This Is the One Spot You’re Probably Overlooking When You Decorate Seasonally

Elaborate, kitschy decorations have always been my favorite part of every holiday. I have a wreath on my apartment door not just for Christmas, but Easter, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and even Valentine’s Day, too. When there is a holiday lull, I put up a generic floral one for spring and lemons for summer. 

For the past year or so though, wreaths weren’t fully satiating my need to decorate with colorful, spontaneous-themed purchases, so I turned my attention to an unexpected place: my shower. A seasonal bathroom spruce-up was actually my New Year’s resolution for 2020—which negated my other resolution to impulse-buy less—but I digress.

Hear me out on this, though: Shower curtains are relatively inexpensive for how durable they are as decor, especially considering how rarely you have to wash an outer shower curtain compared to its inner liner or even a duvet cover. They’re probably the largest uninterrupted surface in your bathroom to make a decorative statement on, save maybe the floor or your walls. Unlike those things, however, shower curtains can be switched out in mere minutes (versus hours, days, or even weeks). You can even repurpose some shower-specific designs as actual curtains if you’re just a little bit crafty. So why aren’t we changing the linens in this spot out more?

Honestly, I spent weeks browsing for some of my shower curtain contenders for this year’s four seasons. Ironically, I didn’t end up spending much time in my New York City apartment for the bulk of winter and spring, as I quarantined upstate during the start of the pandemic. Nonetheless, I have my shower curtain selects ready for adding a splash of color and joy now and for the rest of the year.

I already had themed tea towels for the kitchen and hand towels for the bathroom for some holidays like Christmas and Valentine’s Day that I wanted to coordinate with, so selection went mainly by the colors I associated with the seasons. It was more about setting a fun, festive mood than creating an aesthetic for me. For spring, I was torn between the watercolor pastels of this shower curtain from West Elm ($50), this splurge-worthy and super lush floral one from Anthropologie ($88), or just keeping the more muted pink-and-gray floral shower curtain I’ve had for a few years from Target ($20). I ultimately went for the florals—groundbreaking, I know—for a bold look to kick off the year. 

Summer was all about the fruit, one of my favorite patterns for both clothing and home decor. I went for the fun papaya print of this Urban Outfitters shower curtain ($39.00) because it felt like the right pop of color and a unique fruit… and also the peach one I was eyeing sold out. Lucky for you, both are coming back into stock soon and are available for pre-order now.

It will be a huge jump from tropical fruit to more muted tones for fall with a mustard yellow and gray geometric style from West Elm ($40.00). Finally for winter, an emerald green wildflower print from Hygge & West ($88.00) that shows some love for winter florals.

All of this just goes to show how you should really measure a year: in seasons of shower curtains.