Spring Decorating Ideas Bring New Life to Your Kitchen

As the season of renewal and rebirth, spring is the natural time to give new life to your home. What better place to start adding springtime decorating touches than the room where you and your family appreciate nature's bounty in food--the kitchen! Freshening up this essential room will cheer you up as you eat breakfast and head out the door or plan a spring picnic. Try some of these decorating tips to add a touch of brightness to your home after those long, dreary winter months.

Let there be light
Take advantage of the longer daylight hours you've been waiting for by letting more natural sunlight into your kitchen. Switch out dark, heavy window coverings for more delicate and airy alternatives. Changing both the color and type of fabric of your curtains is a simple decorating trick that many overlook as the seasons change. It can make a huge difference in the feel of your kitchen. If you don't have neighbors close by or use mini blinds, leave additional window coverings as open as possible for spring. Add a swag of natural materials or spring fabric across the tops of your windows. Now that you have light, use it! Keeping light-colored and reflective surfaces in your kitchen clean will make the room even an even brighter and more cheerful place to be. Keep decorative glass bottles on the windowsill to create reflections, decorating the walls of your kitchen.

Get rid of clutter
Clutter accumulates in the kitchen just as in does in any other room of the house, and it is a hindrance to achieving the decorating potential of your home in this season of new beginnings. Clear off your counter tops, clean out junk drawers, and eliminate any spots such as side tables that seem to gather papers or random items in the kitchen. Give away gadgets and appliances that you don't use as much as you thought you would. Using the energy of renewal and decorating for spring to clear this extra junk out of your life will help your mind feel freer, and you might be amazed at how much better the room will look after getting rid of those "dead" items.