Column by Linda Lawrence

It is that tenuous time of the season, when the weather can drastically change from week to week. Nonetheless, tomorrow is officially the first day of spring, and it's time to begin the transition into the new season by making some fun and simple changes to our homes.

Start with lightening up your interiors by removing heavier fabrics, colors and textures, and replacing them with lighter ones. Remove velvet drapes or chenille pillows and replace them with cotton or linen, for example. Take away deep red, green or brown accents and replace them with brighter colors like raspberry, light green or cream. Minimize the amount of candles, throws, and firewood in the living room, and blankets and window coverings in bedrooms. Exchange pinecones for bird's nests, heavy for light, and layered for bare. Clear away the accumulations of the past several months, and slowly add fresh touches of nature to your rooms.

Look outside for inspiration in this process: The colors, textures and touches of spring are evident in the flowers, sky and hills right now. It is a perfect time to bring in things from the garden to accessorize the home.

A wooden bench, a birdhouse, a potting table or patio furniture can work indoors as well as out. The bench can be used as a rustic coffee table or placed behind the sofa and accessorized. The potting table can be used as a sideboard in the dining room, and a patio chair or wicker loveseat can be accented with a floral pillow and used inside to bring a touch of the outdoors in.

I recently admired a darling iron patio chair at a design store, and was informed that it was purchased at a local discount store and spray-painted with red enamel. She added a square pillow to the seat and it now appeared to be custom made and entirely unique.

I have a rustic country wheelbarrow that I keep inside the back door of my home. Its contents change with the seasons: I place two silk plants inside in the summer, a cornucopia of assorted pumpkins and gourds in the fall and a variety of stuffed animals and bits of evergreen for the holiday season. It is then packed away until spring. This week the wheelbarrow was returned to its place and filled with four overflowing pots of colorful silk geraniums. It's beginning to feel like spring already!

Other outdoor items that can inspire your spring décor include birdcages, plants or flowers in pots or urns, watering cans, sundials, baskets, garden statues or terrariums. Clip some branches from a flowering quince or fruit tree and arrange in a metal pail or water bucket. A bundle of tulips or sprays of pussy willows add a distinct touch of spring to any space.

With Easter around the corner, pull out any stuffed bunnies, ceramic birds or pastel eggs and add them to a shelf, coffee table or sideboard. Fill the crystal in your china hutch with plastic eggs, buy a batch of chocolates wrapped in spring colors for your candy bowl or add yellow or pink taper candles to your silver candlesticks.

Attach a rake to your wall, prong side up, and add a straw hat and light sweater. Hang an old window on the wall, with the glass still in, removed or replaced with a mirror. Stack two or three old picnic baskets to make a side table to use next to the bed or couch. An old metal gate can be hung behind the bed as an instant headboard, or a decorative trellis can fill any empty corner with style and flair.

Most of us have things that can be gathered and displayed to celebrate spring: Floral patterned pillows or curtains, framed botanical prints or a bowl of seasonal fruit all remind us of the beauty of nature. Butterflies, feathers, eggs and baby farm animals are the things we may be lucky enough to notice as we walk in our yards or drive along the highway.

I hope this inspires you to not only bring some of the outdoors in, but also to take a little more time to enjoy this ever-changing and beautiful time of year in the foothills this spring.