home design: spring

Showing posts with label spring. Show all posts

Border drama

After the rain dramatic light

Well, I am not talking of any horrible conflict, but rather of the dramatic going-ons in our neighborhood, where colors wildly explode and blossoms compete...

It's, of course, a peaceful battle and the only weapons, I can see, are planting tools and the leaf blowers, although these, in my opinion, should be on the international banned list, for they create so much unnecessary noise. Oh, how much I prefer a good old rake...

The dog pulled me in excited sniffing mode from one tree to the next, but I still had enough time to take in all the beauty around me and the realization of spring's enormous potency.

It is overwhelmingly pretty and I love to see nature's progress.

Some of the neighborhood beauties

It has been raining a lot last week, something I am grateful for, it had been too dry over the last months.

This should be my dream studio

In summer and winter I absolutely adore that little garden house under the big tree!

Come on, next big stone ahead

I can't help but look at some of the pretties around while I am on my walk with our old boy...

American & Canadian flags greet us every day!

And finally we turn the corner - we are home!

May joyful colors greet you wherever you are and the battles are peaceful ones around you! Happy Sunday!

All images by V.Zlotkowski

Windows of opportunity

Music room window sill until yesterday

I have two window sills, facing east, the front of the house, deep enough to have a whole shop display exhibited and I change what's there regularly, to entertain us, keep something new displayed or enhance seasonal decorating. There are stars and evergreen branches at Christmas time, shells during the summer, leaves and twigs collected at walks in autumn and ghostly ghouls at Halloween! It's a wonderful place to have some plants, flowers and some glass, candles or books, showing our latest interests, finds or new collected things.

Some displays are short lived, some stay for weeks at the time without much change.

Dining room window with Easter lilly

I switched the vase to the other room, to have the Easter lilly in there and found some Willow pussies for the other!

I love this book: The Book of Botanical Prints by Taschen

Two brass mushrooms from Anthropologie

One belongs to our dining room, the room where all the action takes place in our family.

Our dining room at 6pm

Every meal, writing, homework, all this and more happens at this dining table and many after dinner conversation.

Afternoon light streaming through the music room.

The other resides over the music room, where we, apart from making music, sit around the fireplace for conversation and reading. It is a cozy room, beloved also by the dog, who has had chosen the ottoman as 'his' central cozy spot early in his life with us!

Willow pussies slowly greening

Spring has given me yet another chance to bring out some Easter decorations, some of my glass collection and white vases, lucky finds at Marshall's, where I did not spend more then $10 each. I couldn't have passed such a chance now, could I?

Early afternoon, the sun has moved on...

Willow Pussies in one, Easter Lilly in the other and the foundation for a new window display was created.

Glass bird, bunny and a moss ball sharing the space with the Easter lilly.

There is an old ceramic bunny with carrot, which has been with us for as long as the kids have been around and sometimes he is joined by some paper mache ones, but they are still in their boxes...

Do you have a spot, where decorations and displays are changed regularly?

Please, do tell me!

Renewal

I love to ring in any new season with changes. It begins usually in early March with cleaning of the fireplace and chimney, thoroughly dusting all the nooks and crannies, trying to select things to change for spring (hard) and letting go of things for good (harder).
I open the windows wide and let the fresh air clean out the scents of last year.
It is easier to get inspired to decorate for spring, setting out different vases or candles, bedding or exchange of knick-knacks and to lighten up appearances.
We are creatures of habit and things become quickly second nature...

Fall/Winter look in our music/fireplace room

And now for spring and summer I change to light colored linen pillows, they have almost a nautical feel....

It is also an excellent time to clean out closets, pantry and medicine cabinets. The old headache pills you've kept for two years? OUT! That goes unfortunately for last year's sunscreen and many cosmetics. If in doubt - out!

All things have an expiration date, sometimes we tend to overlook that even those hiding bean cans need tossing....
It is certainly freeing and makes you feel tons lighter, when you clean out! Follow up with paper work, books and magazines.
Winter clothes need cleaning and fixing. When I begin, I always want to start again eating healthier as well. Winter, with it's usual party splurges and God knows how many holidays weekends, puts me always into a weight gain tailspin. I just can't seem to help it! Now is the time to shed pounds, literally and metaphorically speaking.

It is also for me a time for cleaning of the soul and it is no coincidence that many religions have this time of renewal build into the rhythm of the spiritual year. It makes sense to me and although I do not affiliate myself with any major religion, I do have the need to draw inside me, shed ballast I accumulated over the last year, try to meditate and find my center. Cleaning up the outside of my world helps me focus on inner renewal too! A wonderful kind of enlightenment! I listen to Schubert and lean back!

We start the day with lighter things too, cereals, fresh fruits, maybe an egg...gone are bacon, pancakes and maple syrup. I am not a fan of drastic measures and I trust my instincts. I like to have a time, where I feel body and soul have a new beginning.

There is a time for everything! Nothing grounds me more!

Happy spring renewal! Open your arms wide!

Images via V.Zlotkowski

Outdoors & indoors

Well, today was the first warm day around here, temperatures soared to 67 degrees...

I ventured out to do a long good garden clean up and rewarded myself with coffee and poppyseed cake on the deck.

Unfortunately my youngest is home with a nasty cough, croup like, spasmodic and painful. For a kid with asthma not so good and we all suffer from loss of sleep. Missing school adds to the damage, thank goodness the weekend is around the corner and we can catch up a little!

Sitting in the sun was so beautiful, but I am under no illusion that this warm weather will last. Maybe, please?

But it is, after all, only the beginning of March. But I can dream, right?

All these colors above made me think of this lovely

room:

Image

Happy Friday!

Images byV.Zlotkowski

Springing ahead

Image

I have spring cleaning in my mind.... The sunshine gives me all the energy and for whatever reason I believe winter here has run it's meager course for this season.
New York did not have much snow to begin with this winter, unfortunate ski resorts lost plenty of money, but I guess we experience some slow climate changes.

The garden in March

May it as it be, I will finally remove some pieces of decoration which have survived since Christmas and now need to move to be stored away. I crave flowers and fresh patterns, chocolate Easter bunnies are hopping all over the place in shops and I need to breath fresh air.