Living Room | Freshening Up for Spring

Fresh Face Lift for Spring | Home

Yes, we've had an extremely mild Winter.  I am still sooo ready for Spring.  To get our house one step ahead of Mother Nature (maybe she'll get the clue) I have 'freshened up' our living room for Spring.  Gone are the warm winter pillow cases and throws - welcome fresh white (and striped) linen.  I took it a step further this year - I replaced our framed prints above the mantle to reflect a brighter season. 

This year, instead of just hanging your spring wreath on the front door, try giving your family room a fresh face life.  It might seem a little silly to redecorate your home for every changing season, but little changes can go a long way.  It is amazing how replacing a couple of pillows and swapping out artwork gives our living room a completely fresh and airy feel. 

What's that?  You don't have a budget for redecorating every 3 months?  Try making your own pillow cases.  I made the white and pale blue striped linen cases from 1/2 yard of fabric ($15).  They couldn't be easier to make - I made them both in about 20 minutes.  It requires a folding, ironing and sewing two straight lines.  No zippers, no buttons.

I'll be posting the DIY instructions later!

I made this smaller pillow with a horizontal stripe going the length of the pillow.  For the larger pillow... 

I used the fabric vertically. 

I had plans to over the ottoman, too, because I thought it was too dark and heavy for Spring.  Once I put the new pillows in place, the room already felt so much lighter that I didn't need to do the ottoman.

By the way, we made the ottoman/bench ourselves just like we did for the one in Emma's Nursery - just a different size and shape.

Flowers, of course, brighten any room.  These were from Mike for my birthday last week.

Didn't he do a great job?  White parrot tulips, purple hyacinth, peach garden roses and green viburnum. 

Don't feel confident in your floral arranging skills?  Put them in a pitcher!  I like how casual and effortless arrangements look in a pitcher - like you gathered them from your own garden and just plopped them in.

Here is the freshened mantle - two new prints, two new candles.  Aren't these candles fabulous?  They are Anna Candles (www.annacandles.com), $24.  I got them at a little boutique in Woodstock, Vt.  They are a little out of the box for me - but I love the little bit of whimsy they give the mantle.  

I always use botanical prints - for some reason they are the only type of artwork I'm really drawn to.  I love these white flowers on a cream background.  I found the image online and printed them myself.  I tear the edges of the printed paper so they appear to be out of an old book.