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I don't spend a lot of money decorating my home. Many peopledon't want to spend the time or money to decorate with theseasons, but over the years I have learned some ways tocreatively seasonally decorate that have cost little or next tonothing.

Because I work a lot, I don't spend very much time decorating myhome. When I'm updating my home to a new seasonal theme, I don'tspend more than a couple of hours arranging and rearranging toget a nice seasonal effect. Here are some of the ways I'velearned to organize my seasonal accessories:

- I store my seasonal decorations in several large stackableRubbermaid containers: two for Christmas, one for Easter/spring,and one for autumn/Thanksgiving. When I'm ready to change themes,I get out the one(s) to put things away in, dust or otherwiseclean the area(s) where the new decorations will sit, and thenget out the new decorations. The storage containers get put backaway, and everything is still organized for next season. Makesure you mark the containers in some way to know which one iswhich. Color coding them buy buying different colored containersworks well.

- You will inevitably forget to put something away and stumbleacross it when you're cleaning another day. In each bathroom Ihave a corner of a closet shelf reserved for miscellaneousseasonal decorations. Or if someone gives you a seasonal gift youdon't have anywhere else to put at the moment, this is a goodplace to put it.

If you find the task of re-decorating your entire homeoverwhelming, look for certain areas of your home that would begood for displaying seasonal decorations. In my home the kitchen,dining room, and living room are the focal areas of our home.There are certain areas where I concentrate when decorating forthe seasons:

- Kitchen: I don't do a lot of seasonal decorating in thekitchen, but there are a couple of easy things you can do toliven it up a little. Seasonal dish cloths and hand towels arereally cute, as well as seasonal floor mats. If you use thetowels for decoration only, like hanging from your oven doorhandle, they will still be nice for the next year. Seasonalrefrigerator magnets are also easy to update.

- Dining Area: Our dining room table is the focal point of ourdining room. We have a long oak table that is great for seasonaldecorating. A table runner makes a nice seasonal addition. I haveone made out of Easter fabric for spring, a floral one forsummer, and one of Christmas fabric. I just need to get one forautumn. You can accessorize with seasonal place mats, napkins,and napkin rings. These you can make yourself or pick up at yardsales or clearance sales off-season. I also like to decorate thecenter of the table for the season. A lot of times I will use avase of seasonal flowers. For autumn I have a vase of artificialfall foliage. I accent the vase with Indian corn, gourds, andartificial fall leaves.

- Living Room: The main areas of the living room I concentrate onare the fireplace mantel and hearth, a corner curio shelf, andthe entertainment center. I lay a garland across the top of theentertainment center that can be changed with the seasons: fallfoliage for autumn, flowers for spring and summer, and evergreensfor winter. On the shelves of the entertainment center and thecurio shelves I rotate my seasonal knickknacks. The last place Idecorate is the top of the piano. Sometimes I just decorate withhouseplants and photographs, but it is also a great place toshowcase collections, like my angels at Christmas or my bunnyvillage in the spring. I also have a piece of fabric draped overthe piano that I can change with the seasons.

- Other: Window clings are great for any season. Door wreaths canalso be rotated any time of year. My grapevine wreath goes up inthe autumn and is soon replaced by my Christmas wreath. You couldhave one for every season. Although I don't have one yet, a lotof people have seasonal flags or banners displayed outside of thehouse. These you could buy or make yourself.

These are just ideas to get in the mood of seasonal decorating.Learning to bring the outdoors indoors can be fun--there are manyeasy, inexpensive ways you can change the look of your home toget in tune with the seasons.