Spring Decorating Ideas

Spring fever is in the air. Everywhere you look flowers are blooming and grass and trees are beginning to turn green with new growth. Now is a good time to bring the feeling of the season into your home. With a few easy tips, you can give your home a completely different look and enjoy the season in new surroundings.
One thing that marks the beginning of spring is our home is taking down the heavier drapes and putting up light sheers on all the windows. Sheers now come in a variety of patterns, but even simple sheers make a home look airy and bright. Choose white, eggshell, or a light pastel of your room color. Open curtains to let in as much light as possible. Light will make your rooms look larger and your plants will thank you!

Take the heavy blankets, duvets, comforters, or quilts off the beds, launder or dry clean and then pack them away with a dryer sheet and they will be fresh and ready for the winter. The space saving bags that you draw the air from with a vaccuum will save on closet shelf space. Another idea is to pack them away in your luggage.
On your bed, put crisp pastel sheets in a high thread count cotton or cotton blend sheets for comfort on warm summer nights. (300-400 thread count sheets are great. 600 TC is even better but expensive unless you find them on sale.) If you need new sheets, many store advertise white sales this time of year and it's a good time to stock up on linens.

After the sheets, choose a lightweight comforter or bedspread in a light color. Remember light and airy is what you are going for. I love the matelesse bedspreads, or a lightweight comforter with a tiny flowered dust ruffle. Now is a good time to replace your pillows, too, as chiropractors recommend changing them every six months or so. You will probably also want to change pillows. If you make pillow covers out of lighter hues, you can just change the covers each season. (They are beautiful with a line of buttons across the front of the pillow.)

Spring is a good time to bring out wicker tables or chairs, if you are lucky enough to have them. A fresh coat of white paint on a headboard or table also brightens things up and makes you feel like you're vacationing in a beach house. Remove knicknacks from tables and pare back to a minimum, so you will have more time to spend with your family during the warm weather. Also change out your sofa pillows and throws to something more appropriate for spring. Cover dark end tables with white tablecloths for a fresh look.

Remove all dark floral arrangements and bring in fresh flowers and live green plants. You can buy them at a florist or grow your own for continuous flowers all summer. Grocery stores also have good prices on fresh flowers. Bring in the freshness of flowers and greenery into your home will give you a home with the scent of spring. (Also, a good spring cleaning and leaving the windows open to let the house air out helps.)

Examine your rugs and change them out if you have lighter colored ones that you like to use. If you need an inexpensive area rug, but are a little short on money after tax time, you can buy several smaller shag rugs, turn them over, and stick together with a whip stitch on the bag. LIght shag rugs look great, or you can buy a natural sisal mat carpet. (Don't be afraid of the light shags. If you make one as described above, you can snip the stitches to wash in the washer as long as the manufacturer says the rugs are washable.)

Don't forget the kitchen! Put out some light colored dishtowels and the new pastel paper towels. Remove the dark, heavy stoneware and use something lighter, such as the square white plates from Pier One. The natural bamboo mats make great placemats under the white plates. Then choose a pastel hue for your napkins and use sisal to tie a knot through a colored button for napkin rings.

With just these simple changes, your home will have a completely different feeling, airy and bright for sping, and your mood will definitely be lighter! It will improve your home's look and your own outlook!