Seasonal Decorating for Dummies

Urban Outfitters, where there are lots of cute throw-pillow choices for around twenty bucks.)

If you like the temporary-covering thing enough to carry it into the warm-weather months, just substitute light, gauzy fabrics for the warmer, richer ones. Remember those Indian-print cotton “tapestries” that the stoners in college always hung on their dorm-room walls? Well, they just happen to make pretty, breathable, and easily washable summer “upholstery.” If you can’t bring yourself to search for them at your local head shop, look online for some upmarket versions.

Get your knickknacks from nature. Seasonal decorating is all about the seasons, right? And the seasons have to do with what’s going on outside. So even if you aspire to adorn your tabletops with silver reindeer candelabras and hand-painted Ukrainian Easter eggs, don’t feel you have to go that route to make your place look festive. In autumn, a big bowl of pinecones or shiny red apples makes a surprisingly elegant centerpiece; so does a glass vase of pussywillows, red-berry boughs or even branches of autumn leaves. In summer, try lining your bookshelves or mantel with seashells or stones you’ve collected at the beach. And no matter what the season, find a way to add flowers—real ones—to your space. One pot of paperwhite narcissus bulbs (which bloom in winter) packs enough gorgeousness, and perfume, for an entire room. And choosing springtime flowers that dry well, like hydrangeas, means you can keep them around for months after you buy them. (For growing tips and supplies—not to mention adorable “Garden Hoe” t-shirts, check out yougrowgirl.com.)

Rotate your wall art. It sounds dumb: nobody changes the pictures on their walls, right? But it’s actually a fun, cheap, and very effective way to harmonize your décor with the season. Start with a set of six or eight matching wooden wall frames—ones where you can pop off the backs to easily slip your pictures inside. (Martha Stewart, naturally, has plenty of these available). Now, the pictures. You know those shoeboxes of old Christmas and holiday cards you’ve been hanging on to because you’re too sentimental (or guilt-ridden) to throw them out? Well, why not choose some of your favorites and put them up? You actually don’t even need pen pals to try this—you can always use blank holiday cards that you buy yourself at the stationery store. Greeting cards in general are a terrific, cheap way to get decent art on your walls…and you can have a rotating seasonal gallery. When winter’s done, just replace all those Ansel Adams snowscapes with Georgia O’ Keeffe’s flowers. Then recycle last season’s cards by sending them to your friends—perhaps with instructions: “Write, dammit!”