After the long dreary winter season, it's time to brighten up the indoors as well as the outdoors! Here are a few ideas to help bring the spring indoors.

• Are your window treatments dark and/or heavy? Bring in the sunshine with lighter fabric choices in lighter tones. Choosing linen or cotton in light neutral colors will allow more of the natural light to flow into your home.
• If you have dark furniture, change out pillows for lighter, brighter colors or think about getting a sofa slipcover in a lighter shade.
• Lighten your bedroom winter bedspread. Change out the flannel or dark colors for lighter shades and crisp cottons.
• Bring in new rugs. Natural sisal rugs bring in the outdoors. The neutral tones and natural texture brings the spring into your decor.
• Add mirrrors to your wall decor to bounce light around the room from nearby windows. It also makes the eye think the room is bigger than it is. Get a mirror with a beautiful frame to create an artistic piece to your decor.
• Fill your now, retired for the season, fireplace with flowers or light colored candles for a romantic yet less wintery feel.
• Create a more open feel by storing some heavier peices of furniture and bringing in more streamlined or simple chairs for guests. You can remove a piece of a sectional for a more open footprint, remove a leaf from your dining table or replace your loveseat for a pair of matching chairs.
• Change out your paintings or art peices for spring pieces. A beautiful, light watercolor or a sunlit landscape are good options.
• Decorate your front entry, foyer, banister or mantle with a grapevine arrangement, cherry blossom branches or potted tulips.
• Adding spring plants around your home will bring the spring indoors.
• Clear off some of the trinkets on your dining table, coffee table or end tables. This will give the room an airy feel.
• In bathrooms change out your towels, rugs and shower curtains for colorful, brighter or lighter colors.

These are just a few ideas for how to bring the spring indoors and get rid of that dreary old man winter who's been a guest all too long.