5 Home Decor Ideas for Spring

5 Home Decor Ideas for Spring | Classy Glam Living

Our recent weather in town was like a roller coaster ride.  A week of warm double digit temperature plunged to deep freeze temperature, and this week we're getting another taste of the sweet warm weather!  I'm not complaining of an early start of Spring, but welcoming the warmth full force by refreshing our home's Spring decor.

It's always fun to reinvent new ways of decorating with what you have, and I've committed to using most of our existing Spring decor accessories from years past.  

At our house, I've added some easy touches to give our decor for a fresh Spring look.  Here are 5 simple things that help bring Spring to your home.

1. Chirpy Birds, Nests, and Colourful Eggs

What's Spring without chirpy birds singing at your window (and wake you up so you can't sleep in on weekends)?  I've invited these ceramic birds into our entryway for a happy, welcoming sight.   I kept our entryway decor simple, and layered on some easter eggs and nest decor for some colours.

5 Home Decor Ideas for Spring | Birds, nests, colourful eggs | Classy Glam Living
5 Home Decor Ideas for Spring | Birds, nests, colourful eggs | Classy Glam Living
5 Home Decor Ideas for Spring | Birds, nests, colourful eggs | Classy Glam Living

Here's a previous version at our old house, using the same accessories.  

2. Other Natural elements - Greenery / Floral arrangements

If your house isn't already an indoor garden, adding plants or fresh (or faux) flowers would immediately breathe new life into your home.  

For me though, I don't particularly have a green thumb.  Spending around 6 hours of awake time at home after work, minus dinner and family time, doesn't leave me much time or energy to care for plants.  I rely on my trusted faux floral friends to bring us some colours until it's time to switch to fall and winter decor. 

So, wherever I can find a spot, I would add some greenery or faux floral arrangement to liven up our neutral space.

Here in the dining room:

5 Home Decor Ideas for Spring | Greenery & florals | Classy Glam Living
5 Home Decor Ideas for Spring | Greenery & florals | Classy Glam Living

We haven't decorated our powder room, so a simple arrangement of hydrangeas adds some much needed colour in it.

5 Home Decor Ideas for Spring | Greenery & florals | Classy Glam Living

I've moved this pot of faux orchid around our house, but I think it's finally found a home in our master ensuite.

5 Home Decor Ideas for Spring | Greenery & florals | Classy Glam Living

Here in our family room, a pot of faux grass gives all the navy decor a pop of colour.

5 Home Decor Ideas for Spring | Greenery & florals | Classy Glam Living

Back at our old house, we had 2 versions of Spring tablesetting.  This is the dramatic, which we used while we staged our house for sale:

Spring Decor Dining Table Setting at Old House | Classy Glam Living
Spring Decor Dining Table Setting at Old House | Classy Glam Living

This second version was what the Mr. thought didn't have enough oomph.  Very well...

Spring Decor Dining Table Setting at Old House | Classy Glam Living
Spring Decor Dining Table Setting at Old House | Classy Glam Living

Aside from the greeneries and floral arrangements, displaying fruits in the kitchen is another simple way to add some natural elements to enhance your Spring decor.

I confess, this chrome birds and twigs tray is a new addition to my Spring decor collection.  It's so unique that I just had to grab it from Homesense, even though I had no idea what to use it for...  until I ran out of room on our usual fruit tray with all those clementines the Mr. brought home from grocery shopping, and into this tray they went.

5 Home Decor Ideas for Spring | Greenery & florals | Classy Glam Living

3. Colourful Art

All the greeneries and colour don't end with plants and flowers.  If you had furry pillow covers through the winter months, it's time to replace them with some Spring covers.  For me, these water colour floral cushion covers are a natural extention from the florals and plants around the house.  

5 Home Decor Ideas for Spring | Colourful art | Classy Glam Living
Bluebellegray cushion from Chapters Indigo

Bluebellegray cushion from Chapters Indigo

Pillow cover from Craftberry Bush

Pillow cover from Craftberry Bush

Another quick and inexpensive way to add some colours around the house would be with some free printables of Spring.  I love Craftberry Bush's water colour printables and she has this cute Bless Our Nest printable for free on her website!  

If you don't have a colour printer available, it's very inexpensive to print this at a local print shop.  I usually print my quicky artwork on a light weight cardstock at Staples.  You can't beat a decent quality print for under $1!

4. Light weight linens

From window treatments, to throws, to your bedding, it's just natural to change out the heavy weights to light weights as warm weather descends upon us.  

Replacing heavily woven drapery fabrics with lighter fabrics, such as belagian linen, doesn't only lighten the wintery feel, but also lets in more light.  You may consider a sheer-on-sheer window treatment, like this in our dining room, to get the most light through your windows.  

5 Home Decor Ideas for Spring | Light weight linens | Classy Glam Living

Are you still using flannel sheets, with Christmas themes?  Updating your bedding with some light and colourful fabrics is a great way to indulge in the spirit of Spring.  Our fabulous Canadian designers have come out with some gorgeous bedding that make us long for Spring.  

From Sarah Richardson's own textile line:

To Samantha Pynn's collection for Simons:

5. Fresh Scent

Who doesn't love walking into a fresh smelling house?  I used to love plug-ins with floral scents, but recently I've grown to love clean scents.  One of my favourites is White Tea by Westin.  Yes, that's Westin as in the Westin hotel chain.  White Tea is their signature scent that welcomes you as you walk into their hotel lobby.  

I'm so glad that they actually sell this scent, but it doesn't come cheap.  My trick to prolong its usage is to use it with an oil diffuser, which most people use to disperse essential oil for aroma therapy.  

 

I put 5 drops with a medicine dropper into the diffuser's reservoir, and off it goes for about 8 hours.  The scent that comes out of it is never too strong, but just enough to travel through our ground floor.

It brings back vacation joy each time I take in a whiff of its scent.  The oil diffuser is tucked into a corner at our dining room, behind the wall of picture frames on the table.  It's not something meant to be seen; just a subtle reminder of its delicate scent will do. 

5 Home Decor Ideas for Spring | Westin White Tea oil diffuser | Classy Glam Living

It's so tempting to shop all the beautiful new decor that the stores are carrying for Spring.  It can also be overwhelming when there're so much goodies to choose from.  If I can, I would bring the whole store home...  But with a limited budget or limited patience for shopping (like these miserable men), having a list of general decor ideas would hopefully deter you from overloading your shopping cart.   Guilty of that?

5 Instagrammers' Clean and Uncluttered Looks I Can't Get Enough Of

Clean Uncluttered Look instagram accounts to follow | Classy Glam Living

While we wait on the new kitchen countertop installation, draperies to be installed, and some furniture to be delivered, the Mr. has started on his beloved project of the dressing room.  It'll take him some time to finish, as this won't be another IKEA PAX hack...  he's building from scratch:

Beginning phase of closet dressing area room | Classy Glam Living

... and while he was at it, he also started building some pull-out drawers for the kitchen's lower cabinets.  Testing a completed one here:

Pull out drawer kitchen cabinet | Classy Glam Living

Meanwhile, I can't wait to start decorating after all these installations are in place!  We talked about how I've found new love of clean and uncluttered decor, influenced by the KonMari method, in my previous Small Space post.  Today, I want to share the 5 interior designers' Instagram accounts, whose feeds I pour over for their timeless minimalist looks.

Em Henderson

She's currently Target's Home spokesperon, and her style resonates with the brand - comfortably lived-in and unpretentious. I would say her signature look is mid-century with a modern/ Scandinavian vibe.  She styles a beautiful vignette with a few statement pieces and makes it seem effortless.

Studio Mcgee

They're a fast growing interior design firm that specializes in mixing a few eclectic statement pieces to enhance a room's bright and contemporary style.

Erica Cook

She just exudes style, from head to toe.  Just like her impeccable fashion sense, her home is styled elegantly.  I love her black and white decor with accents of warm metals.

Sally Wheat

You might've come across her work numerous times on Pinterest.  Her play of patterns and textures makes her rooms decorated but uncluttered.

Sophie Paterson

Her thoughtful mix of greys and taupes creates spaces that are serene and inviting.  She keeps her accessories simple and let the layers of textures and statement furniture pieces in the room speak for themselves.

With the help of these pros, I've come up with some key elements that they use to seemingly decorate effortlessly.  

How to achieve a clean and uncluttered look

  1. Use neutral colours for walls or major furniture pieces - play on colours with accessories in vignettes, throw pillows, and other textiles.
  2. Keep accessories simple, with one or two statement pieces per surface -  leaving some empty space between objects make it easier on the eyes to enjoy the uniqueness of each piece.  
  3. Create subtle contrast - in textures, colours, and patterns to create interest and balance in the space.

When I can finally unpack and purge through the rest of our boxed up decor after all these installations, I'll be sure to keep these common themes in mind as I decorate our new spaces.  Looking forward to see our new house decorated in this clean new look!

Do share other home decor instagrammers that you love!

Refinishing Plans for Vintage Night Tables

BEDSIDE NIGHT TABLES REFINISH DIY | CLASSY GLAM LIVING

If you follow me on instagram, you might've noticed that we have a work-in-progress pair of vintage bedside tables.  It's a perfect though small project for the Mr., who has been feeling restless through this drought of home projects as we continue to long for the completion of our new house.  

Funny thing was, I wasn't really looking for bedside tables, but rather a sideboard for our dining room.  Since I had previously lucked out with a vintage piece of console table, I decided to try my luck again for a vintage sideboard.  

Of course, when my intent was to look for something specific, I would never find it!  Doesn't this always happen when we shop for anything?  Well, everything happens for a reason...

I've wanted to replace our current bedside tables with ones that have storage, as in the mirrored bedside tables/ cabinets mentioned in this post.  However, most of the nicer ones almost always come too wide.  That may not work, considering we will only have 30" on either side of our bed to work with in our new master bedroom,  Not to mention, a nicer pair would cost close to $1000, if not more.  I've been holding back in an attempt to find a (much) better deal.  

But I guess something is just not meant to be.  Lately, I've started to re-think about the mirrored bedside tables, and wondered if that would be too much mirror with our mirrored trimmed headboard.  

MIRROR FRAMED HEADBOARD | CLASSY GLAM LIVING

So, instead of finding a sideboard, I had ideas churning in my head when I saw this pair of bedside tables.

PAIR OF HENRY LINK BALI HAI BEDSIDE TABLES | CLASSY GLAM LIVING | DIY REFINISH

Faux bamboo furniture is making a comeback from its mid-century hollywood regency hype.  This pair of bedside tables were from the Henry Link Bali Hai collection...  from the 70s!  I love the bamboo detailing, and how the table top is curved along the faux bamboo front legs.  The rounded and curved detailing echoes our curvy headboard frame.  I showed the photos of the pair to the Mr., told him about my big plan for them, and waited for his judgment.  The Mr. agreed to once again be my DIY'er!  

The tables are of good quality, and drawers were built with dove tail joints, something that we no longer see in modern furniture construction.  

DOVETAIL JOINTS DRAWER CONSTRUCTION | CLASSY GLAM LIVING

As you can see, the pair are of the same style but one was painted over, and the other was in its original glory.  That didn't matter to us, since we were going to refinish them with our design in mind.

HENRY LINK BALI HAI BEDSIDE TABLES REFINISH DIY | CLASSY GLAM LIVING

I'm looking to paint the pieces over in a bluish grey colour, that'll give some contrast to our linen coloured headboard.  That's my part in this DIY project, figuring out the paint colour!  Thinking of doing a high gloss on this piece, that'll make it look a bit more modern and elegant.

All our trips to stone fabricators have made marble even more appealing to me.  My plan is to remove the existing top, and replace it with a piece of statuario marble fabricated in the exact shape. The bluish grey paint colour would complement the grey veining of the statuario marble.  The Mr. has already gotten the backing and the top off of the units...  he's really anxious to start!

REMOVE BACKING OF FURNITURE | CLASSY GLAM LIVING

REMOVE BACKING OF FURNITURE | CLASSY GLAM LIVING

UNSCREW TOP OF BEDSIDE TABLE | CLASSY GLAM LIVING

UNSCREW TOP OF BEDSIDE TABLE | CLASSY GLAM LIVING

TOP AND BACK REMOVED | BEDSIDE TABLES REFINISH DIY | CLASSY GLAM LIVING

TOP AND BACK REMOVED | BEDSIDE TABLES REFINISH DIY | CLASSY GLAM LIVING

We're not planning to keep the original drawer pulls, even though it's probably a big no-no to replace them on a highly sought after piece of vintage furniture.  We would rather finish it to our liking since we're already painting it over and such.  I think a set of simple brass bail drawer pulls would complete the look.  I also like the lucite pulls, with the rings picking up the bamboo ring details.  Here are some of my top choices:

sources:  1 AND 2.. QUMUSE; 3. SIGNATURE THINGS.COM; 4. A ROSE RAMBLING

sources:  1 AND 2.. QUMUSE; 3. SIGNATURE THINGS.COM; 4. A ROSE RAMBLING

This easy peasy refinishing project should keep the Mr. occupied for a little bit.  We'll have a ton of projects to start when we move in.  Even the little man has volunteered to help paint the walls for his room!

Until then, stay tuned for the reveal of the refinished bedside tables!

Have you scored a diamond in the rough lately?