Guest post by Cindi Pearce of Catalogs.com


via Flickr by Kıvanç Niş

It is spring, so open those curtains and blinds and hoist up the windows. Let the sunshine and breeze and other joys of springtime waft into your home. After being cloistered and shut in for four or five months, spring is a time of renewal.

Tulips and forsythia are blooming. The birds are chirping. The days are getting longer. You might even catch a peek of your neighbors, who you have not seen since October.

You can bring the nuances of spring right into your home easily and inexpensively. Many tips for bringing spring indoors do not even require the services of a costly interior decorator.

If you can, switch your drapes or curtains. Take down heavy, warmth-providing curtains, send them out to be professionally cleaned and store them away. Hang white, lacy curtains to lighten and brighten your rooms. Lacy curtains will provide you with some privacy from the outside world but will also let the light in. Other light colors that coordinate with your decor have the same effect. Change tiebacks, embellishments and other accessories to bright colors with a light touch. Floral accents, green ribbons and other touches sing spring.

Bring the garden and outdoors inside. Cut some of your outdoor blooming spring flowers and bring them inside. Put them in a beautiful vase and set them center stage. This will be a definite reminder that spring has sprung and summer is on its way.

House plants are always a great way to introduce spring green into your home. Of course, you can include plants in your home year around, and even over-winter your outdoor plants, such as geraniums. In the spring, however, it is time to put your over-wintered plants back outside. Replace them with some new houseplants situated in some eye-catching containers. Force spring bulbs for windowsill displays indoors.

Place your plants on wicker or wrought iron stands, which always imply springtime. You can paint wicker and wrought iron. If you want a splash of spring-time color, get out the spray can or the paint brush and go to work. A fresh coat of white, pastel green or light blue makes wicker or iron a fresh accent. Incorporate some wicker furniture into your interior design. Wicker is associated with the outdoors and particularly with patios but serves equally well indoors. A big wicker rocker chair in the corner of the living room hints that summer time is right around the corner.

If you do not want to bother with the care and maintenance of real plants buy some artificial flowers, plants and boughs and make some arrangements that can be situated in vases or strung over doorways or across your mantle. Concentrate on spring flowers like tulips, daffodils and forsythia. Opt for a country look with carved wooden tulips, adding decorative accessories like butterflies and birds.

Paint your room in a bright, whimsical color, or just paint some of your furniture to make it pop. There are a variety of green shades that invoke the outdoors. Look at samples at a home decor store. You may find that inserting a slice of lime green color into your living room or kitchen gives you a tremendous boost. Bright green pillows for the sofa, a soft green throw for your reading chair and a minty green glassware are all refreshing spring touches.

Hang wind chimes in front of our windows and listen to them tinkle as the spring breeze drifts inside. Add a fancy stunt kite to your room to conjure spring breezes. Kites can be hung from the ceiling or in front of the windows for an artistic touch.

Put a new tablecloth on your dining room table. Go for something light and airy. Turn your ceiling fans on. There is nothing like a ceiling fan to bring to mind spring and summer nights spent on the wraparound porch, drinking mint juleps and chatting with family and friends.

Rearrange your furniture or add a new lampshade. The smallest changes can make a big difference in the mood of your room.

You probably do not want to hear this, but washing your windows will boost the light in your house and allow the spring sunshine to come into your house. So grab the Windex and the ladder and get down to business. Sparkling clean windows are the best way to let the fresh green of springtime into your home.