Spring Decorating Ideas: Lighten Up Your Home and Bring Some Garden In

Spring decorating begins with spring cleaning. Then start to change the feel of your home, or a specific room or two, by bringing in some very simple key elements to modify your surroundings. Your aim is to change from cold and closed in colder seasons, to warm, fresh air and brighter spring. It is both a change of season and a change of mood.

The first thing you need to do after you decide to make some seasonal decorating changes, is to dig in and begin some basic spring cleaning. Remove any forgotten autumn, winter, Christmas, Valentine and so forth, decorations and pack them away.

Pick one room to begin cleaning out and decorating first, so you don't overwhelm yourself and give up.

Look at each room as a whole and then at each visible surface within the room that holds figurines, framed tabletop photographs and pictures, memorabilia, family keepsakes, and take a lot of the clutter out.

The nice thing about smaller decorating items like this, is that they can be rotated back in or out at will, but they don't need to all be out at once, and by changing small things around periodically, you can give your home both a fresher look and a new appearance for both your own family and visitors to your home.

Clean and polish surfaces of shelves and tabletops, end tables, windowsills and countertops. The point is to lighten and brighten up the appearance of the areas you are choosing to redecorate.. Clean your windows and open them up to air out the staleness left by seasons of hibernation and closure. You want to bring the outside in.

After the initial spring cleaning and decluttering, the two most simple things you can bring into your home, to make it feel more spring like, are infusions of brighter colours and fresh flowers and plants. Nothing brings the feel of spring in, like the colours and textures of the season. Keep a spring garden in mind and pick the colours and flowers you like the most from the spring garden colour palette. Choose the ones that look best with your overall colour schemes, already in place. That way you can brighten up an existing space, which is much less expensive to do.

From your own knick knacks, family memorabilia, collectables and so forth, pick the most seasonably appropriate and colour appropriate items and build on a theme. You can switch photos in a frame or take simple new ones with spring outdoor settings, to fit the theme you are aiming for.

Silk flowers are o.k., but fresh flowering plants, or bouquets ranging from simple groupings to dramatic arrangements, make a much stronger statement. Traditional spring flowers tend to be more simple and artistic in appearance. Simple clean lines are nice. If it is in your budget, buy fresh spring flowers, each week, to place in focal points of the room. If you are lucky , you may have your own garden full of blooming flowers to choose from.

A less expensive buying option might be to purchase potted seasonal flowering plants which will last longer.

The third option on spring flowers are the newer, very realistic looking potted bulb, glass vases with rocks and so forth. These arrangements are available at many stores. Some of them are very realistic, with details like half opened blooming bulbs or moss on different part of the pot surface to make them look like they were straight from the garden and still growing, little vignettes of spring garden or nature walk. They are illusional arrangements, with realistic fake water that doesn't have to be changed, stones and so forth. You are bringing bits of spring and nature into your home.

Simple things like changing throw pillows on chairs and couches, to brighten the furniture and room, can put new spots of colour throughout the room. That further reinforce your seasonal changes. You can simply cover existing ones, with new covers that can be removed, when you want another change.

If you have any special items with animals, that remind you of spring, like small birds figurines or animals with babies, use those, but only a few to add to the mood of the setting in the rooms you are changing. Too many added, may begin to clutter up the space again.

If you favour a more modern look, clean crisp items of colour and design will also fit your theme. In that case keep the flowers simple and dramatic to make a statement, and draw the eye to them, around the room or house.

Keep a few words in mind when working on your spring decorating project...clean, fresh, garden, colour and nature . Then go and create the season in your home.