Detour continued...

I again accomplished nothing in The Room, but I did finally switch my family room from its spring and summer to fall and winter duds and thought I'd share how easy it is to do.  My reaction the first time I heard about seasonal decorating was "Way too much money; way too much work."  By the sixth or seventh time I happened upon an article expounding on the idea, I was on board.   I really didn't put a whole lot of time or money into it, but the difference between the two looks is still pretty dramatic...

Spring and Summer

Fall and Winter

Spring and Summer

Fall and Winter

Aside from the furniture placement (which is mostly dictated by the need to pull the sofa away from the baseboard heater in the winter), the two things that make the biggest impact are the floor and window coverings.  I made the curtains, drapes and valances, but honestly don't recall now how much I spent.  The area rug in the Fall and Winter room was purchased at Home Depot several years ago and used to serve year-round.  When I got the bug to do seasonal decorating, I didn't want to invest mega-bucks in another area rug so I ordered three yards of six foot wide #8 canvas from  Chicago Canvas, hemmed the edges all the way around with a glue gun and then went to town painting it in all my favorite colors...

I used stencils for the palm fronds and filigree, and a piece of dense foam to stamp on the mosaic work.  The simple design on the outer green portions was done with regular old artist's brushes.  For well under fifty bucks, it really freshens up the room in the springtime and is such an easy project for just about anyone to try their hand at, whether free-hand, stenciled or even a solid color.  I made another, narrower one to run along the sliding glass door with a much simpler design (that I wish now I had done first because I really prefer it to the large one)...

Though it does show dirt a lot more than the large one, I like the simplicity of it.

I also dress the mantle a bit differently for the seasons...

Spring and Summer

Fall and Winter

On the kitchen end of the room which is open to this family room side, I switch out my towels and rugs, using a coral-y orange in the spring and summer and a deep green in the fall and winter.  (I didn't snap pics of that because I'm behind on laundry and all of my spring and summer towels are dirty!)

There are other things I'd like to do differently between seasons, such as GET RID OF MY SOFA, and sew up some different cushions for the wicker chairs and some wintertime covers for the kitchen chairs, but for now I'm really happy with these simple changes twice a year.  

Tomorrow, I promise hope to have progress to show you on The Room.  It's supposed to be a bit warmer here, and if that turns out to be the case I'll be doing (drumroll...) the drum table!  Woot, I can't wait!