I don’t know about you but when spring comes, I like to change the colors of the home accents, from the curtains on the walls, to the rugs on the floor. Out go the curtains and area rugs with autumn colors of rust, brown, red, and greens shown, everything dark and gloomy and in come the renewing colors of spring.

Where do you start? I would start in the bedroom, where you generally start your day. Take down the dark colored insulated draperies, pack up the heavy comforter and roll up the dark colored area rug. Use lighter weight fabric with spring colors for your bedding and curtains and add a color coordinated area rug to pull the room together. Bring in the pinks, lavenders, yellows and blues of spring. Surrounding yourself with new colors will put spring in your step before drinking your morning coffee.

Stroll into your living or family room next. Is your area rug the focal point? Do the colors in the flooring coordinate with the fabrics of the
upholstered pieces in the room? Then perhaps, you can exchange the darker colored decorator pillows, and other accents to lighter tones.

Exchange the dark colored area or scatter rug in a lighter shade. If your sofa is a dark solid color and the rug a mixture of many patterns, choose a color that would coordinate and complement both pieces in lighter hues.

An example, your family room has a dark green sofa paired with an oriental rug lying in front with dark and light shades of green, gold, and brown. Currently decorating the sofa, are dark gold and rust colored pillows. How can you use the colors of the sofa and rug to change color?

Option One- Get a cream or celery colored throw to place on the sofa and accent it with pillows with the lighter colors of ivory, peach, celery, light gold, colors that blend with the colors on the rug yet give the room a much lighter feel.

Option Two Make or purchase a slipcover in a fabric color of lighter tones that compliment the rug. Toss on some pillows in the lighter shades and in an instant, your room has been transformed for Spring. Now, walk through the other rooms of your home and see how subtle changes can be made in the other rooms.

Do you have a rug as a runner in the hallway? Change it to a lighter hue. Don’t forget the kitchen! Changing the colors of the potholders, curtains and cotton rag rugs will boost your spirits from spring to autumn. Most of all, when you are changing colors for the seasons, surround yourself with the colors you love.

Lighting is an important tool in your design collection. The way you do your lighting interior design affects the perception of any room. Lighting is also versatile. Using several strategies at once in a room allows you to turn any of them off, changing the look and feel with the flick of a switch. This can be effective for creating different moods in different rooms at night.

Ambient lighting is a hidden light source that washes the room with a glow. This creates very few shadows and tends to flatten a room. Japanese paper lanterns and wall sconces both produce ambient lighting. For temporary ambient effects, use a dimmer with your ordinary lighting. Accent lighting provides interest to a room. This method of lighting interior design highlights and object or architectural feature. To use accent lighting, you only need a bulb and a shield to direct the light to the desired focus. Halogen spotlights and opaquely shaded table lamps both provide accent lighting.

Another kind of lighting used in interior design is task lighting. This is a more practical lighting strategy, highlighting an area for daily activities such as reading, cooking, and sewing. Effective task lighting prevents eyes strain and helps with the performance of vital activities. The kitchen is a particularly good place to incorporate task lighting in your interior design. Task lighting sources should be unobtrusive and shielded to prevent glare. Task lighting can be effectively combined with accent lighting to produce lovely effects.

Some lighting can be a work of art in and of itself. Aesthetic lighting is purely decorative, such as a neon sculpture or a spotlight illuminating a statue or painting. This type of lighting must not be used alone, but accompanied by other lighting strategies in your interior design. Of course, no survey of lighting interior design would be complete without a mention of natural light. Rooms can be arranged to take advantage of the position of the sun at different times of day. This type of lighting is also called kinetic lighting because the light from outside moves. It is one of the less reliable types, as it is affected by the seasons and the weather, but natural lighting can produce an effect unequaled by any artificial light source when used properly.