5 Ways to Spruce up Your Home This Spring

Spring cometh to put the spirit of youth in everything. The clouds of this long and heavy winter are parting, and once more sunlight dares to kiss the cheek of mother nature.

When every tree is shuddering with blossoms, it would be terribly out of fashion for you not to bloom along with them. And there are few methods of blooming that are more satisfying than enriching your living space. So here are five ways to do that without breaking the bank.

1.  Now is the Time for Flowers

Imagine the dead of winter. The wind buffets the walls of your house. Snowfall has turned the outside world into a featureless white void. The cold penetrates your body down to your bones, so deeply you aren’t even shivering anymore…

And you look over to see a beautiful floral arrangement on your dinner table.

Yeah, it doesn’t really fit during that time of year.

But this time of year is the time. This time year is the moment for all your floral desires.

Flower decorations can come in many forms. Anyone who looks down their nose at plastic flowers is misunderstanding the intention behind them, so don’t be afraid to get those if you don’t have it in your schedule to take care of another living thing.

Of course, living flowers have tons of appeal. Just be ready to take care of them and beware that all the metaphors about the transience of flowers are founded in reality. They need care, attention, and water about forty times a day.

2.  Now is the Time to Paint

Painting a room, or even a wall, is always easier said than done. It is especially far easier to imagine painting a wall rather than actually doing it.

But spring is the time to mobilize, for it is when the sun can shine, the windows can open, and the air is fresh. Indeed, people across all walks of life report higher energy levels during the spring. So if ever there was an opportunity for you to get ambitious with your plans, it is now.

The big thing to remember about a labor-intensive project like painting a room is that the biggest factor in your energy level will be your level of excitement.

What this means is that bolder is better. Ambitious is better. Be willing to imagine something that you never in a million years expect to have the time or energy for. Because imagining something that grandiose is the first step the making the effort to do it.

3.  Now is the Time for a new Rug

It can be a pain to redecorate the whole living room, or bedroom, or any room. Not because it is an actually hard thing to do, but because it is hard to make a plan of how to do it.

Where do you start? Redecorating involves replacing a million little nuances with another million little nuances. What is the point of entry that motivates the whole revision?

The rug is the best place to start because it is the part of a room’s ensemble that is most easily moved (as opposed to furniture) while also being the thing you use the most (just by walking).

Imagine a room that is decorated with a large cowhide rug. This large cowhide rug is the center of the room. The first thing that happens when they enter the room is they see it and say, “That is a seriously large cowhide rug.”

It is pretty easy to imagine the room around that rug. Beige walls, low color temperature lights, cowhide pillows, a Clint Eastwood poster… You get the idea. And it all started with the rug.

4.  Now is the Time for new Lights

Speaking of lights, this is another excellent way to renovate your home without actually renovating a thing: Changing up lighting can have a transportive effect.

Light tells us where we are. We instinctively know the difference between moonlight and sunlight, for instance. But it is more than that, because we can also interpret from lights things like time period and cultural setting.

In short, every layer of our perception can be shaped by light.

Thus, what your home might really need this spring is the dazzling appeal of string lights. Or perhaps you are looking to create a more formal setting, using diffused spotlights to create the sense that all the living room’s a stage, and your guests are merely players.

Whatever your end goal for redecoration, a simple change in lighting can make a world of difference. Try not to overthink it though; remember that it’s spring time, and if you really want your guests to have a good time, there is no time like now to use natural lighting.

5.  Now is the Time to Enthrone Your Pets

Few things make a home feel like a home than seeing a cat or a dog utterly at rest. Their trust perfectly earned, their animal instincts perfectly at ease. It is a picture of nature’s potential oneness with mankind that an animal might make its home in your’s.

Which is all very profound and sweet, but the thing is that animals are stupid and easily manipulated. You don’t need to be a dog whisperer to get them to relax in your home.

Get some soft bedding and put it in the sunlight and you will find your pet curling themselves into a pretzel from how comfortable they are in it. It’s incredible how easy they are to please.

And this will transfer to the rest of the room. Whether or not your pet’s bedding is aesthetically pleasing is almost irrelevant. In fact, allowing your pet’s bedding to stand out can be better.

When people see a cute animal sleeping soundly, they feel a voyeuristic sense of security that is far more instinctive than anything provided by lights or painted walls.

Hopefully you will be able to make a cozy corner out of your home this spring.