Tuesdays Tip

Warmer weather calls for a change in your home's decor. Welcome a new season with bright and cheery touches around your home. By bringing in sheer, light weight fabrics, of pretty pastel and bright florals and by adding wonderful garden elements. Picture Courtesy of My Home Ideas

10 Ways to Welcome Spring into Your Home

1. Lighten Up

Let in the light! This is a great time to begin opening your shades and window coverings and cleaning your windows. Do you have velvet drapes or a heavy corduroy sofa? Spring is the time to change them out for lighter looking alternatives. Slipcover the sofa or chairs with paler tones or floral fabrics. Changing the pillows can make a huge difference as well. Adding seasonal pillows will welcome a new beginning. If you have heavy drapes remove them and replace them with sheer curtains. Windows with shutters need no drapery at all. Let the great spring sunshine into your home!

2. Rethink the Rugs

Wonderfully cozy area rugs look just right in winter. If you have rugs throughout your home, this may be a great chance to switch them out for spring or summer rugs. When the temperature rises it may be time to roll them up and replace them for summer with sisal or cotton rugs in light, cool colors. If you don’t have any to switch out, try moving them to different rooms throughout your home for a fresher look and also be sure to clean them properly and remove any dust build up. Summer is the perfect time to have heavy rugs cleaned or repaired

3. A Room With A View

If your furniture is centered in front of a fireplace, think about ways to rearrange the look for summer. Change the focal point away from the mantel to a view of a garden, placing the conversation grouping to take advantage of the garden scene just outside.

4. Create an Inviting Porch Indoors

Summer living often moves out to a porch or deck. Why not get the look and feel of the porch inside. Introduce a few garden chairs, accessories, and floral fabrics into a family room, for example. You’ll get the feel of the outdoors every time you’re in the room.

5. Add Fresh Flowers and Plants

Bring on the green! Now is time to get rid of those old dusty silk plants and flowers and bring out some fresh flowers and pretty green plants. Some of our favorites are fresh green plants, flowering pots, or elegant orchids. Spring is a great time for brightening up the home. These lively touches can breathe life into winter-weary spaces.

Martha Stewart Living

Milk Pail Garden Pots Old-fashioned enamel milk pails, available at flea markets and farm-supply stores, have a rustic charm. Place sword ferns (Nephrolepis obliterata 'Kimberly Queen') or similar plants in 10-inch pots inside large buckets (above); consider ferns in 4- to 8-inch pots for smaller pails. If the bucket is too deep, put an upturned plastic pot inside, and stand the plant on top. Remove plant to water. (Martha Stewart Living)

6. Accessorize For Spring

Spring is the time to rework your knick knacks and makeover your shelves. Check all of your accessories. Look around your home at your wall décor and other deocrating items. Why not re-think the decor in your home by changing a few simple things. Add fresh designs, colors and patterns. Clean winter dust off the shelves and begin to replace objects with an eye toward keeping the look light. Martha Stewart Living

Bring out your floral china or white ironstone, set up a collection of pitchers or glass. Add plants and personal photos in pretty frames.

7. Think Sheer

Sheer curtains, sheer tablecloths, sheer bedskirts, and pillows – all of these say “summer” louder than almost any other element. Look for plain, embroidered, or printed sheer designs that complement your interiors.

8. De-Clutter Now

Clean out the clutter or as mom alwasy called it "Spring Cleaning". Spring is a time of renewal and new beginnings. Look for organizing solutions for your home. Any spot that is overcrowded or unorganized can drain your energies as it swallows objects and fills your life with clutter. Use baskets and boxes to contain clutter wherever it exists. Open up the drapes, get some sunshine in your room and clean out all that extra stuff that’s lying around!

9. Clean out the Fireplace

Now is the perfect time to sweep away the ashes of winter fires and start fresh. If you have a fireplace that you’ve been using all winter, now is a great time to clean it out. Even if you still need to use it on a few chilly nights, it’s still a great idea to clean out all those old ashes and soot. When you no longer need this place for fires, fill your firebox with silk plants, an arrangement of candles, or an attractive display of beautiful birch logs. Another fun way to brighten the room is to cover the box with an attractive folding screen decoupaged with summer florals.

10. Freshen Up The Front Door

Got curb appeal? The first impression to your guests is the front door.

Martha Stewart Living

Custom Door Mat

Welcome guests -- and reassure them that they're ringing the right bell -- with a mat displaying your house number.

Take this time to clean out the front doorstep and make it more inviting for people. Sweep the stoop, dust out the mats, clean the windows, etc. Bring the look of summer to your front door by cleaning up the area. Wash the door and windows and touch up the paint if needed. Hang a door bucket or wreath on the front door . If you have a large porch you may also have room for pots of colorful spring flowers.