Bloom & Grow
12 Ways to Decorate Your Home for Spring
by Carrie Meier
When we decorate our homes to reflect spring, we often go all out. We bring in oversized, cascading trails of boldly colored faux blooms wrapped around signs that tell us (in a VERY straightforward way) to “BLOOM AND GROW!” We decorate loudly because our excitement is amplified by the desire to move on from Christmas past.
Decorating loudly does not require professional tutelage. Walk through any home goods store upon the dawn of the season, and you’ll know how it’s done. Pick your theme, establish a budget, load up, and lay it out where there’s room. Done!
Fast forward to the end of spring. The excitement of summer sends us feverishly purging our seasonal decor for the next. It’s madness! We are so excited for CHANGE that we overdo the decorations and smother our surroundings with stuff. Do we get to the point where we’re more excited to put the stuff away than we were to put it out?
I’ve seen it happen repeatedly. So, let’s be intentional this time around!
By nature, spring is a season of profound subtleties. It is the first peek of green through the abundantly muddy terrain. It is the delicate bell-shaped blooms of creeping ground cover. When looked at closely and carefully, the ornate nature of these signs of spring are breathtaking, however they are, in fact, truly humble in comparison to the still sleepy and oh so drippy backdrop of a waning winter.
This spring, let’s decorate for the season correctly; intentionally subtle and intricately beautiful. Here are 12 ideas that will not only be more appropriate for the season, but a bit less manic on your schedule and your psyche.
Integrate floral in a way that doesn’t mimic a memorial service or the hospital gift shop:
1.) Shadow box floral arrangement, floral sketch prints, or simple ink prints can be a sophisticated way to integrate flowers without feeling overwhelmed.
2.) Floral-patterned drapery and pillows integrate flowers without cluttering our functional surfaces.
3.) Want the presence of physical flowers? Go simple and sleek. Tulip bulbs grown in a glass planter, a stately but simple Amaryllis you can literally watch grow, or a set of single gladiola stems in clear glass jars are an amazing pop of color and strong yet simple spring statement.
Go green!
Not everything has to be boldly colored blossoms to celebrate the newness of an awakened Mother Earth.
4.) A sprig of greenery can be an elegant way of welcoming the season in a more subtle way. Hoop wreaths are sleek and slim!
5.) Start training for the garden this summer and spruce up your house plants. Work with what you’ve got and re-pot your collection in containers that are fresh and add a pop of color.
6.) Start your garden veggies and let them lift your soul, exciting your mind for a prosperous growing season ahead.
Think outside the bloom.
7.) What does spring mean for you? Is it prime hiking season before the bugs take over? Is it fishing, picnics, the dawning of camping season? Work those elements in. At my house, it’s the birth of a new baseball season, baby! Our beautiful live edge wood bowl on the foyer cabinet that catches keys and mail is swapped out for a beloved vintage catcher’s mitt!
Turn to the arts!
8.) Frame nature quotes, poems about spring, or the sheet music of a nostalgic spring song.
9.) Have your kids draw parts of spring that inspire them and/or showcase what they believe to be the highlights of spring. Showcase that art in professional looking frames on a spring inspired gallery wall collection.
10.) Swap out for a featured art piece that embraces the season! Abstract is in. Coordinate an abstract that speaks to you in the language of spring. Instead of that sign which yells “BLOOM, GROW” at you, find something that inspires you to do just that, but not in such an aggressive way! Tuning into the colors, the movement of the piece, and the fresh insight it brings will capture the intonations of the season instead of showcasing the obvious images!
Come Alive with Colors!
Spring brings us colors we’ve only been able to read about in books for the last five months! Let’s pay homage, shall we?
11.) Choose spring colors that won’t come off like a candy factory exploded in your house and go with muted tones instead. Melons, mustards, and stone-based teal or blue are the perfect way to bring in color that won’t give you a cavity in the process.
Take out the weight!
When Mother Earth sheds her winter skin, there is an innate lightness and I’m not just talking about increased sunshine. There is space revealed and the outdoors becomes more accessible. Help your home embody this same “new space, new opportunity” feel.
12.) Lift your side lamps up by replacing them with wall-mount sconces and choose furniture with mirrored surfaces (either top or front are great!) to give your home an airy feel.
**Bonus Tip**
Wash your windows and sage the place. Pack away your winter’s finest (when you feel it’s truly safe, of course) and get gone the reminders of a season earned. By detoxing, we clean out the old and the new is discovered in simply what is, well, just there waiting. Like spring, what is revealed in the thawing of the layers, is a perfectly preserved new season anxious to bloom!