Trending on Remodelista: 5 Design Ideas for High Summer

We’ll be sad to see July go. But, courage—August lies ahead, with lazy days and sunflowers in the garden. The Remodelista editors spent the week discovering new design ideas for high summer. Here are five of their favorites:

Pantry Storage

Above: Troutbeck is a restored country house and retreat in upstate New York.For booking information, go to Troutbeck.

“Built in 1765 by poet/naturalist Myron Benton, Troutbeck served as a country house and retreat for Benton’s friends and associates, including Mark Twain, Henry David Thoreau, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and the naturalist John Burroughs,” writes Julie. See more in Hotels & Lodging: A Storied Bohemian Country Estate Reborn in Amenia, NY.

Water-Saving Toilets

Above: The American Standard Clean High-Efficiency Elongated Two-Piece Toilet receives the highest marks in the WaterSense 1.28 gpf category from Consumer Reports.

“Trying to reduce your household water consumption? Look no further than your toilet, the number-one water guzzler,” suggests Janet. See a roundup of water-saving toilets in this week’s 10 Easy Pieces post.

Rustic Knives

Above: The full Cheese Knife Set includes an axe, cleaver, and knife; $120 AUD.

Annie discovers “handcrafted cutlery with handles made of apple branches, so reminiscent of deep woods and wilderness, they could be from the set of Moonrise Kingdom.”

See more in Camp-Style Cutlery by a Melbourne Craftsman.

Beach Towel Dryer

Above: The classic Sheila Maid Clothes Dryer is one of our Remodelista 100 products in Remodelista: A Manual for the Considered Home. It’s $169.95 at Williams Sonoma. For more, see our post 10 Easy Pieces: Wooden Laundry Racks.

The Simple Summer Laundry Room has all the essentials plus charm to spare. See more in this week’s Steal This Look post.

Pre-cut Wood Siding

Above: On the former site of a dilapidated 1950s-era farm on  the island of Goeree-Overflakkee off the coast of Rotterdam, Korteknie Stuhlmacher Architecten “constructed with cross-laminated timber (CLT) panels pre-cut to size and assembled on-site within two weeks,” writes Alexa.

The Western red cedar siding of the house is finished with a natural wash to “anticipate the patina and grayness,” the architects say. “The house will not need painting in the future.”

See more in An Agrarian-Inspired Holiday House on an Agricultural Dutch Island.