The world outside your window may be changing this spring, but is your home adapting too? If your New Jersey apartment feels dull and dreary, revitalize your space by incorporating a few seasonal touches in your decorating scheme.

Start with a Color Palette

When you think about spring colors, you probably picture pastels. Soft blues, pinks, purples, greens, and yellows are excellent options for your spring decorating plan, but they’re certainly not the only choices. The spring landscape offers a riot of bold colors from brilliant yellow daffodils and red tulips to bold green buds. If muted colors don’t mesh with your style sensibilities, take your inspiration from the bright colors in nature when creating your palette.  

Forget about the rules when you build your palette. Use the same colors for your entire apartment, select a separate spring palette for every room, or combine bold colors with pastels.

Outfit Your Front Door for Spring

An eye-catching spring wreath on your front door sets the tone for your spring apartment makeover. Shop for a ready-made wreath or make your own. Craft stores sell wreath forms, wire wreath frames, and grapevine wreaths that will provide the framework for your spring creation. With the addition of a few silk flowers and foliage, you’ll have a beautiful wreath you’ll treasure for years to come.

 If your wreath-making skills are a little rusty, turn to the online community for in-depth instructions. The How-To Mom offers step-by-step instructions that will help you create a one-of-a-kind wreath made with mini artificial tulips.

Bring the Outdoors In 

Flowering plants are an unmistakable sign of spring, whether they grow indoors or outdoors. Potted tulips or daffodils provide an instant pop of spring color in any room. After the flowers die, plant the bulbs in outdoor pots or planters. For year-round color, buy African violets, begonias, or peace lilies at a local home improvement store or garden center. The plants are easy to grow and thrive indoors.

If you don't have a green thumb or suffer from allergies, silk flowers and plants offer an excellent alternative. Silk flowers look just like the real thing and won’t cause sneezing fits. Caring for them is as easy as occasional dusting.

Don’t have vases to display artificial flowers? Nearly anything can become a vase when your flowers don’t need to be watered. Place the faux blooms in a wicker basket, an old pair of boots, or a coffee carafe, or thread a few through the handles of your kitchen or bathroom cabinets.

Upgrade Your Décor and Accessories

Getting your home ready for spring can be as simple as changing a few accessories in your home. Add new throw pillows in pastel or bold colors and outfit your table with a colorful floral tablecloth. Heavy curtains that help you conserve heat during the winter look out of place once warmer weather arrives. Replace them with sheers or lightweight versions that draw your attention to the changing landscape outside your windows.

Candles give your apartment a pleasing smell yet don’t produce an overwhelming, artificial aroma like air fresheners. If you’ve been burning eucalyptus, balsam, candy cane, and other winter scents, now’s the time to invest in a few spring scents. Try lilac, jasmine, cherry blossom, lemon, and other seasonal aromas instead.

Decorating for spring doesn’t have to be expensive when you incorporate a few things you may already have in your home. Instagram influencer Julie of The Crestwood Home created a spring centerpiece by filling a tall glass vase with colorful Froot Loops cereal and placing a few long twigs inside. If you take a look around your apartment, you’re bound to find a few things you can use in your spring decorating plan.

Choose Spring-Inspired Artwork 

Are you tired of looking at the same old prints and paintings on your walls? Swap them for scenic seasonal landscapes or illustrations of your favorite flowers or choose a few inventive modern pieces of art in spring colors to add interest to your home.

If new art isn’t in the budget, create your own artwork by applying a few splashes of color to a blank canvas, framing pretty wrapping paper, or adding dried flowers to an interesting frame.

Did you enjoy creating cute puppies or lighthouses with paint-by-numbers kits when you were young? Why not use your artistic instincts and ability to follow instructions to create a spring-inspired masterpiece? Today’s paint-by-numbers kits offer a much more sophisticated approach to do-it-yourself artwork and produce impressive results. (Take a look at this Apartment Therapy article on paint-by-numbers artwork for a little inspiration.)

Celebrate Spring in Your Bedroom 

Waking up becomes much more pleasant when you add a few touches of spring to your bedroom. Put real or artificial flowers on your dresser or nightstand. Swap your heavy comforter or winter-themed bedspread for a lightweight option that features spring colors. Complete the makeover with luxurious, high-thread-count sheets in floral patterns or spring colors.

If you plan to replace your curtains with lacy panels or light-diffusing sheers, don’t forget to clean the windows first. The fine layer of dust that builds up on windows over the winter can reduce light transmission.

Add a Touch of Spring to Your Balcony 

When you moved into your apartment you may have had big plans for your balcony. Unfortunately, when life gets busy, it’s easy to forget about the space right outside your living room. During the spring and summer, your balcony expands your living space and offers the perfect place to gather with friends or enjoy a cup of coffee or glass of wine after a long day.

Although your balcony may look just like your neighbor’s in its natural state, a few small changes will make the space totally your own. Fill large pots with your favorite flowers or train clinging vines to climb portable trellises that also act as privacy screens. When you choose plants for your pots, consider when they’ll be in bloom. If you select varieties that bloom at different times, one type or another will always produce flowers.

Turning Your Bathroom into a Retreat

Bathroom makeovers are usually quick and inexpensive due to the relatively small space of the room. This spring, why not take your inspiration from your favorite vacation spot? Add a blue-striped shower curtain, sand-colored bathmat, colorful blue towels, and a few seashells or pieces of driftwood if you enjoy vacationing at the beach.

Is your favorite getaway spot a mountain cabin? A few rustic touches can completely transform your bathroom. Store towels on a shelving unit made of distressed wood or place them in a wire basket. An old wooden bucket (or reproduction) makes the perfect trash receptacle or can serve as storage for extra rolls of toilet paper. Changes don’t have to be expensive. Adding bath products or wildflowers to Mason jars doesn’t cost much but adds to your bathroom’s country flair. 

It’s much easier to decorate for spring when your apartment is bright, airy, and spacious. If your current apartment isn’t any of those things, check out Country Classics’ New Jersey apartment communities: Fairway 28, 745 Hamilton, and Harrison Square (coming soon).