Is it spring yet?

I don’t know about you, but around this time of year my decor starts to look a little like I feel after a long, cold winter.  Tired and worse for wear.  I had the urge to bring some spring to my house; I tried, I really did, but mother nature had other ideas.

  I had visions  of something  like this  for my front containers with a bit of fake thrown in until the real thing is possible – that means late June here.

Source 

 I bought pussy willows and some  short, purple flowers to  add to the greenery that is there.  Unfortunately the current items from Christmas are still frozen solid.   I have  what survived the raging winds and snow of winter ….

I guess it will be red dogwood, Spanish Broom and pine for a little longer! The berries are long gone.

Then I thought what about a new wreath to hang over the containers.  I wracked my brains.  Do you know a spring motif that would look great with Christmas planters?  I  couldn’t come up with one thing apart from twigs.  That wouldn’t help my craving for colour.

 My only recourse was to take in my Christmas wreath in an effort to remove a little more evidence that I am not with it.

cc960 french violet Benjamin Moore

 Then I tried to convince myself that my Benjamin Moore cc960 french violet door was my spring statement!  Feeble. But hold on a moment.

Would this convince you?  “… evoking thoughts of strolling along the Seine with an armful of violet bouquets”  according to the Benjamin Moore site.  That’s close, I chose it because of my memories of the lavender fields in France. My granddaughters have noticed that I love purple, at times it is a little too obvious!

 As in my latest pillow thanks to a scrap of lavender velvet left from 

this little beauty my sister made for a bench in my front porch.  Don’t you just love the decorative tucks that make a pattern?  My sister is a class act when it comes to sewing and decorating.  When I got rid of the nasty red accent pillows  I thought I wanted last spring, I knew my accent would return to purple and I would have to elevate this pillow to sofa status. Bye, bye porch bench.

 If you look up you can see where the idea for purple came from.  So spring has hit my house in the form of pillows.  I admit that isn’t too overwhelming.

Where does that leave me?

Still thinking about the  dining room table.  Still thinking….. Hum….

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Simple spring wreaths

 Welcome spring!   It is warm today in St. John’s and I finally feel like we are moving on from winter. My friend in England is mourning the disappearance of the daffodil while we are awaiting its arrival. With all the sunshine pouring in,  I knew it was time to add a little spring to the front entry.  It will be a long time yet before we see the forsythia and tulips.  If you read this blog you already know I am not a big seasonal decorator and recycling and dollar store finds are my go tos.

Designing Home  simple spring wreath

This wreath has served me for three years and moved from a  natural colour, to silver, and then on to purple, but today thanks to two different  spray paints  it is green. Yes, I’m still painting things. Spring greens are so hopeful.  The dollar store provided five bunches of spring flowers that I tore apart and reworked . I was so happy to feel the warm breeze I even added  a ribbon and I never add ribbons to wreaths!

Here four more favourites I’ve seen lately on Pinterest. 

 

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Love this one, because I love circle shapes and eggs are such a part of spring celebrations.

Parker Kennedy Living tulip wreath

Ah, tulips!  How can you go wrong when you use tulips and mass them into an inviting circle?

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This would be called a sway I suppose.  The gerbers are so bright and bold and the pail anchors the design.

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Go on!  Find a container  you could hang on a door and fill it with flowers and viola.  How easy is that?

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A little spring in my home

Do you like white flowers?  I’m a sucker for them.  Nothing is as fresh and inviting as white and let’s face it, there’s nothing white doesn’t match.  Lucky for me there are so many varieties of white flowers that  I can keep finding something  year round.  A large bunch can be divided into two vases if you keep your vases on the smallish side.

 Here’s my latest  addition in the laundry room.  Don’t be afraid to mix up your vignette for a bit of newness.

Which of these  vignettes do you like the best?

Margaret Ryall

A modified L line of design…

Margaret Ryall

 the classic check mark / V or…

Margaret Ryall

the always predictable A arrangement?

Sure do wish this art work was a little bigger!  It is one of my mixed media pieces ( 11 x 14 in.)  titled Attempting Balance (encaustic, paper, and metal on cradled panel) created at the 6th International Encaustic Conference in 2012 at Provincetown, NJ.   My laundry room is a lovely art gallery.  I have to make it nice because it is open to the hallway and a walk through for the powder room.  

I don’t only rotate the objects in my arrangement I also rotate the art hanging there.  If I want to live with a piece to determine if it is finished I hang it in the laundry room!

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Decor refresh for spring

New growth always brings with it hope and energy for life.  Once the snow goes I always get a hankering to make changes inside my home.  Now don’t get me wrong, these aren’t major changes.  I’m more into ten minute additions.  Sometimes I’m willing to commit an hour or two to a special project.
If you get the spring  hankerings perhaps there’s inspiration in these ideas.

Use a tray to organize a vignette

Perhaps you have a blaw wooden tray you could spray paint and then organize a colourful spring vignette in it.  Think about what you might already have to add and then buy several filler items.

 

 A small tray on a bathroom counter adds a fresh look.  Placing a grouping of cut  flowers always adds to any vignette.

I particularly love groupings of white and muted colours and then a big splash of colour with cut flowers.  Yes,  my biases are showing.  Fresh flowers rule in my life. 

 Plant spring bulbs

Tall glass vases allow you to see the roots growing .  You have to be on top of the watering if you are going to adopt this idea. Repetition of the same shape always looks good in an arrangement.

This simple twig wreath adds  additional detail and texture and also helps to cover the pot the bulbs are set in.

Paint something

 You don’t have to repaint a whole room.  There are so many simple painting projects for your home.  If you have a bed perfectly centred on a wall, consider adding a painted headboard all the way to the ceiling.  Simple and very eye catching.

 Bring a simple bookcase to life by repainting the back of it.  A fresh colour like this yellow (which is a hot 2013 spring colour) adds a simple focal point and shows up the grouping of objects and books .

 I love highlighting a porch or entry  door with paint.  You can be brave in your colour choice when you want to add a cheery accent to a small space.

 

 Coloured islands with light cabinets are everywhere lately.   This is such a fresh look if you have enough nerve to go there.

 

 Not artistic?  Don’t worry.  Choose sculptural artificial flowers and lay them on a canvas painted in a solid colour.  Trace around the shapes with a white coloured pencil .  Fill in the shapes with white paint.  Presto!  Fresh art for your wall.  The simplicity and off center composition of this work makes it. 

Consider textured wallpaper

 

 Textured wallpaper is underutilized.  There are so many patters and textures that cover the gamut from very traditional to modern.  No doubt there’s something for you.  I like the use of textures to reinforce a dresser make over. This is a great idea for a little girl’s room.

Check out these links and more ideas on  my Pinterest Spring Refresh board.

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Go green for spring

And continuing with thoughts of spring decorating….

When you enter my house the dining table is in full view from the entry.   In a desperation move while babysitting my 3 granddaughters, I  stuck some fake lavender in a glass jar and thought that I could get away with it.

 I was called out on that move by a family member who was a little horrified I had fake flowers.  I admit they were not good fakes.  I defensively pointed out I had beautiful fresh, pink tulips on my kitchen table, but I was caught.  Time to make amends.

Something green 

Nothing denotes spring like new growth, green and/or plants.

Lately I’ve been seeing live plants in lanterns.  I like the look and feel, but my place is not a lantern kind of home.  I already tried the plainest one I could find, and moved it all over the downstairs rooms to no avail.  It went back to Pier 1.

I love repetition as a design statement so it’s little wonder I’m attracted to these ferns. Lanterns just won’t do, but repetition is possible. 

Keeping it simple

So I decided to keep my dining table decor simple  by choosing three green things massed together in a small trough planter.  I’m talking ferns, real ones.

I’

Three small  Boston ferns, and one trough planter that is very wabi sabi (lots of cracks and rough textures to play with the ferns).  I tried them in the planter before coming home with the lot.  The candles and silver leaf bird were leftovers from Christmas.  

 Tried the green candles, a no go for me.  I wish the bird was a little smaller, but that’s what I have!

Still playing with the arrangement.  This will go on for weeks every time I pass the table.  Some day soon I’m sure the lot will end up  corralled in a gray or white tray. Things always do on this table.

Remember this pic from a my friend Gail’s house I featured in this post?   I envy her the copper bird planter.  A planter and a bird all in one – my idea of perfect.

Lots of options 

Now I just have to keep these greedy, moisture seeking things alive with constant watering and misting.  I can see me carting them off to my summer house  for babysitting.  I’m  sure they will see lots of moves in the coming year- ledge in bathroom, kitchen table, window ledge in kitchen, laundry room counter or shelf.  The possibilities are endless.  That’s a lot of decorating punch for less than $ 40. 00 and they improve my air quality! 

Are plants part of your decor plan? 

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