Organza panels for windows and linen slip covers for chairs will bring spring inside.
A change of season alters the feel of everyday life, so it makes sense to alter the feel of your home. Subtle changes in decor - which need mean no more than a few carefully chosen accessories - can turn a livingroom or bedroom into a space that's refreshed for the new season. It's as sensible as bringing out summer clothes, and storing away the winter ones. Wealthy homeowners in 18th-century France switched curtains and coverings with the seasons - at Versailles, the hangings in the queen's bedroom were changed four times a year. But your transformations don't have to be quite so regal.
If you have traditional curtains that hang behind a pelmet, let in more sunlight by removing the hanging side panels - leave the pelmet in place for a finished look. Take down the pull cords at the side of the window for the sake of tidiness and add a simple roller blind for privacy. If you have heavy drapes hanging from a pole, take them away and replace them with organza panels. Pia Bang Home on South Anne Street, Dublin 2, has some for €169.
Send heavy rugs to be cleaned, leaving the floor bare or adding a mat in a natural material, such as sisal or bamboo.
Place mementos of the season, such as holiday snaps, shells and eye-catching stones, on a mantelpiece. As your fireplace will probably be dormant until autumn, turn it into a showcase for some favourite objects - try a few large porcelain jars.
Bringing the outdoors inside is another good goal. Fill the largest vases you can find with any kind of greenery from the garden. Dunnes Stores stocks super-size vases for as little as €20. A group of two or three can look great. Daffodils signal spring, so gather them in bundles with raffia, then stand them in heavy glasses (or jam jars), to emphasise their height.
Other bulbs flower at this time of year, including crocuses and tulips. Think about planting them in burnished metal pots, from garden centres, and using them inside.
Bring more green indoors by using wheatgrass, with its tall green shoots, as a centrepiece for your table. It's available in trays from many health-food shops. When placed in a footed bowl - that is, a bowl with a stem-like base - it blends beautifully with almost any table setting. Cut a section roughly the size of your bowl, then transfer it and trim it to fit. Keep the soil damp and the display should stay fresh for a week.
You can also brighten your table with new place mats. House of Ireland has great ribbed cotton ones for €4.95 each, in a variety of colours.
Get creative in DIY shops and use unexpected things as part of your table display. Decwells DIY, on South Great George's Street, Dublin 2, has moss-covered hanging baskets for €5; tipped on their side, they could hold fruit or other foods.
Use outdoor furniture inside the home and mix up the visual boundary between each. Habitat, in Dublin, Galway and Belfast, has classic park-style folding chairs in zingy colours for €59 each. For a summery lunch (if the weather isn't dazzling) why not place them around the table? You could also use outdoor seat cushions inside. Stock, on South King Street, Dublin 2, has a selection in neutrals and other colours, such as fuchsia and baby blue. They cost €22.50 each.
Stock also has large globe paper shades for €12.50. They've been around forever, but their simplicity makes for a light atmosphere. You could also buy some faux greenery, from the same shop, to wind around them; plain green stems with leaves cost from about €4.
Go all New England and put candles in hurricane lamps. The loveliest are at Pia Bang Home; they cost €59. What's unusual is a very wide lip at the top of the glass and a metal ring inside that allows the candle to hang midway down the vase. You could put some uncooked rice beneath the candle.
If you're feeling adventurous, you could make a big, but temporary, change to a room by wallpapering a large panel of MDF. Buy a size that's almost floor to ceiling and about 125cm wide. Once you've covered it in cheery paper - try somewhere like in Navan, and choose one with foliage or flowers to increase the outdoor vibe - lean it against a wall, for a blast of brightness.
A recent article in these pages about updating the modern bathroom should have been attributed to designer Alyson Bailey.