The Martha Stewart summer aesthetic: How to capture the charm in your photo book

The magic of Martha Stewart’s brand, unequaled in success and longevity, lies in its perfect blend of aspirational and approachable. Martha’s world is charming and chic, with an emphasis on the wholesome and homegrown—meaning you can live that way, too!

It’s no surprise that the “Martha Stewart aesthetic” is trending this season. In summer, living like Martha means embracing the simple pleasures of slow living. It’s picking flowers to arrange in a vintage vase. Casual outdoor gatherings with family and friends. Perfecting cool drink concoctions. Escaping to your favorite beauty spots.

While you’re enjoying your best slow-living summer, your photo reel will start to take on that delightful Martha Stewart aesthetic. And there’s no better fit for such snaps than the Martha Stewart for Mixbook collection of photo book themes. Here are some suggestions for using these best-selling, Martha-approved designs for your summer memories.

Tip: Along with customizable photo book themes, Mixbook also has photo calendars and cards curated by Martha Stewart and her team.

For serene summer days on the water

If the summer sun always sends you in search of sparkling water—be it a pool, lake, river, or ocean—then the Serene Blue Photo Book by Martha Stewart will be a great fit for your photo collection. The theme’s color palette of sun-bleached indigo and terracotta complements those lazy-lounging, swimming-and-paddling, beachy vibes. So do backgrounds and borders featuring tropical ikat motifs, ticking stripes, chevrons, and woven basket patterns.

Think of this version of the Martha Stewart aesthetic as “Martha shopping for textiles at an outdoor market in the Mediterranean.” Even if your summer plans didn’t take you further than your community pool, this refined photo book theme will make your memories feel just as delightful.

For old-fashioned family fun in the sun

The Abstract Family Book by Martha Stewart is designed to document the simple, wholesome fun of playing in the sun as a family. Its bold and groovy typography, plus a warm color palette of mustard, marigold, and dusky pinks, offer a contemporary take on 1970s stylings. The design also features creatively updated patterns made of vintage favorites like sunbursts, moons, terrazzo tile, and deco motifs.

Fill the photo book with photos of your family enjoying timeless versions of summer fun. Capture family trips to boardwalks or amusement parks, bike rides around the neighborhood, cooling off with ice pops in the shade, spontaneous water fights, and backyard BBQs.

For all your best summer recipes

Classic summertime foods and drinks are especially photogenic. So are the places and people we share them with. If you’re an excellent cook and host, and you love to fill your summer schedule with cookouts, picnics, BBQs, garden parties, and al fresco brunches, how about turning your photo collection into a custom cookbook?

The Recipe Photo Book by Martha Stewart makes it easy to create a summer recipe book worthy of Martha herself. The book theme offers an easy-to-complete template for categories and individual recipes, with intros, ingredients, and directions, plus ample spots for photos. These are all accented with hand-drawn illustrations of fruits, vegetables, and vintage tablecloth-inspired patterns.

Magical summer days with little ones

Capture the magic of playful summer days with small children by creating the Magical Memory Book by Martha Stewart. Filled with pastel pinks, blues, and purples, iridescent accents, twinkling stars, and ice-cream cones, this photo book theme matches the sweetness of a childhood summer. Dreamy, doodle-like typography invites you to add memory-keeping captions, phrases, or even quotes from your kids about their fun adventures.

Celebrate a summer of globetrotting adventures

Blending classic, cosmopolitan style with contemporary charm, the International Travel by Martha Stewart photo book theme is a fabulous choice for showcasing your worldly summer sojourns. The cover page features a neat pattern of vintage paper tickets. This ticket motif is also available among the theme’s customizable stickers. Others include illustrations of famous landmarks, abstract maps, and tape-strip text boxes for captions and headers.

More design accents include abstract dot patterns and subtle stripes in pale hues, which let your favorite travel photos shine. Fill the neat photo grids and use the elegant typeface combinations to record all the special places, people, and experiences from your globetrotting adventures.

Cherish family time for all generations

Summer break is primetime for family get-togethers and shared multi-generation experiences. This might include special childcare arrangements with grandparents, overnight visits to extended family, cousin playdates, and all kinds of parties. Our Family Memory Photo Book by Martha Stewart is designed especially for photos of these special family days. Its pastel colors, dreamy illustrated botanicals, birds, and bees, and graceful typography give this theme a timeless aesthetic. Consider creating one as a gift for older relatives who cherished spending summer days with the kids.

Start a four seasons in florals project

Embrace the concept of slow living this summer with a project that won’t be complete until the end of the year. The midpoint of the calendar year is a great time for looking back on photos and memories from new year and spring, while looking forward to more special moments to come. Take a look at the exuberant, celebratory style of the Floral Photo Albums by Martha Stewart. Its pages and spreads are organized with a year-in-review format, which you can start filling in at your leisure.

Your slow summer project could be completing the new year and spring spreads, drafting the summer pages, and picking a few highlights of the year so far. In the spirit of Martha-like slow living, you can complete the project a little at a time over the rest of the year. You’ll be so glad you did!

Ready to embrace the Martha Stewart aesthetic?

This summer, think “what would Martha do?” A little gardening. A little cooking. Breaks in the shade with a cool drink. Browsing an antiques store. Inviting friends over for a garden picnic. Definitely some craft projects.

Channel your own inner Martha Stewart with a meaningful and aesthetically pleasing DIY project—a custom photo book—that preserves the memories of a slow summer.

Are you embracing the Martha Stewart aesthetic this summer? Share your customer story and use #MarthaforMixbook on social.