50 Easy Spring Decorating Ideas

Use a box of food coloring to add playful punch to an array of bud vases. 

Fill assorted vases or recycled jars and bottles with water tinted to match a variety of flowers. You can also use white blooms (such as affordable supermarket daisies or carnations), but remember what you learned in elementary science class: Those thirsty petals will take on the hue of your water! 

Cuttings from the garden bring the outdoors to your table. Display in beaker vases; elevate one or two on wood slices to add another woodsy touch. 

An antique birdcage perfectly supports a collection of colorful tulips; the crossing wires hold up the top-heavy blossoms. Any container that fits inside the cage will do; just fill it with water, place it in the center and add flowers. Tuck in a bit of moss if you want to disguise the container. 

A handful of blossoms is all you need to fill an espresso cup. Grouping yellow flowers (daffodils, pansies and forsythia) in a yellow container creates a cheery monochromatic arrangement. Pussy willow sprigs contrast the delicate petals.

Fill colorful rain boots with coordinating colors of tulips or other spring flowers. Use florist water tubes to keep the flowers fresh. Tie on a pretty ribbon for the finishing touch. Resources Kelsey Kamik Kids rain boots; color: pink; size: 2 (toddler). 

A clear cookie jar shows off a mix of dyed eggs and a medley of flowers united by their color.

Start with a large-mouth cookie jar or canister, a clear drinking glass that fits inside the jar, dyed hard-cooked eggs and flowers. Center the drinking glass inside the jar and carefully stack the eggs between the glass and jar, alternating egg colors. Fill the glass with water.

Cut the stems of your favorite flowers (we used roses, gerbera daisies, tulips, hyacinths and bells of Ireland) to the desired length and arrange them in the glass.

It doesn't get more charming than this. Use a salt or pepper shaker as a bud vase. Siberian squill stems are the perfect size to fit through holes in the cap. If stems don't fit, just skip the cap.

Bulb planters are handy for getting daffodils into the ground in fall, and they double as quaint containers in spring. Set a single planter in the center of a small table, put one at each place setting or stagger several in a line down the center of a long table. Drop a small jar in the center of each planter, fill the jar with water and add a half-dozen or so of your favorite daffodil blooms.

Look to your china collection for captivating vase ideas. Here, lilies of the valley in teacups provide sweet touches. Florist frogs hold stems steady. Use several of these as a centerpiece, or put one at each place setting as an accent.

Greet guests with a front-door display of seasonal joys, such as this vintage watering can. Set floral foam in the can to secure the stems. Fill in with spring accents, then wire to door.

In a large clear container, what’s in the water is as important as what is above it. Distilled water in a clean glass vase shows off scrubbed carrots and kohlrabi with leaves attached, along with large branches of green cherry tomatoes. A vintage silver-plated tray under the vase reflects light into the arrangement.

Sedums and violets planted in soil-filled, dyed Easter eggs say spring in a simple way. Moss fills empty spots in the carboard egg carton. 

Sprinkle cheery pastels across your table with a festive, garden-inspired centerpiece as the star. 

Instructions and template

Old metal boxes and lunch pails make great vintage holders for your favorite indoor arrangements. White hydrangeas, viburnum, and paperwhites complement any color container. Display the planter on a vintage dish for added style.

Isn’t it fortuitous that spring, summer, autumn and winter all have six letters? Stay in season by relettering squares of chalkboard paint on ceramic vases. Keep them filled with blooms that suit the time of year. We painted our vases with Benjamin Moore 1348 Razzle Dazzle.

Line the center of your table with small containers of wheatgrass for an unusual centerpiece. Give containers to guests at the end of your gathering so they can enjoy a green gift at home. 

An umbrella transforms from a rainy-day staple into a celebration of cheer when you use it as a clever container for tulips and springtime-trimmings.

Tie a ribbon halfway up a closed umbrella. Create pockets between front ribs and tuck in tissue paper to support a crafts-store bird's nest; blown eggs; and fresh flowers such as tulips and daffodils. Fill in with ferns and moss. To keep flowers fresh, enclose stems in water vials, or tuck them into heavy plastic bags filled with floral foam powder, available at floral supply stores. Wire the arrangement to a door hook.

Give any plain vase a seasonal makeover with a simple band of ribbon. Here, two overlapping ribbons add an extra spring kick to a container of peonies. Attach with double-sided tape.

A bouquet of baby artichokes makes a nice alternative to flowers.

Cut stems short and poke in floral picks or wooden skewers. Fit the pitcher with floral foam to anchor the skewers, then arrange like flowers. To keep your bouquet fresh longer, store in the fridge at night.

A footed dish provides an ideal platform for grape hyacinths nestled into a stylized bird's nest.

Buy a pot of blooming grape hyacinths as well as a small bird's nest and moss (from a crafts store). Gently rinse most of the soil off the hyacinth's bulbs and roots. Carefully wrap a rubber band around the group of stems, tightening just enough to hold them upright. Place the clump in the nest, and tuck moss around the stems to cover the bulbs and hold the stems in place. 

Ruffled bird's nest fern fronds from the florist form a fresh green bouquet. Single plant fronds of any type work just as well; bunch them to fill out the container and stand upright.

A vintage silver water pitcher shows off bundles of red and white radishes, secured with rubber bands around the stems. Radish leaves and red onions sporting roots add more color and texture to this arrangement of edibles.

Repurpose your coffee cups into tiny centerpieces for place settings.

Tuck a small baby's tears plant into a demitasse and add a copper tag. For lettering, try rub-on decals available in the scrapbooking section of crafts stores.

Place yellow flowers--in this case, double yellow tulips--in a clear vase with festive kumquats and water. They'll add a touch of spring to your dining table or any corner of your house.

Rubber bands around eggs dipped in dye create funky linear designs on these eggs secured in bird's nests from a crafts store (see next slide for a closeup of the eggs). Add height to the look by placing them on a cake stand. The place cards have ears cut into them for a bunny look. We used coral, turquoise and white for a springy look.

Take a few cuttings from a crabapple tree and place the twigs in a milk bottle or vase. Search for varying colors of blooms, or add a few flowers fresh from the garden.

Fresh carrots add bold spring color inside clear glass vases. Put pretty blooms on top. 

Fruits and flowers make an appealing mix along a straw runner. We used peaches, plums, mangoes, key limes and bunches of mint on either side of a lilac centerpiece.

Keep your spring gathering light and airy with linen table coverings and clear glass containers. We used different sizes of mini greenhouses down the center of the table, filling gaps between the cloches with roses floating in a bit of water in stemless wineglasses. A sprig of fern and a spring quote continue the seasonal theme at each place setting.

Welcome spring with a front door display that repurposes an old metal funnel. To hang it on your doorknob, tie a ribbon to the handle. Plug the funnel with a cork. Put water-soaked florists foam inside a plastic bag, then position it inside the funnel. Insert blooms, like tulips, lily-of-the-valley, white bleeding-hearts, viburnum and pussy willow.

Split a single market bouquet among simple glass bottles and jars for a super-easy spring centerpiece.

A petite tumbler serves as a sweet vase for spring flowers, especially when it's in a fun hue! Balance pink and white bleeding-hearts with yellow alyssum and candytuft.

This arrangement of moss and mini pots is a fun way to show off a stem or two of each spring flower in your yard. Here, daffodils, tulips, snowdrops and grape hyacinth create a colorful mix. To start, fill each mini pot with water-soaked florists foam. Insert flowers, stems cut short, and layer on moss to keep stems in place. Protect the tray with aluminum foil or plastic lining. Finally, place pots on the tray and fill in with moss.

Cylindrical vases wrapped in patterned paper and filled with yellow blossoms make a cheery centerpiece.

A wooden table is the essence of country charm, especially when topped with lilac and creamy tones. A simple eyelet tablecloth keeps the focus on the centerpiece of white tulips and purple lilacs spilling from a weathered planter.

A combination of spring-fresh branches and bulbs creates a uniquely charming centerpiece. Our short step-by-step video shows you how!

Flavored vinegar, olive oil and white wine bottles yield shapely, sparkly vases with delicate spring color for a mantel or tabletop decoration. Choose a variety of sizes, remove labels, fill with water and tuck in fern fronds, fresh from your spring landscape.

A brightly colored can paired with a vibrantly colored bouquet means lots of spring cheer! Set out a pitcher of lemonade, a basket of lemons and a fresh fruit tart for an afternoon tea or casual get-together.

Rain boots come in a rainbow of colors, so fill some in your favorite hue with coordinating tulips. Afraid of puddles? Florist water tubes keep the tulips fresh. 

Uplift Easter brunch, a wedding shower or any spring event with a tabletop that captures the light and cheery feeling of the season. Start with a theme that celebrates a symbol of spring: a flower, a bird, an egg or a butterfly. Pull the design together with a refreshing color scheme, such as pastel pink and bright teal blue.

To get the look here: Accent vases and place settings with premade paper butterflies. Dress up solid-color napkins with a stamped seasonal design. For a final dash of happy pattern and color, cut place mats from decorative papers.

Yellow marguerite daisies brighten this table with sunny style. Wrap a rubber band around a votive holder and slip in a single daisy. Set in a small dish with water. Place one daisy at each table setting, or line up votives down the middle of the table for a centerpiece. 

Hot-glue blossoms cut from craft paper onto branches for early buds. A base of dyed eggs stablizes the branches while echoing the spring vibe.

An inexpensive terra-cotta saucer becomes a serving tray. Next to the tray, fresh garden vegetables fill the lower tiers of a wire basket, and flowers nestled in a bed of lettuce top it off.

To create the fruit and flower arrangement, soak fresh vegetables in cold water, blot dry and arrange just before guests arrive. For the bouquet, bundle flowers and secure with a rubber band. Place in a small jar of water and camouflage the jar with lettuce or cabbage leaves.

Create an inexpensive centerpiece from single stems displayed in mixed glassware. 

Turn grocery-store staples into clever tabletop details for your Mother's Day brunch or other celebrations. Fresh asparagus stalks cleverly embellish a pretty centerpiece and hold place cards; a knot of chives decorates a napkin.

For the centerpiece, wrap a cylindrical vase with two rubber bands, then slide stalks under the bands to cover the surface. Secure with twine and remove the bands. Fill with your favorite flowers; a bit of water in a bowl will keep the decoration fresh. For place card holders, cut three asparagus stalks to an even length, tie with twine, and slide a card between the tops.

Give elegant china a casual treatment by setting it on woven chargers and topping with a heavy linen napkin tied with twine and a radiant radish.

Created a potted centerpiece that brings the beauty of spring indoors. Our short video gives you step-by-step instructions!

Carryout boxes made of frosted plastic become fun containers for floral centerpieces. Place spring blooms such as daffodils and tulips inside a short, water-filled glass before setting in the box.

Moss accented with miniature daisies and papier-mâché toadstools (DIY or find at crafts stores) creates a pretty woodland scene on a footed cake plate. To hold everything in place, use a thin layer of floral foam at the base and attach moss, flowers and other add-ons with floral picks or hot glue as needed.