Inspired Spring Decor

Create a casual living room that sings "spring," brimming with juicy citrus colors. Add brightly colored vases, spunky patterned pillows, a painted jute rug, and flea market finds to your space for a fresh feel without spending a fortune.

Add punch to a headboard by wrapping it with a yard of mod floral fabric. Try inexpensive album frames filled with patterned paper to adorn bare walls. Add glitz to an existing bedside table with metallic paint.

Carved ready-made ceiling rosettes make an impressive eye-level wall display. Painted in graduated shades of yellow, the discs add style to a living room. Made of urethane and available at most home centers for less than $50, they are lightweight and easy to hang.

A collection of egg cups lined up in rows makes an attractive organizing tool on a desk. Fill the cups with small desk needs, such as paper clips and stamps or everyday, pick-me-up flowers or candy.

This chest of drawers owes its dynamic appearance to two botanical papers attached to drawer fronts with spray adhesive. Try this same idea for enlivening a plain white lampshade.

Adding spring style to a sunroom is as easy as painting a jute rug with a floral motif, swapping in a garden-inspired pillow, and topping a table with a simple white runner.

Personalize a ready-made Roman shade by taping off stripes and using a dry makeup sponge to dab acrylic paint between them. Allow to dry and remove the tape. Use a stiff, dry, round-tip brush to energize the shade with squiggles.

Use floating plants to provide a layer of green that's perfect in stacked glass containers. Try floating duckweed, a tiny shoe-shape plant, in the bottom container, with water lettuce floating on top. 

A gallon of paint is among the easiest tools for changing a space. Choose a springtime color that makes you feel happy; paint an accent wall or the whole room. Fabric remnants become an easy-to-make pillow cover and instant table runner.

Get a fresh perspective on your bathroom by swapping out a typical bathroom mirror for a decoupaged beauty. Purchase a mirror with a flat frame and cover the frame with vibrant fabric using decoupage. After four or five coats, the surface will be smooth.

A vintage wire egg basket is the perfect starting point to create a distinctive light fixture. Look for a basket with an interesting pattern and a hole in the bottom for wiring. To fashion a shade, cut a strip of sheer fabric to the length and width of the inside of the basket, plus one inch for finishing. Sew the strip into a tube and stitch or glue to finish top and bottom edges. Tie the shade to the basket using twine and a large embroidery needle. Hot glue a small twig nest to the handle for a sweet touch.

Peel-and-stick wall decals are a quick and simple update for any plain surface. Dress up a headboard with delicate wallpaper decals. Carry the design up the wall for an extra touch. The easiest way to apply them is to slowly peel away from the backing while smoothing the decal on the wall.

Inexpensive photo art, strategically hung within decorative molding, makes a prominent, colorful statement in a living room. Layer a large painted canvas beneath one photo to give it greater presence and add a touch of color to all-white walls and trim.

Find a classic bird-watching field guide at a used book store. Carefully cut loose sheets from it and use finishing nails to hang them in a grid to get the look of vintage prints without the cost.

Hinge together unfinished bifold doors for a decorative room divider or large work of art. Coat the panels with white primer and then use chalk to define the boundaries of each stripe color. With a large flat brush, lightly fill in the bands using flat latex paint.

Kumquats in a vase of water make a unique base for stems of yellow tulips or other spring flowers. Fill a tray with Granny Smith apples for a delectable coffee table accent.

Turn inexpensive coasters into graphic wall art. Tape pretty letterpress coasters to colorful card stock and display in ready-made frames. Create a shadowbox effect with a thick round coaster in a crisp square frame. For a more traditional look, add a precut mat.

A simple pair of sheer panels moves with little effort and filters light. Lest you think sheers come only in a plain-white option, check out today's choices, including pretty pale colors and punchy patterns like the stripe shown here. Curtain clips make it easy to hang and replace later.

For a colorful tablecloth and napkins, paint festive dots and stripes on a square piece of cotton canvas or a ready-made tablecloth. Use chalk to create your design, then fill in with fabric paint or acrylic paint mixed with a fabric medium.

Sometimes all you need to update a room for a new season is a fresh window treatment. Use a Roman shade made of a pretty floral pattern to turn the window into a work of art.

Evoking tabletop conservatories of old, a pretty wooden birdcage makes a fanciful three-dimensional frame for a seasonal display. Set an upbeat mood in an entry with a vibrant-color cage with a feather nest and faux eggs or a small flower arrangement inside.

Bring the outdoors in, literally, with these sun catchers. Sandwich a leaf (hosta, fern, caladium, and palm) between two framed panels of glass, available at imports stores. Fresh leaves will turn brown, so you'll need to swap them out every few weeks, or use dried leaves and coat them with acrylic artist's spray to prevent discoloration.

Give your kids' bathroom personality by outlining a wall with peel-and-stick stripes; use repositionable decals on the sink and tub and cut customized labels from sign-making vinyl for easy organization.

A symmetrical grouping of flower prints turns a blank wall space into a conversation piece. To make them, photograph flowers with a digital camera and have them blown up and printed on canvas. Frame them in a simple wooden frame. If your photography skills are shaky, frame pretty calendar pages instead.