Here are some great ideas for bringing the freshness of spring into your home.

Sponge paint your walls, or a key piece of furniture. Blues, greens, pinks, and yellows in pastel shades refresh a room, and the softness of sponging gives an impressionistic appeal.

Take clippings from outdoor ivy, and root in water for FREE houseplants. Buy inexpensive shade annuals and pot them up for indoors- fuchsias, impatiens, begonias, and primroses are wonderful for bringing in color, and deal well with the lower light indoors.

Dress up candles as natural works of art instead of putting them away for the warm months. Use a glue gun to attach organic materials such as dried twigs, flowers, cinnamon sticks, worn out potpourri, pressed leaves, coffee beans...use what you have! Or, tie on raffia or ribbon and group candles on a shelf, tabletop, or on a mirror.

Paint inexpensive houseplant pots to give your room designer touches. Sponge paint over clay pots, or use a stencil or simple pattern to give interest. This technique can also be used on your outdoor pots. Hint: for a more elegant look, try using the new metallic craft paints over clay pots. Simply sponging on some metallic paint (try combining them) can look extremely upscale.

Got an old wooden stepladder? Use it as a great plant stand to bring the green indoors. You can paint it or leave it rustic and weathered, depending on the style of your room. Full size wooden ladders can look great on the patio.

Add spring detail to your window treatments by using small grapevine wreaths as tiebacks or swag holders. You can add more interest by gluing on a small bunch of dried flowers. This is a great way to reuse flowers from a damaged arrangement, or leftovers from another project.

Buy artificial plant vines at the craft store, and drape them over the tops of your window treatments, or wrap them around a floor lamp. Watch the craft stores carefully, and you can usually catch them on sale for just a couple of bucks.

Cover cardboard boxes with fresh floral fabric, and stack on a table like hatboxes. If you utilize scraps from another project, you will have creative, decorative storage, virtually free!

Kathy Wilson is an author, columnist, and editor of The Budget Decorator. If you would like hundreds more great budget decorating ideas, visit her at http://www.TheBudgetDecorator.com. Don’t forget to sign up for her free newsletter and ebooks while you’re there!