No matter how mild or harsh your winter may have been, spring is a rite of passage that should be recognized throughout your home with elements of renewal. This will not only serve as a refresh for your living environment, but for your state of mind as well. Here are some simple yet highly effective ways to infuse spring throughout your home:
- Lighten up…literally. One of the best things about spring is the extension of daylight hours, so make sure to let all that extra light into your home. Trade in heavy drapes for sheer curtains and keep shades and blinds raised as often as possible. Survey your yard and trim back any trees and bushes that may be blocking the flow of light into your home.
- Bring spring growth indoors. Among the sweetest harbingers of spring are buds, bulbs and new green growth.
Capture this inspiration indoors by forcing bulbs in a decorative pot or collecting forsythia branches in a vase to force their famous yellow blooms indoors. Cut forsythia stalks at an angle once the weather has been above freezing for a few days, but before they bloom. Place them in water right away, and watch them work their magic. - Play with color. Take some of your favorite spring colors—yellow, purple, bright green, soft pink—and add them to your home décor with throw pillows, table linens, towels and pillow shams. If you’re feeling particularly ambitious, paint a wall, a set of shelves, or your cabinet doors in a spring shade.
- Fresh air. When the temperature permits, open your windows and let in that refreshing spring air. Even if it’s just for an hour during the warmest part of the day, the fresh air will help weed out winter mustiness and renew the air quality in your home.
- Spring scents. Cut or buy a bunch of lilacs or hyacinths and place them in vases around your home. Alternatively, light candles in spring-time scents to permeate your home with the scents of the season.
By Maria Patterson
