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Continued

Rachel Ashwell: "Personally, I like white all year around, but if I didn't I would always have white for the summer months. I would change floral arrangements from season to season. If you have nice floors, wood or stone, perhaps remove winter rugs. If windows are pretty, remove any heavy drapes and replace them with summer sheers."

Charlotte Moss: "For myself, I have a house at the beach that's geared towards the summer and warm weather. But if someone has a house and wants to change it from season to season to give it a fresh look, in other words, keep that movement going, it all comes back to slipcovers. My grandmother did it. She also would change one of the rugs. The rug in the winter was a bit heavier than the one in the summer.

"Most people don't change curtains, as it's just too expensive. But, by using sources such as mail order catalogs, it's nice to pick up something like Garnet Hill or Anthropologie and get something embroidered and breezy looking for the summer.

"If you're not going to change a lot of things in the room like the rug or curtains or the slipcovers, you can move things around, take some of the accessories out for the summer and lighten them up. You can get a new look by moving things around -- it doesn't always have to be in buying something else.

So if you can't afford to buy new things, move them around and make an effort to rearrange things in the summer, and if you can, go for slipcovers and change the look."