Depending on what time of year you found us, you may or may not know about our LOVE for seasonal decor! My mom wrote this blog post sharing her tips for creating seasonal decor vignettes, which goes more in depth on decorating a bigger area with seasonal decor. My post today is sharing my 10 really easy seasonal decor swaps! These are all the things I like to swap out to sprinkle a little seasonal “confetti” around my haus! I do this before my mom comes over to work her decor magic on my big/main areas, and my swaps take me about 30-ish minutes to change, since I replace the same 10 things every season. I like seasonal confetti for: Valentine’s Day (obvi, bring on ALL the pink & hearts!), St. Patrick’s Day/Easter (sometimes these have their own moments, other times my bunnies and leprechauns have a little party together), something summery like fruits, items that have a more beachy vibe, extra fresh flowers or brighter coloured accessories. Then we move into my FAVE time of year… fall/Halloween then into Christmas!
Let’s start the seasonal swap in my kitchen:1. Tea Towels.
I don’t know when my obsession with tea towels started… I think because they’re a cleaning product I can justify buying them, and the fact that they usually come in sets of 2 or 3 probably doesn’t help! However my kitchen is small, so I have my tea towels stored by season in baskets in my laundry room. Then when a new season arrives I swap my kitchen basket out with the next one from my laundry room! I will say, seeing seasonal tea towels hanging on my oven and dishwasher daily, and every time I open the drawer to see even more cute seasonal towels, I get a hit of dopamine!
2. Drinkware.
This collection might be (is…? depending on your criteria haha!) worse than my tea towel collection. I am obsessed with the Anthropologie Icon Glasses, and as a collector/gatherer I buy almost every new design they release. Which is often, and usually seasonal AND limited edition! I use these glasses daily for all my beverages… water, iced coffee, diet coke… so to me they are worth the splurge. However, I don’t keep every icon out all year round, the candy cane and pumpkin glasses are tucked away until their time comes!! Currently in: shamrock, chocolate bunny, and chick in egg! I don’t really drink hot beverages, so I have limited myself to A FEW (1-4) hot seasonal cups/mugs that also get swapped out when it is their time.
3. Candy Dish.
I will give my late Oma credit for this one, she always had chocolate and candy and cookies out on her counter, and to a degree my mom implemented that in our family home growing up too. But she only put out special occasion candy which was right around the seasonal times of the year! I remember little heart shaped bowls with pink Lindt chocolate balls, Halloween coloured M&M’s in a black and white stripe bowl, mini eggs in a yellow bowl, etc. There is something very homey and inviting about a sweet, seasonal treat out on the counter, so I have been implementing this “family tradition” since I moved into my own haus! Almost everyone grabs some of whatever is out when they come over, which makes me SO happy. I have gotten a bit more into the seasonal bowl aspect, even more than my mom. I’ve found shaped bowls at Value Village, a shamrock, a pineapple, and a golden fall leaf. HomeSense and Michaels are also great for finding seasonal bowls. And if I don’t have a seasonal shaped bowl, I will lean into the colours or vibes for the season ie: pink hearts on a bowl! And obviously the candy/sweet treat is on theme with the season. And, I try and use single wrapped candies as often as possible since they do sit out on my counter!
4. Hand Towels.
Moving out of kitchen specific items and into the rest of my house… starting with hand towels, I swap these out in both of my bathrooms! Unlike tea towels, I can get these as one-off/single towels, thank you HomeSense! I have pink cheetah print wallpaper in my powder room on the main floor, so I have specific hand towels for this bathroom, that stay in this bathroom, because they match and work with the maximalistic vibe… believe it or not, not all seasonal patterns work with pink cheetah!! Upstairs, I have a more neutral bathroom, but a pink vanity, so I choose hand towels that match with that pink. I’m not as specific as I am downstairs, but I want to bring cute, aesthetic, whimsical, seasonal vibes so it still kinda has to match!! But LOTS of patterns and colours go with pink (pink’s a neutral in case you missed that memo LOL!), so I’ve had no problem adding to this collection!
5. Soap.
A hand towel’s bestie, SOAP! I only use the Bath & Body Works foamy hand soap all over my house, and swapping it out to a seasonal scent is one of my most favourite things to swap. They are so good with their seasonal scents… the options are sometimes overwhelming, I never have an issue hitting their 5 for x dollars deal haha!! I love that they have fun colours/designs/patterns/art on their bottles that is seasonal and speaks to the scent inside, for example, I bought this Mango Papaya scent, not only because it smells like a tropical vacation, but because the bottle is orange, and orange looks VERY cute with pink cheetah! The other great thing B&BW has, if your soap bottle design does not work in your bathroom, or you want something more minimal you can get their reusable dispenser! My mom uses this marble one, and I have this one just in pink!
6. Candles.
God am I a sucker for a seasonal candle! I once skipped science class in high school to go get a limited edition mint chocolate chip Christmas candle (photo below!) from B&BW, I am committed to the hunt! Over the years I have gotten much better at not buying 16 Christmas candles, and have been more conscious that I’m burning candles with good for you ingredients as often as possible! With those 2 criteria, my candle collection has really whittled down. I think this is one of the most impactful ways to signal the season change in your house since it adds a sensory ambiance, and that little flicker of candle light, especially in the winter, is so cozy! I have a few designated swap areas: my living room tv hutch, my upstairs bathroom (this is key for good bath vibes!), my office, and sometimes my bedroom. I don’t like to have too many scents conflicting and overpowering each other everywhere, so I try to keep it to 1 candle per floor! And yes unburned/half burned candles get stowed away until their season rolls around again next year!
7. Wallflowers.
Now you see why I don’t have scented candles everywhere, because I am also a fan of the B&BW wallflower scent plug in! Just like their soap, the array of scents is so vast and versatile in this product as well, making it an easy seasonal swap. I like to go with a scent that speaks to that season… cozy, warm, usually vanilla or anything in the cookie/baking/sweet treat family for fall/winter, but always fresh, fruity and bright in the spring & summer! I have a accumulated a small collection of seasonal, cute, and very whimsical wallflower plugs. My 1970’s home didn’t come with a lot of wall outlets, nor could we add many due to the electrical panel; but there is one outlet mid-wall in my “front hall,” which houses a wall plug that gets swapped out seasonally ! It can be anything, including, but not limited to: a ghost, a flower, a fruit, a cowboy boot, the Disney castle, a snow man… this tiny bit of kitsch brings me so much joy every day… bonus points if the plug lights up!!
Side note: I know it might seem like it, but I promise this blog post isn’t sponsored, even though, that would be great!
8. Blankets + Pillows.
There is nothing quite like a chilly, snowy, December evening where you make a hot chocolate, in a Christmas mug, with snowman marshmallows, put on your favourite holiday movie and snuggle up under your big, fluffy blanket covered in peppermint candy! Yes, I am that girl who swaps out her blankets seasonally… I use a blanket every day, especially the ones in my living room, and when it’s not on me, it’s in a wicker basket beside my tv so you can see it 24/7. This swap is only for: summer (fruit!), Halloween (ghosts!), and Christmas (candy canes!). I also swap out the blanket that is on the chair in my bedroom, but just at Christmas. For pillows it is really just one place: I have a little stool in my “front hall” that I have started swapping a seasonal pillow on, and just like the whimsy and joy I get from the wall plug in my “front hall”, this pillow is the same. It is the first thing I (or anyone!) see when I walk into my haus, and it always puts a smile on my face, especially if it’s a pillow that is a little extra quirky!
9. Letter Board.
Above the little bench in my “front hall” I have hung a letter board! I love this one because it has so much open space, it isn’t felt like a normal letter board. This used to hang in my old studio at my parent’s haus, so it was the one letter board my mom let me take with me when I moved out! I love finding a cute, or funny, or sassy quote that matches the vibe of the season, currently, it is “lucky charms” themed! And Pinterest always has great posts about seasonal letter board quotes!
10. Frame TV Art.
The only reason I bought a Samsung Frame TV was so I could have artwork in my living room when it was off! A total splurge but one that I have really loved since moving in. I have so much fun either making or finding seasonal art for it… Instagram, Pinterest and Etsy are all great places to find Frame TV specific art files if you don’t want to make your own! This is usually the last thing I swap (or I do it while my mom is setting up my bigger areas!) so I’ll make myself an iced coffee, pop onto the couch and test out some options ON the TV to see what works and looks best.
There ya have it, 10 of my favourite simple, easy household item swaps to add some “seasonal confetti” to your home! If there is something along these lines that I’ve missed that you do, please leave me a comment or come chat on instagram, I would love nothing more than to add a few other things to my “seasonal swap” list because I don’t think you can ever have too much whimsy in your life!!
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