Decorating with the Seasons
As the world outside changes throughout the year, so should our homes. There is nothing quite like the transition from one season to the next, along with the excitement and anticipation that goes with it.
So as there are seasons in nature, why shouldn’t we have seasons in our homes? Many of us tire of our décor. Like an endless summer, it’s always the same. This is why decorating with the seasons is so reviving to our homes, we bring new life with each change throughout the year.
Engage Your Senses
By honing in on your senses, you can make these seasonal changes in your home feel complete and natural. Think of what each season reminds you of. The scents, tastes, sights, sounds, and feelings they instill. The smell of fresh flowers in the summer, the taste of fall spices, the feeling of coziness that winter brings. Imagine the look of falling snow or the sound of birds in the spring.
Each season can bring a new way to engage all of your senses. If you are looking for more details for this season approach, check out the fall, spring, and summer editions of decorating with the seasons.
Creating a Natural Home
Now you want to use your senses to bring nature into your home, for real. Clippings from a blossoming bush in spring, branches from an evergreen tree during winter, pumpkins from the farm in autumn. So many things from the outdoors can be brought into our home décor. By taking the seasonal changes from outside and adding them into your home, it will feel like your home is changing right along with nature itself!
Let Nature Inspire
Although there are many elements of nature that we can bring straight into our homes, not everything can be transitioned inside. This is when we use our décor to parallel the beauty of the great outdoors. By combining man-made items with those found in nature, we can create a beautiful layering effect that still gives off a natural overall presence.
A great and very popular example of this is for those that buy a real tree and cover it with twinkling lights, so it sparkles like the night sky, or even flock the tree to make it appear as if it’s covered in snow. Make fall come to life with real pumpkins, fake leaves, and cinnamon-scented pinecones. There are plenty of ways to mix these two elements for the seasons, you just have to get a little creative!
Limit Fake Decor
By this, I mean cutting back on store-bought decorations. We all love all the shelves of adorable décor at the craft and home stores, but don’t go filling your cart up just yet.
I know that some of the natural things can get expensive when you are constantly having to replace them, like fresh flowers every week for example. But a couple of real mums for the porch in fall or a real poinsettia on the table for Christmas isn’t going to break the bank.
The bonus with natural décor is that you have less to store. This is why a mix of “real” and “fake” elements can be so beneficial! Consider limiting yourself to only one or two bins of décor for each season and try to take the rest from nature.
Cook with the Seasons
Seasonal food seems to deserve a section all its own. I feel that the flavors of each season are one of the most notable changes within our homes. Think about how the meals you cook differ throughout the year. You likely have some traditional meals and desserts that you save for a certain time of year. Consider elaborating on this by cooking more meals that are centered around seasonal fruits and vegetables, or spices that are fitting for a particular time of year, for example.
If you are up for the challenge, create a cookbook that is sectioned out into seasons! This will have you looking forward to these meals and anticipating the changes not only in nature and your home, but also in your diet. (Don’t forget to add in the holidays! Consider having extra sections for Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas).
Create Focal Points
Decorating with the seasons is an easy way to have a complete yet simple look in your home. One of the main goals here is to keep things well-balanced, so you aren’t covering each inch of your home with decorations, making it feel cluttered. Instead, you should create focal points, which are designated areas where your décor is focused. This will draw the eye to certain locations, adding subtle touches throughout your home.
For example, the porch, dining table, and bar cart are good focal points. Fireplace mantles are great focal points, or even the area surrounding the fireplace. If you want to learn more about this method of decorating, check out my post on Creating Focal Points.
Think of the places in your home where you like to focus your decor and see how you can add seasonal touches to them.
Natural Relaxation
I personally love this seasonal decorating approach because it seems to bring a sense of relaxation to one’s home. Instead of feeling like our house is filled with stuff, it allows your home to breathe, adding a sense of calm to any room you walk into. A clutter-free dwelling is more easily achieved when you take the approach of bringing more natural elements into your home.
If you find you are struggling with clutter and having too much stuff in your home, read this post on How to Simplify Your Home in 4 Steps.
Key Elements
One of the best things about decorating with the seasons is the subtle changes it provides. It’s not about changing your entire home or setting out an excess amount of décor. The goal here is to add subtle changes.
I like to think of it this way. Picture a small town, with a park and lots of trees, surrounded by mountains. Now, think of how this scene changes for each season. The basic parts stay the same, there’s still mountains, trees, homes, and a park. But the details shift throughout the year. During winter everything is covered in snow. During fall, there are pumpkins in the park and the leaves are vibrantly colored. The image is the same at its core, it even has the same elements: homes, a park, mountains, and trees. But although they are the same, they now appear ever so different.
Why did I paint this image of a town, you ask? Because you want to do the same thing in your own home. You want to keep elements the same: the couch, table, chairs, lamps, etc., but change out the small details within the focal points of your home.
Seasonal Change
When we have tired of the cold and snow, nature warms the ground and brings buds to the trees. Blossoms sprout all around us and the world is warmed once again. When the warmth turns to heat that leaves us longing for a relief, nature brings a cool crisp breeze saying that autumn is coming.
The seasons are truly a blessing from God, adding some variety to the world around us. While there are those that enjoy a life of endless summer, many of us look forward to the changing of the seasons and the magic that comes with it. And now you can enjoy these changes inside your home as well!
