Spring and Summer Spice

Published 6:29 pm Saturday, April 12, 2008

Spring is here, and with it comes the urge to spruce up your living quarters.

Kim Myles, host of HGTV’s “Myles of Style,” is full of ideas on how you can accomplish this creatively without breaking the bank.

“When you want to freshen up for spring, the key is to edit,” she said. “Instead of adding and layering as we do for winter, I pull out candles, throws, pillows and my little fluffy accent rugs. The idea is to leave behind only the things you love, and it costs you nothing.”

Take a look at your window treatment, too. Switching window coverings can have a huge visual impact, Myles said. “Replace heavy drapes with sheer curtains in white or cream. They’re not expensive.” If you can sew, you can even make them yourself.

What remains is a light, spare space. “When I achieve that spareness, I’m ready for spring,” Myles said.

Her canvas prepared, this designer then looks to the upcoming summer. “Summer is when you add fullness to your living space,” she said. Again, achieving an impact need not cost a fortune.

“I love to have fun with color — what about four pillows in celadon green and canary yellow? It’s wow!” she said. “You can’t ignore it!”

She also loves searching through older items. “I love garage sales,” she said. “One man’s trash is another’s treasure. What about that little beat-up end table? Hit it with saffron or lime-colored paint.”

As a fan of art in the house and a devotee of luscious fabrics, another of Myles’ design tricks is large, easy-to-make custom wall “paintings.”

“Buy four canvas stretcher bars — found at artist supply stores. Pop them together. A three-foot-by-three-foot frame costs about $8,” she said.

While artists stretch white canvas, you can stretch a yard of beautiful fabric and hang a work of art that infuses a space with color and texture, she said. An added dividend:

The whole project costs less than $40.

This is especially welcome if you’re renting a home where you can’t paint or hang heavy things, Myles said. “Imagine the impact over a couch, particularly in a tiny apartment.”

Then there’s the fireplace. Crackling and cozy during the winter, “it becomes a big black hole of nothing in the spring,” Myles said. But it’s also an opportunity for an elegant design statement.

“Fill the fireplace with fresh flowers or potted plants,” she said. “If you’re having a special party, stems of orchids in multiple vases will last three weeks and the cost is about $25 from a wholesale flower dealer.

“When they fade, switch them out with ferns, succulents or house plants. Each can make a dazzling display.”

But whether you want a total new look, or just some simple, fresh touches, it’s important to maintain your individuality and adapt design elements that inspire you, Myles said. “Design is fun. It should be joyful. Our homes are not museums. They are places we love and live in. If there’s something you don’t like, just change it.”

Leigh Oshirak, director of public relations and marketing communications for Pottery Barn, the nationwide home furnishings store, is in full accord with keeping the spring spruce-up simple.

“Spring is an opportunity to clean up clutter, to introduce patterns, to bring the outdoors in,” Oshirak said. “One thing Pottery Barn is doing for spring this year is organic, bold-colored bedding. We’ve also freshened up floor treatments and have introduced a new trunk collection — trunks that can conceal at lot of stuff while serving as a table, too.”

While the handsome Pottery Barn catalogs have long been used by Americans wanting ideas on how to put style into their rooms, the chain also offers other free vehicles for design information, according to Oshirak.

“Design studios in the stores allow shoppers to come in anytime with a question or a decorating problem,” she said. “We also have design classes.”

There is also information online. “Our Web site, potterybarn.com, has tons of practical ideas from how to develop your family’s style to creating outdoor living spaces. Take what you see and adapt what you like for your home.”