13 Easy and Inexpensive Decorating Ideas for Spring with Things You Have Around Your House

This quarantine thing isn't so bad. We are survivors, right?! We can rise up to the challenges before us! What doesn't kill us makes us stronger! Well at least, it makes us think outside the box for our challenges and the way life is right now.

At least it's springtime. Ahhhh...springtime. It is so wonderful, it just lifts the spirits! The other day we had the most beautiful full and vibrant double rainbow over our home. It certainly filled me with hope during this troubling time.

It was also such a windy and beautiful day, it just beckoned me to hang the laundry out on the clothesline. There is no better smell than clean sheets from the clothesline! I love it!! It makes me feel like super-mom when I hang the sheets out to dry. I feel like I have got this! I am getting things done! I am on top of things around the house and I'm saving electricity! Win! Win!

I'm not super-mom but, if I had one super power, it would be practicality (or practical-ness?). I know it sounds lame, but it's true. It has developed over the years with seven kids and one income. You learn how to be thrifty. If I can make it, paint it, build it, sew it, duplicate it, and save $, I will. It frustrates my daughter so much while we are out shopping! When I see something I like I take a picture of it, so I can re-create it. She's always like, "Mom, just buy it!" But I can't make myself do it, not unless it's is really hard to make or I'm in a hurry for something.

So combining the fact that we can't easily run out to the stores to shop right now and my practicality super power, I thought I’d share with you some easy and inexpensive ideas to decorate for spring. Many of us have some extra time on our hands, and could use a little creative inspiration. Using things you may already have on hand, I hope you find something here to make your home sweeter for spring!

1. A New Sign

I'm a words person. I love to surround my home with uplifting quotes and sayings that inspire me and my loved ones. If you walk into my house, you will see signs and words everywhere! I can always use a new sign for springtime. So when I found old wooden sieve in my garage left there by the previous owner, my head started spinning with how I could make it into a spring sign. I added a wreath from my kitchen and I this "Welcome" word that I had on hand and painted and this is what I came up with...

Here it is hanging in our entryway.

And if you don't happen to have an old wood sieve hanging around you can make a sign from a board. This "God is good" sign is one I made from a piece of board that was leftover from a project and I even made the stain by soaking steel wool in apple cider vinegar. Then I hand painted the words on there with a paint pen. Also, the "N" sign I painted with a paint pen on a piece of burlap and put it in a frame.

2. Move Things Around

This is one is totally free! Variety is a good thing. Decorations get stale if you leave them in the same place for years and years. Get creative and move them around! When you haul out whatever spring things you have, look for new and original place to put them. It makes even old things feel fresh! Even the "full time" decorations you have in your home feel new when you move them to a new room. Spend a little time being artistic and take something down from one room and see how it feels in another. Use your imagination! It's fun!

3. Mod Podge Flower Pot

If you have these things on hand...

Terra Cotta Pot

White Paint

Paintbrush

Mod Podge

Pretty Napkins

You can make this...

This was a regular terra cotta planter that was used as a centerpiece at my parent's 50th wedding anniversary a few years ago. I hated to have it sitting in the basement unused since it's sentimental to me, but the terra cotta didn't really go with my decor. So all I did was paint the planter white with chalk paint and after it dried put on a layer of mod podge and laid the top layer of the napkin on (it was 2-ply). I went over it with more mod podge and after that was dry, I gave it one more coat to seal it. Voila! And while you have the mod podge out you can make these...

4. Chinoiserie Eggs

I first got the idea for these eggs here. I picked up these plastic white eggs at Walmart in the Easter aisle. There were a dozen in the package. I wish I had taken a picture! I also saw them at Target in the dollar spot area. Using them and leftover napkins I had from the project above, I created these beautiful eggs. I worked a few at a time, covering them with mod podge and putting small pieces of the napkin on them. Once they were dry, I went over them with another coat and sealed them.

5. Bring in Springtime With Real Branches and Flowers

All this one took was a walk outside! I am a morning person and I love to take my kids for a walk around the field when the sun is shining and the birds are singing on a spring morning!! I brought my clippers with me and we collected some of the blooming redbuds and some other branches to use in my decor. Easy, free, and soooooo pretty (as my 4 year old says)!

6. Use Fake Flowers

If you can't get the real ones, use the next best thing! These last a whole lot longer and you don't have to change the water. I have collected several different types over the years, some cheap ones and some of the more expensive ones. They're all pretty and help set a springtime mood in my home.

7. Make a Weathered Barn Wood Box

This was another free project. Our neighbor had an old barn that collapsed years ago and we were able to use a few pieces of it to make this centerpiece. My husband cut the boards to the right length for our table and he screwed them together, we didn't sand the wood or anything. It has a beautiful weathered look! I change it out for the seasons. The flowers were an old wreath that I took apart and I filled in the bottom of the box with pinecones as a filler to take up space.

8. Chalkboards

Again this goes back to my love of words, but I love to use chalkboards in my decorating! They are so versatile and fun to embellish. I always change them for every season and I don't have to buy anything new! They definitely help bring in the "farmhousie" look. I have two chalkboards in my home, one over the kitchen sink and one in our schoolroom/dining room. The kitchen chalkboard is usually the first thing I decorate at the start of each new season. It helps motivate me and sets the tone for the rest of my house! Love it! This season with all the craziness happening in the world right now I put a bible verse on my chalkboard to help encourage us whenever we see it.

9. Free Printables

One of the easiest things I do each season is find some new artwork to fill some of my frames. I have a few frames in my kitchen and a few in my sunroom that I change with the seasons. If you just google "spring printables" you'll find tons of free stuff. Then you just have to size them to fit your frame (I use Microsoft Word) and print them out. One of the places I love to get printables from is On Sutton Place. Ann has tons of them in her library and creates new ones for each season. She does require you to submit your email to get access to her library. You can go there here.

10. Eggs

Nothing says springtime like eggs! I have collected some over the years and bring them out each spring. I use them in all sorts of ways. This year I filled a vase with them and put in some spring branches.

11. Plants

I bring in springtime all winter long with real plants! I overwinter some of my summer plants and it is so wonderful to have flowers blooming in the winter. I love the color it brings in and the smell of the dirt when the outside world is frozen solid. I keep them in through the springtime until it is safe to put them outside again.

12. Bunnies

Here comes Peter Cottontail, hoppin' down the bunny trail, hippity, hoppity, Easter's on its way! I love putting a few bunnies around the house for the kids. They always get so excited when he comes out, especially when he brings chocolate! This year I picked up this little green bunny at Hobby Lobby before they closed. He is a cute addition! I remember my Mom had some tiny glass bunnies that she used to put on our dining room table when I was a child. I loved when they came out! It meant spring was finally here!

13. Fabric and Pillows

And last but not least, changing out fabric and pillows! A little piece of fabric draped across a table changes the whole mood. I pick up a yard or two at Walmart or the fabric store and store them in a drawer until I need them. You can leave the edges raw, sew them, or use iron on fabric adhesive tape if you're not into sewing. I've done all three! I change out runners on the tables on my front porch, entryway, and under the centerpiece on my kitchen table with every season. And pillows are another way to change the mood really quickly. For the front porch, I buy the cheap $5 pillows and they last a season or two. Sometimes I make my own like I did for my porch last year. I have even hot glued pillows together and they lasted for several years now. For the inside of the house I have several really nice down pillow forms and I make or buy new covers for the different seasons. They are easier to store then full pillows, but I do have some of those too.

Phew! We made it! Don't forget about candles, tablecloths, baskets, new doormats or rugs, and even how just a good cleaning makes it feel like springtime. Open up the curtains and let the sunshine in! We all could use some more of it in our lives right now! Just because things are stressful doesn't mean we can't have peace in our homes, we actually need it more than ever. I hope you found some inspiration to make your home a little sweeter! Remember, life doesn't have to be perfect to be wonderful!