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How to decorate for spring

Spring is here, which means it's time to open the windows, let the sunshine in, and think about decorating schemes to maximise light and colour

13 March 2025

Dean Hearne

The spring equinox is coming, it's finally light at the end of the work day, and the magnolias are just about to flower in London. At this time of year, we want our spaces to embrace the new season. The easiest way to bring a little spring inside the house is by letting the light in and filling it with flowers; romantic arrangements of branches and buds are the perfect way to remind you of everything coming to life outside. A new candle with a spring-like floral scent can help create the right atmosphere, while you pile on the daffodils and tulips on every surface that will take them.

For a more thorough overhaul, pale colours, bright greens and delicate floral fabrics are ideal for making you feel like nature is blooming all year round. Butter Wakefield's London house, for example, is practically the embodiment of how we feel about spring, bursting with colour and life. Giving a room a fresh coat of paint instantly makes everything feel cleaner and fresher, whether its simple white paint or a more cheerful paint colour that will really transform the space.

Now is a good time to buy some cheerful tableware for outdoor dining, and possibly even invest in some new garden furniture. While you're at it, think about sprucing up your outdoor space, even if it's just a small garden, with some fresh, colourful plant pots. We have an excellent tutorial on creating spring containers that will perk up any patio or terrace.

James McDonald
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Sky blue paint is undoubtedly having a moment this spring, and this hallway (complete with springy mimosa) is the perfect illustration of why. The walls in this colourful South Kensington house are painted in Pure & Original's ‘Blue Reef’, and how lovely it looks with the stripey pink and red runner underfoot.
Rachael Smith
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Yellow accents are the perfect pop of colour to embrace for the new season, whether it's a fresh cushion, a new artwork, or a bit of painted woodwork. Take a cue from interior designer Lucinda Griffith, whose Welsh cottage is cleverly furnished in thrifty fashion. The yellow throw cushion against the pale pink sofa is wonderfully cheerful.
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A full butter yellow look has become very appealing of late and these rich, creamy shades bring sunshine into any scheme. “Yellow is a great colour for a bedroom; sunny and bright it has a spirit of optimism and summer to wake up to,” says artist Christabel MacGreevy, “and on cold grey days it still bounces the low light and feels warm and encompassing.”
Jonathan Bond
4/12
Speaking of florals, we love the combination of pink and green in this bedroom in Elizabeth Hay's Devon cottage, where Pierre Frey’s ‘Fleurs de Mai’ wallpaper tones providing a contrasting scale to a quilt in Ian Mankin’s ‘Suffolk’ large gingham check. Gingham and florals in pink and green - could anything be springier?

Ngoc Minh Ngo
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The living room of Umberto Pasti's house outside Tangiers takes a 'more is more' approach to decorating with flowers. Sprawling arrangements that don't look too finished give the feel of a garden that has come indoors.
Ngoc Minh Mgo
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At Harriet Anstruther's idyllic cottage in Sussex, simple arrrangements of branches achieve a similar effect in a more modern, minimalist interior.
Simon Brown
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In the conservatory of Butter Wakefield's London house we have a masterclass in arranging beautiful things. A cornucopia of lettuceware plates stands on shelves behind the sofa, set off by monochromatic fabrics. The green, black and white colour scheme (with hints of pink) is so striking.
Montse Garriga Grau
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Changing up your table settings with pretty patterned tablecloths, placemats and napkins, and perhaps some colourful plates and glasses, is an easy way to brighten things up for the new season.
At her holiday house in the mountains of southern Spain, English interior designer Susan Wyndham has brought together furniture, lighting and fabrics from all over the world to create interiors with an exuberantly layered aesthetic. On the terrace, simple green tableware and chairs covered in a Bernard Thorp stripe balance the exuberant floral print of an Indian tablecloth .

Owen Gale
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Textile designer Molly Mahon has a delightfully spring-like house, filled with her joyful block-printed fabrics and with pots of geraniums everywhere you look. Textiles are a low-maintenance way to overhaul your interior. Try mixing up some prints, buying a new cushion or two, or even reupholstering a chair in some colourful new fabric. And if you fancy trying block printing yourself (it's fun!), you can buy tea-towel kits by Molly at Liberty.
Elsa Young
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Painting woodwork inside the house instantly freshens up an interior. Maybe your white skirting boards just need a bit of cheering up, or maybe an injection of colour, as Susan Deliss went for in this Edinburgh flat, can bring a whole new look to a room.
Tim Beddow
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Moving up on the scale of painting projects, kitchen cabinets can be entirely overhauled with a coat of paint. The kitchen in Sarah Vanrenen's London house is the perfect place to contemplate spring. Curtains in Sarah's 'Sunda' linen in brown frame the doorway to the garden, where the raised beds were planted by Tulip Landscapes. Sarah picked up the antique rug on a visit to Turkey. For more ideas, see our thoughts on how to decorate with green paint, and how to paint your kitchen cupboards.
Paul Massey
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Alternatively, if you're in spring clean mode, a fresh coat of white paint can never go amiss. This bedroom in a weaver's cottage in Wiltshire is a serene, light-filled space sure to banish winter cobwebs.