The winter months can be dark and dreary. When my daughter was little, she pronounced “dreary” as “jeery”. It stuck and we still call gray days “jeery”. If you’re tired of the endless, jeery days, here are a few tricks to brighten up your world.
- Buy a few bright bath towels. I’ve been using white towels for years now. Recently, on a whim, I bought some bright towels on sale. They were a great price and I bought one in every color. Once I hung them up, I was shocked at how much brighter the bathroom felt. I felt happy every time I walked into the room.
- Invest in an area rug. This doesn’t have to be expensive. Even a small kitchen rug will brighten up your house. Buy the brightest one you can find.
- Collect kitchen towels. (I wrote about my love of kitchen towels here: Moms Can’t Have Nice Things | AllMomDoes) There are so many fun patterns to choose from. Hang a brightly colored towel from your oven handle and see how it colors up your whole kitchen.
- Hang new artwork. Visit art.com or another inexpensive site. Find some fun prints or posters to hang where you need color the most. Or, have your kids paint some vibrant pictures to frame and hang. They’ll make you smile whenever you see them.
- Purchase a new sheet set. I love doing this. My goal is to have sheets for every holiday and/or season someday. Who cares if they match your room décor? If they make you happy, that’s all that matters.
- Paint a wall. Feeling really motivated? Paint an accent wall in a color that you love. I have a yellow family room and it lifts my mood every day.
- Bring the outdoors in. Whether you buy fresh flowers or just cut some twigs from the yard, filling a vase just brightens the whole house. Buy yourself a colorful new vase while you’re at it.
- Add a table runner and a bowl of fruit. I love matching my table runners to the seasons. I currently have blue ones on my table and hutch. Stick a bowl of brightly colored fruit in the center and you have an instant mood-changer.
- Throw some pillows. Sites like Amazon have a huge array of pillow covers for sale. I change out my covers every month and it changes the whole look of the living room. It’s super easy and inexpensive and the variety is endless. It’s a great way to make a room vibrant.
- Throw some blankets. Besides being cozy, blankets also add color to a room. I cover the back of my couch with different blankets in each season and it makes it look like I have a whole new couch.
- Talk to the plants. I have killed every indoor plant I’ve ever owned, but I’ve found a new way to add greenery to my home. I take cuttings of plants in my yard and put them in a vase with water. They last for a long time without dying, and many will take root so you can plant them outside later.
- Stack a pile of your most colorful books on a side table, besides being great conversation starters for your guests, they add interest and color to a room. I had blue books out for January and the red books are coming out for February.
I hope these easy ideas to add color to your life help you. I’ll leave you with one last craft idea that you and your kids will have fun putting together.
Credit: Ann Kirsten
Here’s what you’ll need:
Credit: Ann Kirsten
Craft pom-poms in bright colors
A branch from the yard
A glue gun and glue sticks
A vase
Directions:
Cut a twig from your yard with lots of side branches. Carefully using your glue gun, attach pom-poms to various spots on the twig. Once the glue has set, pull off all the glue strings. Place your finished branch in a bright vase. Instant color! (if you’re using an old-school HOT glue gun, always have a glass of cold water nearby for burns).
Adding color to life is special.
“Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age: and he made him a coat of many colors.” Genesis 37:3
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Read more of Ann’s contributions to allmomdoes here.
