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The other day while I was sitting in the waiting room at the eye doctors and flipping through a couple of their magazines I came across an article about how to bring spring into your home.  And according to this article here are three ways to accomplish this:

1.  Change up your wall color- adding a fresh coat of paint in a new color is a great way to brighten up a room.

2. Update your area rug- change out your area rug for a brighter, more colorful piece to infuse life and light into your space.

3. Replace your furniture- switching out your couches for pieces lighter in color and changing your wooden coffee table for one made of glass instantly lightens the look of your room.

Um, I have a few things to say about these three “tips.”

1. I’m renting so changing my wall color is not an option.  And even if I did own my home, who in their right mind is going to repaint their whole room just for every season?  Ain’t nobody got time for that!

2 & 3: Who has the space to store an entire extra set of furniture that is just for spring?  Or the budget?  Honestly…

These tips just are not realistic for me and I’m guessing they aren’t for many of you as well.  So instead I’d like to offer 5 simple and budget friendly ways you can bring spring into your space.

Tip #1- Throw Pillows

The pillows on your couch are going to be one of the easiest and quickest ways to change your look.  Pillows can be fairly inexpensive if you keep your eye out for sales, or if you are handy with your sewing machine you can make your own for pennies.  Another way to change your throw pillows is to use pillow covers.  It doesn’t get any easier than that and you don’t have to worry about storing extra pillows.  You just simply use the covers to update the ones you already have.  One place I love for pillow covers is Etsy, especially from Modernality.  I love any of these blue, gray, and yellow covers that simply slip right over your existing pillow.  (No this isn’t a sponsored post.  I’ve just really been impressed with the covers I bought from this shop and I like passing along good deals!)

Tip #2- Change Your Art Work

Do you have some pictures or artwork that is full of dark colors hanging on your walls?  You can easily change that out for some lighter, brighter pieces.  Scrapbook paper, wrapping paper, or fabric is one easy and cheap way to fill large frames or cover a canvas.  Greeting cards and old calendars have beautiful images that look great framed and you can find some in just about every color. I absolutely love this fabric art that Kim made out of a shower curtain she found on sale.  Yes a shower curtain!  See how she did it here.

Tip #3- Bring the Outdoors In

The reason so many people love spring (besides the warm weather) is everything suddenly comes to life and flowers and plants are blooming everywhere.  Bring that inside.  Bring in those colors and the lovely smell of fresh flowers.  Bring something inside that is reminiscent of the new life growing outside.

Source: Martha Stewart

Tip #4- Accessorize

Simply switching out a few of your accessories, like candles or lampshades, is another quick fix.  Don’t have a large budget? It is amazing what you can do with a trip to the thrift store and a can of spray paint.  Or recycle some of your items and give them a new use. Colored water in old salsa jars may not sound glamorous but see how pretty it looks on my coffee table?  Also don’t be afraid to shop your own house.  Some of your items from other rooms could look great in your newly designed spring living room.

Tip #5- Scents

If your weather is warm enough to throw open the windows then open them up and let that fresh air in!  Pull up the shades and stream in that sunshine!  Candles, incense, or oils can also fill the air with fresh scents that uplift and relax.  Some of my favorite spring scents are lavender, lemon, magnolia, and pomegranate.  I love Yankee Candle Factory, but there are a lot of great companies out there with wonderful products.

All these simple and small changes really will make an impact when you bring them together.  To show an example  I designed this living room using Olioboard (addicting website!) inspired by the cozy, dark colors of fall and winter.

Notice in the next picture all the main pieces are the same.  We’ve kept the same couches, tables, large art work, and the lamp bases.  Lampshades, pillows, and a few of the accessories and art is all that changed.  But what a difference!

Are you as excited for spring as I am?  How do you plan on bringing the new season into your home? An entire new set of furniture?  Or some cute throw pillows?  :)

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I am one of those people who is not afraid to grab something that is on its way to the trash or that someone else has cast off on the side of the road.  Besides being free, I love transforming old and used pieces into something new and beautiful.  I’m always looking out for pieces large and small that can be re-purposed into something else.   So with that in mind I saved these old sparkling cider bottles that were left over from our night ringing in the new year.

Bottles are actually something I save a lot.  Everything from spaghetti jars to salsa jars to bottles like these.   The shapes are unique and they can be used for so many things.  I wanted to turn these bottles into some pretty vases so I started with removing the labels.

Some labels are more stubborn than others and simply pulling off the paper won’t work.  So I broke out my De-Solv-It, which I always use to remove sticky labels.  You can tell I use it a lot since this bottle is almost out!  After spraying the solution on and letting it sit for a few minutes the label was much easier to scrape off using a razor blade.

It did take a little bit of elbow grease, but in under five minutes both of the bottles were clean and ready to be painted.

I took advantage of a very unusually warm day to go outside and do some spray painting.  Since it was so nice I took care of quite a few projects at once and I’ll share some of those next week.

I have yet to tire of painting things a fresh coat of white.  I just love the clean, simple look.  After giving these bottles-now-vases a few coats of white spray paint I embellished them with some charms I found in the dollar bins at Michaels that I strung onto some twine.

To think that these were headed for the trash… what pretty little vases they turned into.  I’m also in love with these charms.  I’m kind of wishing I had grabbed more.

And just to prove that I mean it when I say I’m not above decorating with discarded items the frame, the clock, and all those books were pieces that other people were throwing away.  I’m more than happy to give them a new home.

Just a reminder you have until Friday to use the code DOODLES20 to receive 20% off your order in the Shaggy Baggy Etsy Shop.  Lots of you have already taken advantage of this deal so for those of you who haven’t be sure to check it out!

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It’s here.  Tonight is the night when we cheer and laugh, raise toasts, some will play games, some will attend parties, some may fall asleep long before the bells start to ring,  but either way it is the last day of 2012 and 2013 begins.

2012 has been a wonderful year, for me personally and for this little ol’ blog.  I wanted to do a little recap of some of my favorite posts and some of your favorite posts throughout the last year.

In January I shared this Splish Splash Baby Shower Gift Basket and interestingly enough it is one of the most popular gift baskets I have done to date.  I guess everyone loves the smell of a warm, clean baby as much as I do!

February was a busy month for us as we started packing up our stuff to move to a new apartment that was closer to Sam’s new job.  It also brought lots of little treat tags like the Hug & a Kiss Tags, Honey Bun Tags, and the Tweet Toppers.

March also brought one of the most popular gift baskets in the form of the Couch Potato for a day.

In April I was able to share some of the decorating I had finished in our new place and offered some tips on decorating your own bookcase.

In April I also shared what was to become my most popular post.  When I posted this simple, five ingredient recipe I had no idea it would quickly become the most viewed post on this blog, or that it would be so controversial.  Here’s a hint: If you have a thing against “cream of soups” than don’t read it and don’t send me nasty emails, mkay?  Thanks.

In May I did one of my favorite before and afters, and it is also one of the quickest and easiest as well!  The tray re-do might be a simple, little project but we use this tray almost every day and it makes me happy.  :)

In June Sam and I celebrated our 6th anniversary with a trip to New York and the Lion King on Broadway.  This guy right here.  I sure love him.

July brought in the Olympics which is one of my very favorite things!  We talked about hosting an Olympic activity and all that you need to get ready for the big event.

I also decorated my holiday shelf with some bright and fresh colors perfect for a seaside summer.

In August my blog took a big step forward when I moved from Blogger to WordPress and started off with an all new site design.  It’s been one of the best things I could have done for this business.

After the move we had some fun cooking up cakes in an orange, and getting ready for football season with a football kick-off kit.

We were busy in September working on different home projects like our DIY entryway bench that we made from mostly scrap wood.

I also made some pillows out of dish towels for the bench which was a cheap and easy project!

In October things got spooky and sparkly around here with some colorful Halloween decorations complete with spell books you can make yourself!

We got ready for Thanksgiving and all the upcoming holidays with some Party Planning 101

and I shared some fun printable placemats that you can use for your kids Thanksgiving table.

And December brought in lots of Christmas crafts like my Winter White wreath and lots of red and white decorations all around the home.

It has been a wonderful year and I cannot let it end without giving my heartfelt thanks to YOU, my readers.  I so appreciate you following along with me on my DIY-ing and crafting journey and for all the support you send.  I hope that each one of you has a safe, happy, and wonderful New Year!

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas around here!  Red, and merry, and bright.

I purchased a couple of sparkly ornaments and bows from the Dollar Tree but other than that I had all the other items on hand.  Whatever your color scheme is walk around your house and pull everything that has the right colors.  You might be surprised what you can find before you have to go and buy something.

A white candle wrapped in red ribbon – easy!  And the “snow” behind the wooden sign..it’s left over pillow stuffing!  And it’s not the last you’ll see of the batting, I’ve got another craft or two where I’ve put it to use.

The sofa table also got the full red and white makeover.  My favorite part is the square bins.  If you’ve seen my table before in other decor posts you might remember they are in various shades of brown.  With some white wrapping paper and red bows from the Dollar Tree, and polka dot ribbon from Joann’s they are perfect!

A red scarf serves as a table runner to display a few simple objects.  The white nativity is one in our collection.  Every year my husband and I go out and buy a new nativity to add.  We usually make a whole day out of it listening to Christmas carols, drinking hot chocolate, and looking at holiday lights.  I plan to carry this tradition on when we have children but wrapping up the nativity to put underneath the Christmas tree.  Then when it is time to open presents that will be the first present we open followed by the reading of the Christmas story.  I hope it will help us keep the true meaning of Christmas in our minds as we enjoy the presents we’ve received that year.

Our other little nativities are clustered on the kitchen table around a large hurricane jar filled with ornaments.

I sure love this time of year and all the pretty decorations!