Many thanks to Evelyn Long for her article, Bring on Spring with Fresh Pastels and Playful Accents. Be sure to read Evelyn’s bio at the bottom.
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Image Resource: Casart Spring Decor via Spoonflower
Spring symbolizes fresh starts and new beginnings, so it’s a wonderful time to update your decor and welcome the sunshine. From soft colors and whimsical touches to on-trend tones and thoughtful details, here are 11 gorgeous ways to embrace the season.
1. Get Dreamy with Pastels
Spring and pastels go together like strawberries and cream. It’s a classic combination for a reason. However, today’s pastels are not your grandmother’s shades. Spring 2026 is trending toward dusky pastels and earthy colors. Think misty blue, soft peach, dusty pink, sage green, muted mauve or hazy lavender. Combining these with cream or light beige tones creates a gorgeous base palette for your spring update.
2. Add Bold, On-Trend Colors
Beyond pastels, there’s also a spring trend for warm yellows, like mustard or gold. These tones exude warmth and optimism and are perfect for throw pillows, a statement vase or an art print.
Another bold, trending tone is teal, WGSN’s 2026 Color of the Year, which happens to go beautifully with the yellow, so you could do both to bring on spring.
Teal can add a real touch of drama when used as dining chair cushions or glassware. Alternatively, go all out and blend this jewel tone with spring motifs for a feature wall with true impact.
3. Weave in Natural Textures
Create a restful retreat by drawing inspiration from the tranquility of a garden at dawn or dusk. Consider framing your bed with a floral headboard wall. Having an accent wall behind the bed visually anchors your bedroom’s most important feature and creates a cozy, cocoon-like effect. A bold and graphic style of wallpaper provides a cheerful yet stylish statement.
Different fabrics contribute to a sense of comfort and luxury, and you can maximize that effect by indulging in layered, nature-inspired textiles. Combine crisp cotton or soft linen sheets with a velvet duvet cover. Make sure your furnishings and decorations share a distinct color palette by mixing solid colors drawn from a floral pattern with smaller-scale prints.
4. Add Whimsical Spring Flourishes
Playful details like fringes and tassels are very popular right now. They add a sense of life and movement to the edges of curtains, pillows or throws, and you can easily add them to pieces you already have with just a few stitches if you are feeling crafty.
Another way to get whimsical is to embrace seasonal symbolism for your decor. Think about accent items or decorative pieces themed around birds, butterflies, bees, bunnies, berries or fruits. This is where personal taste varies wildly, but a little bit of whimsy definitely brings on spring vibes.
5. Curate Your Clutter
Resource Reference: Casart Nature Noticed Panel 1 Design
If you have accumulated a lot of trinkets and collectibles, you’ll be glad to know that cluttercore is officially a thing for 2026. This trend is about slow collecting, lived-in spaces and personal history, showcasing carefully curated, loved objects that you treasure.
If you don’t quite have a collection yet, you can still get the look while you start finding pieces you want a long-term relationship with. Try using gallery-style paneled removable wallpaper, perhaps showcasing illustrations from botanical notebooks or other natural elements.
To make room for your displays, you will need to clear away the actual clutter from winter. Storage can be an issue in many homes, but if you have a garage, you can maximize this often underused space by adding a wall of hooks and cubby holes to store coats, boots and thick blankets.
6. Embrace Nostalgia
Closely linked to the curated collections trend, the appetite for vintage and secondhand items shows no signs of slowing down. Hunting for used treasures in flea markets or thrift stores is an excellent way to celebrate spring, as it’s eco-friendly and can also stretch your decorating budget. A single vintage piece can add a sense of history and soul to a room.
Try looking for antique botanical prints, shapely colored-glass vases or ornate gold-framed mirrors. Neighborhood thrift stores tend to carry different kinds of items, so shopping beyond your locality can maximize your chances of finding pieces that speak to you.
7. Reimagine Florals
Resource Reference: Casart Flower Power
Most people love a bouquet, and if you do too, you absolutely should use these in your decor. However, there’s scope to go beyond just bunches of flowers to bring on spring. You can incorporate floral patterns and prints into almost any element of your home, from rugs to light fittings to curtains to art.
A large-scale, modern floral paper on an accent wall has real impact. For added texture, pair it with dried arrangements such as pampas grass or eucalyptus.
8. Welcome the Light
Replace heavy drapes with airy linen, cotton, voile or lace curtains. To draw the spring sunshine even further into your home, consider hanging suncatcher crystals or mirrors to catch the light and bounce it around.
This has the added advantage of making rooms seem larger. As days grow longer, you’ll appreciate the varied ways seasonal light floods your home at different times of the day.
9. Dine Joyfully
Switch out your tableware for dusky pastel or muted earthy linens, floral-patterned dishes and a centerpiece of flowers, fruit, fresh greenery or branches. Little touches, like seagrass mats, add to a cohesive, natural theme.
10. Bring the Outdoors In
Biophilic design, incorporating elements of nature, is known to benefit human well-being, particularly mental health and productivity. Spring is the perfect season to add houseplants, whether you consider yourself green-thumbed or not. There are many hardy types that don’t need much care.
Consider adding a small indoor water feature if you like calming, waterfall-type sounds. Alternatively, hang wind chimes where you can hear them through an open window. The idea is to use your decor to feel more in tune with the natural world that is waking up all around you.
11. Switch Up Your Scents
Scent can sometimes be the unseen hero of seasonal decor. Swap your heavy winter home fragrances for light, fresh options like citrus, mint, lavender or linen. The scent vehicle can also make a statement, if you choose something like a rattan diffuser or a wicker tray for your spring-smelling candles.
Your Spring Home, Your Way
Spring brings so many beautiful decorating options. Whether you love whimsy, want to embrace your cluttercore instincts, long to bring the outdoors inside or simply adore this season’s color schemes, there are many ways to celebrate through decor. Decorate your home your way, and say hello to spring’s new beginnings.
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Additional posts & resources:
- Blooming this Spring – 10 Trends for a Luxurious Home
- Embracing the Beauty of Floral Patterns This Spring
- Refreshing Your Space for Spring
- How Do You Commune with Nature? New Nature Noticed Designs
- Infuse Your Home with the Beauty of Nature Through Biophilic Design
- 10 Simple Springtime Decor Ideas That Will Instantly Transform the Look of Your Home
Many thanks to Evelyn for her insightful article on ways to create a pinterest dorm on a budget.
About the author:
Evelyn Long is an interior design expert who uses emerging trends to help every homeowner discover their perfect style. Her work, regularly published in the National Association of Realtors, I+S, and DecorMatters, offers readers actionable tips for blending the latest looks with their personal taste. As editor in chief of Renovated Magazine, Evelyn is committed to making great design accessible and tailored to every individual.
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