How to Mix Seasonal Decor into a Neutral Home + Hello Summer! Free Printable Art

So, you want to add a few nods to the season into your home. Here’s how to mix seasonal decor into a neutral home without throwing your color scheme out the window!

As the seasons change, I love to add a few little hints of what’s coming outdoors into my home. It can be super tempting (because it’s easy) to go and buy the mass-produced seasonal decor at the store. But just how do you bring seasonal decor into a neutral home, without throwing your beautifully-coordinated, muted color scheme out the window?

How to Mix Seasonal Decor into a Neutral Home

I’ve always felt like most typical seasonal decor is cheap and a little tacky looking. I’m sorry to be so blunt. But you know what I mean. Walk into any big box store in the fall and there are colorful scarecrows and plastic pumpkins everywhere. Or in the spring, it’s all bright pink and yellow eggs and cartoonish bunnies. And so it goes.

But what if you like neutrals? And layers? And textures? And not a lot of color?

Well, the quick answer is, don’t settle. Don’t give into the commercial hype and buy all the plastic things that will only take up space in storage bins in the basement.

Take a little time out and think more subtly. Peruse Pinterest or find home tours by your favorite designer in a magazine. How do they decorate seasonally? How can you add just a clever hint of the season into your home?

Here are my top 3 favorite ways to mix seasonal decor into a neutral home:

1. Use real plants and flowers.

By adding flowers or plants that are in season, you are naturally bringing the season indoors and putting it on display. Tulips in spring, cedar in winter, mums in fall, etc. This is the easiest way to decorate seasonally.

2. Keep your bunnies, santas and scarecrows natural.

If you want to add the whimsy that comes with some seasons, keep your characters natural. Instead of brightly colored cartoon-ish bunnies, use concrete or ceramic rabbits. Add Santas dressed the European way with natural fur and fabric. And feel free to create your own scarecrows that look like the real deal.

3. Use black and white (or sepia) art.

This is a method I use almost all the time. I actually feel silly sometimes creating our free printables because they’re SO simple. But then I get them in their frames (or old clipboards like the one I created for this post) and add them to our decor…and they blend right in! They suit the space we’ve carefully created to be beautiful through all the seasons.

Don’t choose seasonal decor that SCREAMS that it’s Summer, Fall, Winter or Spring. Instead, choose seasonal accents that give just a subtle hint of the season.

To illustrate this method and to help you in your own simplified seasonal decorating pursuits, I’ve created yet another simple free printable for you.