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Are you looking to refresh your home for Spring 2023? Here are some tips I find make it quick and easy!
It’s still frigid here in New England and I don’t envy those who attended the Red Sox Home Opener this week at all! But I sure am feeling springy nonetheless.
Declutter
I know, I know — this is not the sexy pretty part! But there is nothing like the feeling of lightness that a good decluttering brings about. I’ve been doing this for several months. Once I started my Dollhouse building hobby I knew I needed to make room. I have made many, many trips to the dump to recycle lots of old paperwork, small furnishings and electronics and I’ve been making use of my local Buy Nothing/Give for Free page on Facebook to give away old glassware, mugs, silver serving pieces I didn’t want to polish, leftover fabrics, old flute music and more. One man’s trash as they say (though no one took my old small tv set – I had to pay the town $15 to get rid of that sadly).
I also found these sweet cut glass candle holders from Heisey Glass company (made between 1926-1940’s) that I have no memory of where they came from. There is one for sale on Replacements for $50!
Repaint and Refinish to refresh your home
A fresh coat of paint can make a big difference in the look of a room or a piece of furniture. Choose a light, airy color for a springtime feel or something bold and dramatic that will knock your sox off when you walk into it. The stairs above are from my Colorful Cape Cod project and boy, didn’t this make a huge difference?
The above is my console cabinet by the front door (plus sunbathing Sansa!). This is a 1950’s era stereo cabinet console from my parents house. The stereo components have all been removed and it makes a great storage cabinet. I love the wood grain especially on the two outdoor doors which has a book matched veneer. The center door has a linen backing behind the brass grille. The top has seen better days so have been deciding how to paint it. You can see some of my ideas. In the end, I’ve decided to just paint the top with a black chalk paint and wax it for protection. I love the idea of a great cabinet, but I have a lot of green in my house and even I know when its time to give it a rest. I hate the idea of covering the beautiful wood grain, so am only going to do the top for now. I can always keep going. I also want to remove the linen wrapped panel behind the grill and do a gathered curtain behind, but it’s completely framed and finished on the inside so am not sure I can get it off without causing damage. But if I can, then I could also clean and polish the brass which would be nice. Will be sure to post when it’s all done.
This cabinet in the image above was an older dark cherry wall unit – excellent quality and condition but oh so dated. My client actually painted this himself with Anne Sloan’s Chateau Gray chalk paint and antiquing wax. He did such a great job and what a difference! The perfect way to refresh your home for any season!
Rearrange to refresh your home
In addition to going through cabinets and drawers, I’ve been removing and rearranging most of what’s hanging on my walls. When I moved to Nook Cottage nearly 9 years ago I went for a genteel-y cluttered granny/cottage chic look on my walls. Between my own collections and selling my parents house, I had a lot of framed pieces. But I am sick to death of looking at them! I have removed everything from the wall behind my bed and will end up with just one landscape photograph which you can see here in the background. I’ve moved the small starburst mirror seen below to the wall between my windows in the bedroom (where the landscape photograph has been). In my dining area below I’ve moved the signed Normal Rockwell “Stockbridge at Christmas” print from this wall (to a location to be determined) and moved the larger framed piece on the pink wall to the beige wall. I’ve now hung my large Federal Eagle mirror which was over the console by my front door to the space on the pink wall. And so on and so forth….
Once I’ve made all the moves and adjusted heights I’ll retake photos and post them. But all this is to say that even in flux, it feels so much better and not just the same old, same old. Also, I’m not the world’s most robust house keeper, so there’s a lot of dusting going on!
My house is very small so I don’t have a lot of options for switching furniture around, but that’s something to consider as well. Rearranging furniture layouts or even swapping entire rooms is a completely free way to get a whole new look and perspective on your home! Not to mention a great way to get in behind the furniture to get at those pesky dust bunnies. Or is that just me…
Other tips to refresh your home for Sprint 2023:
- Fresh flowers and new or repotted houseplants in colorful pots.
- Add new curtains or remove layers for a lighter feel
- Swap out your dusty lampshades for something fresh and new
- Swap out throw pillow covers for lighter and brighter options.
These are just a few ideas to help you refresh your home for spring. With a little creativity, you can easily create a space that you love.
Pin for future reference.
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