What gives a family home its soul?
A family home is a house where several generations have followed one another during the holidays. Its charm lies less in its style than in its traces: the children’s growth marks pencilled on a door frame, great-grandmother’s sideboard, board games in battered boxes, straw hats hanging in the hallway.
- Objects that have lived: inherited or second-hand furniture, mismatched crockery, old linen.
- Built for numbers: a big table, spare beds, plenty of coat hooks.
- A link with the landscape: the beach, the lake, the mountains or the fields around the house.
- Unapologetic simplicity: you come here to rest, not to clean.
What colours suit a holiday house?
| Setting | Palette | Materials |
|---|---|---|
| Seaside | White, faded blue, sand | Linen, rattan, driftwood |
| Mountains | Honey wood, cream, fir green | Wool, raw wood, stone |
| Countryside | Off-white, sage green, terracotta | Cotton, wicker, terracotta tiles |
| The South | Ochre, terracotta, lavender blue | Limewash, ceramics, wrought iron |
Whatever the setting, a light, washable base is a good choice: it is easy to repaint between seasons and leaves room for family pieces.
12 ideas to keep the soul of a family home
Keep the furniture that has a story
Before replacing the old sideboard or the wardrobe in the back bedroom, ask yourself what they tell. Sanding, a coat of paint or new handles are often enough to bring them up to date. A restored family piece is worth more than a new one, even if it is worth nothing on resale.
Hang the places around the house
The beach you walk down to every morning, the harbour where you buy fish, the lake of the yearly hike: a poster of these places connects the house to its landscape, even on rainy days. Hung in the hallway or above the big table, they become the gathering point for the whole family.
The places of a house by the sea
A wall of generations
Bring together on one wall family photos from every era, taken in or in front of the house: the grandparents young on the beach, the cousins lined up by height, last summer’s photo. Mismatched wood and metal frames give a natural look, as if the collection had grown by itself.
A big table for everyone
The holidays happen around the table. Choose one as big as possible, in solid wood that can take scratches, with benches that add seats and mismatched chairs collected over the years. A cotton tablecloth washable at 60 °C is better than a beautiful, fragile one.
Sturdy linen and linen sheets
In a house where fifteen people sometimes sleep, linen has to stand up to repeated washing. Washed linen, which creases beautifully and dries quickly, is ideal for sheets and tablecloths. One colour per room or per bed makes sorting easier at the end of the holidays.
A hallway designed for the beach or the trail
Plenty of hooks, baskets for towels, a bench for taking off shoes, a bucket for boots or sandy flip-flops: a well organised hallway stops the whole house turning into a changing room. A poster of a swimming spot or a mountain lake sets the tone at the door.
The games and books cupboard
Old board games, incomplete jigsaws, novels left behind by holidaymakers from years past: this cupboard is part of the soul of the house. Keep it in a wardrobe or on open shelves in the main room, and let everyone add their finds.
The house book
A large notebook on a console table where everyone writes down their memories of the summer, the recipes that worked, the good local addresses and the little house rules. Over the years it becomes the family’s memory, and a precious guide if the house is lent or let.
Treasures picked up on walks
Pebbles, shells, pine cones, driftwood, postcards sent from the house: gather these treasures in a jar, on a window sill or in an old printer’s tray. They tell the story of the summers better than any decorative object. 🐚
A light palette that is easy to refresh
White or cream washable walls can be repainted in a weekend before the season opens. Keep colour for the shutters, a door or one wall of the main room, and leave the rest to objects and posters.
An outdoor corner for long evenings
A table under a tree or a pergola, folding metal or wooden chairs, a string of lights and a few lanterns: this is where summer evenings end. Choose furniture that can handle the rain, so you do not have to bring everything in every night.
The mountains have family homes too
The chalet of ski holidays or summers in the alpine pastures is handed down too. The same principles apply: keep the old furniture, add plenty of hooks for ski jackets, hang the lake or the peak of the yearly hike. Wood and wool simply replace linen and rattan.
Modernise without erasing
A family home must stay comfortable: good beds, a working bathroom, a practical kitchen. Invest in what you cannot see, and keep what you can. If the house is let for part of the year, lock the most precious pieces away in one room, but leave a few memories in place: guests come looking for that soul too.
Which poster suits a holiday house?
| Room | Suggested poster | Suggested size |
|---|---|---|
| Hallway | The nearest beach or lake | A4 (€19) |
| Main room | A trio of local places | 3 x A3 (€24 each) |
| Bedrooms | A calm landscape, a harbour, a village | A4 (€19) or A5 (€15) |
| Kitchen | The market, the harbour, aperitif time | A5 (€15) |
Our posters come in A5 (14.8 x 21 cm), A4 (21 x 29.7 cm) and A3 (29.5 x 41.9 cm). Before drilling into an old wall, read our guide on how to hang a picture frame at the right height.
More posters for a holiday house
What mistakes should you avoid in a family home?
- Replacing everything at once: a house redone in a single summer loses its history. Go room by room.
- Choosing fragile things: a pale sofa, a thick rug and crystal glasses do not survive holidays with fifteen people.
- Piling up without sorting: keeping the soul does not mean keeping everything. A clear-out every two or three years lets the house breathe.
- Forgetting the landscape: the house exists for the place around it. Bring it in through the windows and onto the walls.
Frequently asked questions
How do you decorate a family home?
Keep inherited furniture and restore it, choose a light washable base, sturdy linen or cotton, a big table for everyone, and hang family photos and posters of the places around the house.
How do you modernise a family home without losing its charm?
Invest in invisible comfort (beds, bathroom, kitchen) and keep the visible elements that tell its story: old furniture, the house book, photos, board games. Go room by room rather than redoing everything at once.
What decor suits a holiday house that is let?
Simple, sturdy decor with a light base, washable linen and a few objects that tell the story of the place: posters of nearby beaches or peaks, a book of local tips, treasures from walks. Lock the family’s precious pieces away in one room.
What colours suit a house by the sea?
White, faded blue and sandy tones, with natural materials such as linen, rattan and driftwood. Add a brighter touch of colour on a door, the shutters or a poster.
A house that is handed down
A family home is never finished: every summer adds an object, a photo, a memory. What matters is keeping what makes it unique and bringing in the landscape around it. If it is in the sun, our Italian decor ideas will inspire you too. And browse our France posters and our mountain posters to find the places of your house.
