Give Your Living Room A Fresh Easy Start This Spring
Transform your space with an Easy Living Room Refresh this Spring. Here are my seven steps to transition your space from cozy in winter a to bright, airy retreat.
We were away over the weekend and I have to say, there’s something satisfying about walking back into our refreshed living room on a bright Spring morning.
Before we left, I spent an afternoon giving our living room a mini-makover. I want to share the steps for you to copy for your living or family room so you’ll finish with a space that feels brand new.
We also have Spring Refresh ideas from Cindy and Annie. Their links are at the end of the post.
Move the Furniture Around
Before anything else, give the room a fresh layout. After months of the same arrangement, even a small shift — rotating the sofa slightly, pulling seating away from the walls, or floating your armchair toward a window — can transform the way a room feels and flows.
In our case, we simply moved one sofa to face the other. We put the sofa table (a vintage Chinese altar table) in the dining room.
We also pulled the chairs closer together in front of the fireplace since we won’t we having any fires there for a while.
Vacuum With The Furniture Off
With furniture out of its usual position, now is the perfect window to vacuum the full rug — including those dusty corners that are normally hidden. I’m embarrassed to say we found a few small toddler and dog toys hidden under furniture.
Restyle the Coffee Table & Mantel
These two surfaces are where where intentional spring styling pays off the most. Clear both surfaces completely — resist the urge to just shuffle things around — and start with a blank slate (like I did above).
For the coffee table, aim for lighter feel with a stack of books (Assouline Travel books are beautiful and make a great gift), a tray, a box for remotes and something fresh like flowers or a plant or a candle. I style lower elements here as if anything blocks the television, I will hear about it!
For the mantel, since we have a Frame TV, I changed the artwork from deeper rusts and terracotta to lighter blues and lavender. A plant adds fresh greenery and I consolidated coral and shells that were in other places. Two ivory flicker candles are easy to turn on with a remote that is kept in the remote box on the coffee table.
Switch the Throw Pillows: Terracotta & Black → Blues & Ivory
This is the single highest-impact change you can make with the least effort. The terracotta, brown and black palette in velvet and woven fabrics that we had before felt grounding in autumn and winter but now felt heavy. Transitioning to blues and ivory instantly lifts the entire room — and the change is quick!
Look for combinations like dusty navy and soft cream, pale coastal blue and warm white, or neutral shades of tan, sand and butter.
I had most of these pillow covers in my stash but I did buy four new ones like the Kravet stripe, Etsy blue floral (this one is sold out but there are lots of others) and blue stitched lumbars. The light chambray throw blanket is new (on sale) and feels fresh.
Tip: Save your darker/heavier pillow covers to bring back in September or October.
You may also like Read This Before You Buy Another Throw Pillow! And Freshen Up with PILLOWS! My Ten Favorite Sources.
Swap Out the Heavy Throw Blankets
Pack away the heavier blankets that got you through the cold months. Winter throws are wonderful, but come spring they visually weigh a room down.
Replace them with lighter-weight throws in cotton, linen, or a soft open-weave.
We store the winter throws in a tall basket moved to the side of the room or you could place them in a closet.
Rotate the Art
This art easel on the French antique dresser makes switching small art a breeze.
I also hung these small paintings vertically on a narrow blank wall.
Add a New Vase with Fresh Flowers
This is the finishing touch and a reward for your hard work!
Spring is the right moment to invest in a new vase. Generally, I like vases with smaller openings like this new one from Pottery Barn.
Place it on the coffee table with grocery store flowers (I used blue and green hydrangeas). Change the water every two days and trim the stems slightly each time to extend their life.
Tip: If fresh flowers aren’t in the budget every week, clip some greenery from your yard. I use branches from our ligustrum trees (with the bottom leaves removed below the waterline removed).
Shop Our Refreshed Living Room
More Spring Refresh Ideas From Friends:
Most Lovely Things
Cindy Hattersley Design
Hi Mary Ann,
Everything looks lovely. We always find a surprise or two when we do a deeper clean. I usually find paper clips under our sofa cushion and sometimes a few crumbs under my husband’s. I smiled big time when you mentioned about placing anything too high that would block the TV viewing. 🙂 I think we kind of live in the same household. Also the remote control is hands off for me. It’s a guy thing.
Fantastic post!
Mary Ann, I love to see your beautiful home, and how fresh and different it looks with blue pillows! Pinned for inspiration!
xx
Hi Mary Ann
It looks like we both had blue on the brain! That smart easel from PB is such a great idea! I am going to check that out!