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Step 1
Prepare your home for spring by replacing heavy winter draperies with lightweight or sheer cottons. Accessorize with touches of fresh spring pastel colors--peach, ivory, robin's eggblue and lavender--in accent pillows, bed linens, hand towels and throws. Add area rugs of hand-woven linen, straw, cotton or bamboo. Place fresh-cut flowers, such as daffodils, tulips and pansies, around the house. Use egg-shaped soaps and candles (if spring means Easter to you), put pastel-colored candies in dishes in the living room and use a grass-filled basket of treasures as a dining-table centerpiece.
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Step 2
When it warms to summer, hang matchstick or silvery white vertical blinds. Keep accessories and collectibles to a minimum; clear, open spaces make a home feel cool and airy. Brighten the house with saturated colors--cornflower blue, grass green, sunny yellow, fiery red, goldenrod and tangerine--in accent pillows, bed linens, handtowels, throws and accessories. Put a tabletop fountain on an end table or credenza. Simple plug-in models, available at department stores, create a cool babbling sound. Add some green plants in terracotta pots, wicker furniture and wind chimes to your decor.
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Step 3
As the leaves begin to change, emulate the brisk colors of autumn with orange, gold, olive green, russet orearthy browns, tans and heavy creams in accent pillows, bed linens, hand towels, throws and accessories. Place a large bowl of apples, pomegranates or pumpkins on the table. Hang husks of native corn on the front door. Change area rugs to heavier materials, such as wool, sisal or jute. Accessorize with baskets, dishware shaped and colored like autumn leaves, fruits and vegetables and deep red candles.
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Step 4
When falls cools to winter, bring out indigo, black, brilliant scarlet, green, gold and silver accent pillows, bed linens, hand towels, throws and accessories. Scent your home with evergreen garlands and wreaths. Hang heavier-textured curtains made of velvet or damask, and lay a faux bearskin next to the fireplace. Accessorize with antique toys, fresh poinsettias, and candles.
