Freshen up your decor

Take a step outside and breathe deeply. You can smell it in the air. Spring is here! And to celebrate the arrival of our cheeriest season, let’s do more to brighten up our house and home than a deep scrub in the kitchen and bath.

Here are 8 fast, easy, and inexpensive home décor tricks to have your home glowing sunshine this spring.

Call in the pros

Professional window washers, that is.

If you’ve never had your windows professionally cleaned, you’re going to fall out of your chair when you experience the difference. What a fresh perspective.

A window washing service will remove stains Windex and a squeegee can’t, including sap, pest droppings, and contaminants that build up on the glass.

A little green

Courtesy of Balsam Hill

Studies have proven that house plants can lower stress levels and improve your mood. Add new additions to your indoor garden this spring for an extra pick-me-up at every turn. If you’ve had bad luck with house plants in the past, here are five hard-to-kill varieties that are both beautiful and not fickle if you forget the watering can now and again:

  • Aloe vera
  • Silver philodendron
  • Pothos
  • Bird’s nest fern
  • Peace lily

Or go faux

Courtesy of Balsam Hill

Alternatively, high quality faux flowers chosen expressly for the spring season will make it look like you’ve just returned from the bulb farm when you’ve really been watching Netflix.

Think tulips and daffodils, or lemon tree branches. Whatever you choose, go with fun colors like sunshine yellow and magenta. Faux flowers are great because they can easily be packed away for brightening up your home next spring, too – and the spring after.

There’s no place like bed

Arranging fresh new accent pillows on your beds can overhaul the feel of a bedroom in an instant. Keep a springtime color palette in mind but don’t clash too much with the current color scheme. Think bright and fun but remember that you do still need the pillows to complement or contrast your bedspreads. For a trendy look, select pillows with fringe, weave, or fuzzy texture.

More pillow talk

Courtesy of Kravet

New throw pillows on your sofa in light and bright refreshing colors should also be towards the top of your to-do list. Here are a few simple rules to getting throw pillows just right:

  1. Choose one cohesive color palette, or at most, two colors that contrast
  2. Arrange pillows from largest to smallest working from the armrests towards the center of the couch
  3. 1:1:1 – One busy print, one simple print, one solid color, or all solid colors
  4. Don’t forget that furniture should also be comfortable, avoid overdoing decorative pillows to the point that there’s no place to sit

Clear the clutter

Nobody has ever said, “I wish there was more clutter around here!”

From tired old houseplants to stacks of paper, now’s the time for a sweep of the house for junk that can make its way to the dump. Be brutal. The more clutter you get rid of, the better you’ll feel. This is especially important if you’re working from home.

The brighter the better

Spring is the time of year when you can get away with truly vibrant towels in the kitchen and bath. Fresh new light and bright towels offer more than just an aesthetic boost, too. Many people don’t realize that towels lose their absorbency long before they look ratty and old. A good rule of thumb is to replace towels every couple years or so, particularly those that are washed often.

A colorful first impression

Courtesy of Williams-Sonoma

A new front door wreath will set the tone every time you walk through the door. Keep it bright and floral, to be the ideal complement to your clutter free vibrant interior – with sparkling windows so clean you will hardly notice that they’re there. Perfect for watching the birds and the bees come to life for the season.