Easy ideas on creating a beautiful place to live in whether it be spring, summer, winter or fall.
No matter how wonderfully your home is decorated, looking at the same things every day all year gets to be a bore. Follow these ideas to add some liveliness and interest to the interior design style of your rooms. You don't need to spend a lot of money or make big changes to get a fresh seasonal look.
Choose Seasonal Plants
Those tired, dusty old houseplants may add literal life to your rooms, but do they add any figurative life: excitement or interest? To fix their boring look, try repotting them in seasonally decorated pots or changing their groupings around the house.
Your centerpiece of plant life should be strictly seasonal, however. And the range of choices is quite wide. In the winter consider a bowl of pine cones or bare twigs artfully arranged in a tall glass vase. Even rough hewn logs in a basket by a gas fireplace lends an extra feeling of nostalgia and warmth. In spring try pussy willow branches or any of the fresh-cut bulbs such as daffodils. Don't forget the scented beauty of lilacs and similar flowers. Summer lends itself to a huge array of whatever is fresh in the garden, whether that be a bowl of tomatoes or a big bouquet of flowers. Fall is a great time to cut some drying ornamental grass with furry heads or stack an array of gourds or Indian corn.
Change Your Linens with the Seasons
Starting in the bedroom, alternate bedding throughout the seasons that is both stylish and functional. In the colder months choose flannel sheets that add texture and warmth, but also pick a darker, cozier pattern or hue. A duvet cover can also blend with the seasons and still match your room if you find one color that stays constant throughout. A room with green hues can lend itself to any season with simple changes in tone and texture. In warmer months choose crisp cotton sheets in light colors and strip the duvet down to its basic white core or abandon it all together for a less heavy option.
On tables, choose dark and festive tablecloths and runners for the winter but consider using place mats in spring and fall and nothing but the bare wood table top in summer.
Window Coverings with Flair and Function
Window coverings can be easily manipulated by adding or taking away elements. In the wintertime when it is darker out anyway, heavier and more elaborate drapes don't have as much sunlight to obscure and can be pulled shut to keep out frigid drafts. The extra fabric also gives the eye the illusion of more warmth.
In spring and fall, pull back the curtains to let the full light shine through. Then in summer consider taking down heavy drapes for the season. Launder them and put them in storage. You can either leave your windows bare or use shades mounted behind your regular curtains to control light and privacy.
Pillows and Throws for Various Seasons
Pillows and throws are a great way to bring color and comfort into a room. In the living room, a throw or two is essential in the winter months, especially is you have a cold and forbidding leather couch. Play with decorative pillows to match the seasons or holidays, such as plaid pillows at Christmastime, even if the colors are not red and green but blue and tan. In the summertime, throws can be banished from the living room and pillows of lighter hues can take their place.
In the bedroom, throws are good for both summer and winter. Winter throws provide an extra layer if you wake up chilly, and they provide the same coverage on a stripped down bed on chilly summer nights! Pillows can be piled on in winter and just a few citrus colored pillows provide all the punch you need in summer.
A few simple additions and subtractions in your home regarding plants, linens, curtains, pillows and throws may be all you need to give your home a fresh, seasonal look!
