I don't know how the weather is where you are today but spring has sprung here in Houston and it's definitely put a pep in my step with wanting to refresh everything in my sight. Well, the sunny and 70's weather outside, and the fact that we are in the final week of living through a primary bathroom reno, both have me doing a happy dance, but more on the reno later this month.
Today I'm joining a few of my favorite (and THE best) bloggers I know, Mary Ann, Annie, and Cindy in sharing ideas for a spring refresh in your home. Be sure and jump over to their blog posts through the links at the bottom of this post so you can peruse their tips and ideas too. I know that's where I'm headed this morning myself.
5 Spring Refresh Ideas to Revitalize Your Home (and Mind)
PACK IN, PACK OUT
As we live through the dust and discombobulation that comes with staying in the house during a reno, I've been making lots of to do lists for the second floor after the construction crew leaves while doing little bits and bobs downstairs to spruce things up in small but, to me, significant ways.
I'm all about cleaning, decluttering, and getting rid of stuff any time of year, but especially in the spring. I preface this first tip as "pack in, pack out," which is a term my boys used in Scouts referring to whatever you take in to the wilderness on a camping trip must be brought back with you. I've taken a twist to that phrase and morphed it to mean that before I bring anything new in my house, something else must go to make room for it.
As we prepare to move our clothes and toiletries, etc. back into our primary bedroom and bath, my plan is to review everything to make sure it's a) still in good condition and that b) it makes me feel good. I'm no longer interested in keeping things in the hopes that "one day it will fit again" or if I know when I put it on I won't feel my best...that goes for anything from lipstick to shoes and everything in between. Life is too short to wear the shirt that itches even if it looks good otherwise, or the expensive eye cream that makes my eye twitch at times. Can I get an amen?
Bottom line: If it makes me look and feel good in it, it's a keeper, if not, it leaves the building either as trash, recycle or donate. And note to self, nothing new comes in unless and until everything has been sorted and taken care of. I do the same type of clean-up and -out in all areas of our house throughout the year but if it's spring, it's definitely happening in every closet in our house. You can read more here, here and here about how I organize my closet if you want some extra inspiration for refreshing your closet for spring including these hanging shelves that I am obsessed with.
REFRESH SOFT GOODS
Another lovely idea for spring is to go through your linen closet and remove any items that may have holes or look like they've seen better days. You can sometimes donate these to local animal shelters, especially old towels. Speaking of, now's a great time to refresh soft goods like sheets and towels. I have these on order for my kitchen and this one for our powder room.
I'm an all white sheets lover myself but I do like to buy color patterned sheets for my kids. I've organized my linen closet in various ways over the years, by labeling the shelves, packaging sets individually in plastic zipper bags and labeling but lately I've been hitting the easy button with these bands on amazon and they're the bomb dot com. They help keep the sheet sets together and they're obviously labeled by size. Winner winner chicken dinner.
BRING THE OUTSIDE IN
One of my favorite things to do for my house in the spring besides clean is to bring a little outdoors inside. My surefire favorite flower since I was a teenager is the alstroemeria (seen above in a client's kitchen in white). You can find this simple but chic flower in practically every color of the rainbow at the grocery store, including Trader Joes. They're pretty inexpensive and hands down THE longest lasting flowers...I've had some last more than two weeks.
Designer Tip: I rotate the water in the vase of any flowers I buy or receive every few days or sooner especially if the water is looking funky. I follow the dilution directions for those little floral preservative packets you get with most cut flowers, and keep any remaining powder from the packet in a little labeled ziplock bag to add to the water refill. I also recut the stems at an angle to give them a little refresh. I really do feel like all of these things combined tend to help my florals last longer no matter the time of year.
Another favorite way to bring the outdoors in this season is to use fruit and/or cut branches. Whether its simple and green like those shown above or packed with color (think oranges, red apples, tangerines, cheery yellow lemons), it's all a matter of personal preference and what gets your heart going. In the project above, we literally walked outside and snipped a few tree branches to use in a deep moody brown vase I scored in Round Top.
More flowers you'll see a lot of in my work portfolio that scream spring are hydrangeas and tulips. Again you can find them in multiple colorways and they won't break the bank.
Designer Tip: If allergies preclude using real flowers in your life, I've seen some great faux options online like these tulips for instance.
BRIGHTEN YOUR OUTDOOR SPACE TOO
I know that it's still cold and wintery in most places here in America, but its been sunny and in the seventies for a few weeks now here in Houston, and I could not resist going to the local big box garden center looking for color recently. I'm definitely more of an outdoor gardening person than indoors. We had our last hard freeze over a month ago and I used these plant covers to save the day in our front yard. Thankfully the freeze didn't last more than a couple of days and with the covers, my front yard is now in full spring bloom. The back yard is a different story. ha!
Before the freeze, my backyard garden was still in full bloom if you can believe and I knew what was coming so I took the opportunity to cut everything back and by back I mean down to nearly the ground as a preemptive attempt at cleanup. Then I turned on the sprinkler system and gave the beds a good soaking to protect the roots. I did the same with my container plants, cutting them back, deeply watering, and then moved the containers into the garage.
Now listen, before I go any further, please know that I am an intuitive gardener. I read books and blogs and listen to my master gardener friends but I garden with my gut and things my Mom imparted to me. I decided to protect the front with covering but let the back ride on its own with just the little bit of prep I mentioned of cutting back and watering. It only took a day below freezing for the back yard to go from colorful to dark and dead. I spent the next couple of weeks staring at black plants but on the first Saturday of sun and 70, while most advice was to wait, I went ahead and cut back all of the rest of the seemingly dead branches and whatnot.
It's only been two weeks now since my last clean-up and I am happy to report that my back yard is springing back to life - not everything mind you, but my salvia, porter weed, and butterfly bush have been happily surprising me with tender green shoots at the base. I cut back my rose bushes on Valentine's Day (an easy tip to remember from one of my gardener besties), and they look like a million bucks now. What's still struggling are my container plants, which is why I ended up at Lowes recently to see what they had as far as flowering plants for my now empty patio containers. The first weekend it was slim pickings, but I grabbed some full sun selections in shades of purple, orange, and pink and brought them back home.
Before I put anything in the ground or container, I place them around to see what height/color combo I prefer for the actual spot, taking into account the sun/water needs per plant. It's kind of like arranging pillows on a sofa if you think about it, large pillows to the back, slightly smaller ones in front, maybe a third like a lumbar if you think about it. ha!
Once I'm happy with placement, for my container plants I grab a large black trash bag and put it underneath my work space. I should warn you here...I'm kind of a stuffer meaning I like to stuff everything together in said pot. I don't leave a lot of room to grow although technically you should so I tend to buy in odd numbers like from three to five depending on how big the pot is. I loosen the roots, dunk the root ball in a bucket of water, and then stuff them in and backfill with potting soil although I do try to leave about an inch of room at the top of all my containers so that the dirt doesn't overspill when I water. Once I'm done planting and put all the containers in their place, I can simply shake off any excess dirt or debris from the black bag into my flower beds.
Growing tip: If you're at the store and decide to pick up a new bag of potting soil, be cognizant of the type of soil you're buying...think specifics like where and what you're planting be it containers or vegetables or in ground...because the added nutrients will vary. For instance, I used a potting soil for container planting that has up to six months of fertilizers specific to flowers.
What else do I do outdoors besides new plants to get ready for spring? Well, don't judge but I do love to pressure wash. Last weekend I hauled ours out and gave everything a good wash off...the patio, outdoor furniture, and my garden fountain. If I'm being honest, it's kind of cathartic but then again I love to clean things. Before I had my own machine, I'd take the time at the very least to sweep everything down and get any cobwebs or insect nests down and give any glass or windows a good wiping down. We have sidelights and an an eyebrow window over our front door and it makes me happy to make it clean and shiny so I can see all the new leaves sprouting up on a couple of beautiful trees that we have in the front yard. Take the time to do that now and it should stay clean throughout spring and summer at least, depending on your location and weather.
I also switch out our front door mat every year, from funny (one year it was "Don't just stand there, Busta Move!) to total truth ( "This household runs on Amazon and Coffee") but right now it's just a very simple coir mat, timeless and classic all the way. Personally, I think the coir type only last about a season or a full year if you're lucky. I have my eye on this one for next time from Porte + Hall. My advice would be to go with whatever mood strikes you. If you want to be funny, be funny. You do you and you'll smile every time you cross the threshold.
OLFACTORY OVERLOAD?? I think not!
You may not believe this story, but I actually discovered Tyler Candle Diva Detergent while on a run with my girlfriends. I ended up running behind my pal Tarsy one morning and I couldn't figure where this new to me scent was coming from. I've been running for 20 plus years and never have I ever smelled anything so good on a run. After a minute or two in her draft, I asked her if she was wearing a new perfume or a new shampoo, and she said no, she started using a new detergent! I'm telling you - it is the BEST detergent you'll ever smell...the website description says its a blend of delicious fruits and rich florals with rich chocolate and amber. In a word, it's divine. This is a treat I use sparingly since it is pricier than your normal detergent - I wouldn't use this on my teenagers' clothes weekly, but it's a nice thing to do for bedding and maybe your favorite pajamas to really indulge and treat yourself at nighttime!
Since I don't mind what some might say is an olfactory overload, I have two of these devices and I cannot tell you how much I love them. There are lots of different diffusers and scents on the market but once I found Nest's Bamboo scent that's all I use now. The app is easy to use and you can set your own timed program or adjust the intensity with just a slide on your phone. Our pair of diffusers are strategically placed our hallways upstairs and down and the scent meanders into every room in the house. In an all boy house, this is more than a luxury, it's a must, to me anyway.
Thanks for joining me today for my 5 Spring Refresh Ideas to Revitalize Your Home. I hope you were inspired by one or all five. I've shared links to other items I've used or have in mind for my own home and I would love to hear any ideas you might have for spring in the comments below.
Please be sure to hop over and visit Cindy, Annie and Mary Ann to see what wonderful ideas and inspiration they have for tackling a refresh of their own this spring.
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