7 Clever Ways to Bring the Outdoors Inside to Your Decorating

Posted May 24, 2022

Mother Nature is a true artist, painting a beautiful picture around her and letting her natural decorations shine. As the seasons warm up, we often want to let a little bit of the outdoors inside. I know I love stretching my time outdoors as much as I can, and when I do come inside, I want to remember all that joyful beauty. So here are some clever and unique ways to let Mother Nature guide you in refreshing your home.

1. Grow Real Grass Indoors
Love the look of new green grass? Wheatgrass is super easy to grow indoors! Plant seeds in pots, or sow directly into a unique piece such as this wood sugar-cone mold. Let the grass grow for about a week or two, and then use it as part of a living centerpiece. You can keep trimming the grass and continue growing it for as long as you want.

2. Make a Metal Gate into a Fireplace Screen
Brighten up an out-of-season fireplace with a decorative garden-gate screen. Use a wire brush to remove any rust from an old metal gate, and then dry brush it with white paint for a light, timeworn look. Decorate the gate by wiring on small flowerpots filled with colorful blooms. Be sure to secure the gate to the fireplace if you have children or curious pets.

3. Add Sticks and Stones to Furniture
Make over a tired cabinet with hardware sourced from your own yard. For the drawer pulls, cut two birch branches and use spacers and screws to attach them to the drawer. To make rocks into knobs, wrap rocks with wire and insert the wire ends through the existing screw holes. Secure the wire inside each door by wrapping it around a small dowel rod. Decorate the door panels by covering them with cut-to-size sticks, using hot glue to secure.

4. Stack Watering Cans Around
Introduce watering-can whimsy to a wide windowsill. Arrange a grouping of white pillars topped with mini watering cans, flowers and colored candles. Lay sheets of moss around the pillar bases to nestle in more watering cans and accessories. For even more interest, hang a few watering cans from ribbons tied to your curtain rod. You could even glue a little string of crystal beads to the spout to make it look like water is pouring from the can.

5. Give a Strawberry Pot New Life
Repurpose a glazed strawberry pot as a handy organizer in the kitchen. The open top and side planting pockets make it easy to accommodate various sizes of utensils.

6. Grow Strawberry Plants in an Old Sieve
Vintage kitchenware make interesting containers for plants. Combine the outdoors with old tools for a repurposed planter.

7. Add a Nest and Branches as a Nature-Inspired Valance
Twining branches along your curtain rod gives you an interesting take on a valance, and tucking a little bird’s nest with glued-on faux eggs into the corner highlights the scene.