Spring Living Room Decorating On A Budget

Want to brighten your living room for spring when funds are limited? Some of the freshest decorating ideas are perfect for even the smallest of budgets.

Free & Quick Spring Fixes

The annual "spring cleaning" isn't a famous ritual for nothing. Without spending a dime, you can get started giving your living room a new spring look. These measures are especially helpful ways to freshen up your living room design:

• Removing clutter: Clearing away all your unnecessary clutter really opens up the space and invites an airy feeling of spring.
• Washing the windows: Sparkling clean glass allows more of the bright light from longer spring days into your living room.
• Rearranging furniture: Create a more open floor plan for a spacious, spring design.
• Removing winter-themed items: Store these things away for next year and replace them with spring themed or colored items.

Living Room Spring Colors

Springtime evokes a fresh palette of greens, blues and floral shades such as rose and lavender. Some people love the idea of a living room bursting with all the colors of a spring flower garden, however, this botanical color scheme isn't right for everyone's taste.

If you favor earth tones or neutral shades for your living room, here are a few ideas to help you still achieve a spring feeling with color:

• Lighten up an earth-toned living room with pale tans and cream tones.
• Use lots of bright white in paint, fabric and accessories to create a light, open, spring atmosphere.
• Accent with subtle pops of more vibrant spring colors.

Spring Seating on a Budget

If your soft, comfy sofas and chairs are upholstered in rich fabrics and deep winter hues, lighten them up for spring with these affordable makeovers:

• Slipcovers: Cover dark fabrics with fitted, professional slipcovers that feature floral or botanical prints and fresh spring color.
• Throws: If slipcovers are beyond your budget, consider a bright cloth throw large enough to cover your entire seating area, or a small one to drape over the back or arm of your sofa.
• Accent pillows: The most affordable way to get your seating ready for spring is to add a few accent pillows with spring themes or colors.

Affordable Ways to Brighten the Rest of Your Furniture

If you're watching your pennies, replacing your living room furniture to create a new spring look is probably out of the question. You still have lots of options for giving what you already have a fresh face lift:

• Refinish or repaint your furniture in lighter or brighter shades.
• Use stencils, stamps or even decals to create a spring motif such as flowers, birds or butterflies.
• Line just the back of your bookcase or the tops of your shelves with bright spring wallpaper.
• Create a spring photo collage tabletop for your coffee table by arranging your favorite spring photos under glass.
• Cover your end tables and coffee tables with light cork toppers.
• Decoupage the tops of your coffee table and end tables with vibrant spring images.

Walls, Windows, Floors and Ceilings

Including the borders of your living room when you decorate will really enhance spring design:

• For walls: Paint the entire living room or just a single wall in a happy spring shade. If you prefer, put up pale floral or botanical wallpaper and or bright, stick on molding.
• For windows: Allow the spring sunlight and green scenery into your room by hanging sheer curtain panels, or removing curtains entirely and hanging a bright, homemade topper. Remember to keep the windows open when practical to let in lots of fresh spring air.
• For floors: For a more open feeling, you may want to refinish floors in a lighter shade or just put down jute, pale or pastel throw rugs.
• For Ceilings: Add a cool ceiling fan with bright light and consider a coat of paint in a pale spring shade.

Accents and Accessories

Little extras that you can make yourself or buy inexpensively complete your spring living room design. Here are a few you may want to try:

• Spray paint an ornamental birdcage and fill it with twigs, faux birds and eggs.
• Use an old mirror as a coffee table tray to display flowers or other spring items.
• Display bright colored glass bottles in windows to catch the sunlight.
• Replace your lampshades with new ones in spring colors.
• Make sun catchers by hanging pressed flowers or greens between two pieces of glass.
• Paint a few "ceiling rosettes" from any home supply store and hang them as wall art.
• Brighten your coffee table with white or light coffee table runners, or cover the table completely with a fresh, spring tablecloth.
• Frame art prints of birds, flowers or spring landscapes.
• Turn your spring photography into wall art by printing your digital photos and framing them.
• Freshen your table with delicate cut flowers, lush green plants or a pretty spring centerpiece.

Without investing too much time or money, your living room can take on a fresh spring look that your whole family will enjoy.