Every year the seasons change, the weather fluctuates, and holidays pass. All these things are guaranteed, and more times than not, you want your home to change as the months do. Now, there are certain times of the year where decorating your home is easy, because there’s a universal standard. For example, during Christmas, if you celebrate the holiday, there’s a generic decor standard that’s easy for any household to work off of in any capacity they want. Sparkly lights, balsam trees, darker colors, and warmer lighting.
Moving from summer into fall or winter into spring or even spring into summer can become challenging if you’re the type of homeowner who likes to refresh their interior aesthetic to match the seasonal aesthetic. However, there are simple and cheap ways to update your home decor every few months so you don’t remain stuck in the same atmosphere every day.
Changing up how you decorate your home can be very cleansing and also promotes positive energy and stimulation, which is good for your mental health. If you’re staying in a space that never changes, while working a job with a fixed schedule therefore giving you a set morning and nightly routine, your life becomes monotonous and every day just becomes a carbon copy of the one before it. Changing the appearance of the space you live in keeps things moving in and outside of your walls, and reminds you that things only remain stagnant until you decide to change them.
A good tip to start with when it comes to shopping for new decor, is to shop for the opposite season you’re in. If it’s summer, look for bath and kitchen towels that fit a more winter aesthetic (darker colors, festive patterns), and if it’s winter, shop for pastels. Most stores are going to be carrying for the season, and the items they do have for off-season decorating will most likely be on sale. In addition, use online coupon services such as honey.com, which is a free server that searches the entire internet for potential coupon codes for the specific shopping site you’re on.
If you’re looking to purchase holiday-specific decorations and want to save some money, definitely check out retailers that promote bulk purchasing. For example, stores like Target and Walmart, normally sell holiday lights, towels, pillows, etc. in bundles at a discounted price. Online retailers such as Amazon also offer the same services. In addition, check out your local thrift stores, people donate their old decorations all the time and while some may show some wear and tear, you also might find some classic 1960’s type decor that will give your holidays a much more vintage vibe.
Now that we’ve gone through a few ways to save some money on your interior design projects, let’s figure out what you should be looking for to update in your home.
Changing up the decor in your house doesn’t mean that you have to perform a complete renovation to your home every four months, it can actually be the opposite. Small things such as changing your bathroom towel colors, to the pillows on your living room couch can make all the difference in updating a space.
Speaking of towels, definitely change them with the seasons! For fall, try to stick to more earthy tones such as greens, oranges, reds, etc. They don’t even need to be dark shades if that’s too heavy for you, but either way these colors begin to blend in with winter colors, allowing for a smooth transition into the colder holiday season. Winter generally is filled with darker colors, mainly to build a warmer environment. Darker greens and reds emphasize the holiday spirits, while shades of blue can work to create a cooler, but still winter, aesthetic. Whatever colors you decide to use, make sure all the towels in your bathroom look like they belong together. This doesn’t mean they have to all be the same color, but are at least cohesive enough to be associated with the same seasonal setting.
Towels may seem like such a small piece to the puzzle that is interior design, but it’s these details that really bring a space together. The kitchen is another place that these towel rules should be put into place as well. The kitchen space in general is hard to update with the seasons, as all the furniture is normally unmovable, so smaller additions to the space can allow it to thrive. In warmer seasons, accessorize any window or spare counter space for some flowers, or a nice succulent (less maintenance). Adding plants to the space where you prepare your meals will breathe life into it while giving off a very fresh and clean energy. Indoor plants in general are a great way to update any space for the spring and summer months. If you’re the type of person who can’t even manage to keep a small plant alive, don’t worry! You’re not alone, and there are plenty of fake plant alternatives that you can buy from your local plant nurseries or home and garden stores that will give off the same effect. Don’t worry about guests knowing they’re fake either, it’s a lot easier to find real looking fake plants than you think, and also, who cares! Fake plants are still beautiful and can make any room pop without any of the work! Who wouldn’t want more beauty for less work anyway?
As you’ve been reading, these changes aren’t that major and are very doable. Just know the colors that match the seasons and if you forget, just always assume colder weather means darker colors and warmer weather is lighter. Apply this mindset to each piece of your space, your bed sheets/comforter, pillows (decorative or not), towels, floor rugs, plants, figurines, picture frames, etc.
Think with your five senses and what they ideally like to experience each seasonal change, the two most important being sight and smell right after, which brings us to our final tip. The scent of any space can make or break the type of seasonal aesthetic you’re going for, and the solution is really simple; candles. Candles are the perfect way to create a seasonal ambiance and can also be very affordable when shopped for during their off seasons. The different colored waxes of the candles also will match your decor and can look quite intentional as a seasonal decoration when put together (see image). Candles, incense, oil diffusers, etc. all provide scents that make sense for any given month such as pumpkin and cinnamon for the fall, balsam and cookies for the winter, and floral and fruity for the spring/summer. The scent of a space is what ties the whole setting together.
The seasons change every few months so why shouldn’t the space you live in? Be creative and work with what you have, even moving a chair to the other side of the room can feel like a fresh change of pace, as long as you have a cinnamon apple candle burning in the background.
Eric Mastrota is a Contributing Editor at The National Digest based in New York. A graduate of SUNY New Paltz, he reports on world news, culture, and lifestyle. You can reach him at eric.mastrota@thenationaldigest.com.
