5 Steps to Refresh Your Home for Spring

When we got home from Europe, I was ready for spring whether or not it was going to show up. For me, that meant making sunshine happen inside our four walls. Thankfully, the Iowa weather started dialing into springtime, too! Today I’m sharing a few of the little ways, besides a deep cleaning, that I’ve refreshed our home for spring—without any pastel decorations. ☺️

1. Pillow Swap

This is the easiest trick in the book and I’m no superstar at it. My blue accent pillows get tucked away in early November and swapped out for wintery, neutral pillows. When the blue ones see the light of day again, it’s a huge celebration around here! And makes our home feel lighter and brighter for spring and summer.

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2. Houseplant Refresh

I picked up three new houseplants at Home Depot and such cute pots for them at Hobby Lobby! That alone felt fresh, but every year around this time I try to give my houseplants a little boost anyhow. I give them all a fertilizer refresh, replenish soil, do a quick growth evaluation, and repot accordingly. This year, I even moved quite a few of my plant babies around to different areas of light/warmth in our home. Loving their new spots so much already!

3. Framed Photo Update

Considering the amount of pictures I force the roomie to take, it seems only right that I print them out and actually show them off around our home. Ryan, himself, even admitted that he’s thankful for all of the great photos we have even if they’re annoying at the time! 😉 Within a week of returning from Europe, I swapped out all the photos in nearly every frame not attached to the wall—we have a bunch! I’m loving walking around our house and enjoying our highlights of the past six months or so. Plus, doing this forces you to deal with the oodles of photos you may have living on your phone like me! Double win.

4. New Scents

We are big candle people. I know some people do essential oils or Scentsy, but as of now, we love the glow and scent of lit candles. I just snagged the most tried-and-true clean scent ever­–Pure White Cotton–and picked up Island Reef for some tropical vibes at the latest Bath & Body Works 3-wick candle sale! There are some scents we restock constantly, but some rotate in and out with the seasons around here. These are a few we burn all year:

White Barn Eucalyptus Mint—This one lives upstairs, for the most part, and makes every night’s shower feel like a spa day. I like to burn it while getting ready, too, which always starts my day off on a positive, zen note. It’s heavenly and very much smells like an amazing essential oils combo to me.

Anthropologie Capri Blue Aloha Orchid—I gift this candle to my favorite people regularly, because everyone I introduce it to loves it! We get the pretty blue-and-white tin candle, which we love the look of but also think it has such a crisp, clean scent. Anthro’s website says it’s a floral scent made up of orchids, jasmine, gardenias, and white blossoms—sure. To us, it’s fresh and not overly flowery at all.

White Barn Paris Café—We both love the smell of coffee, but don’t actually brew a pot in our home very often. This candle makes the entire house smell like a coffee shop (pastries and mocha and coffee and all the goodness). It’s definitely a strong scent, but one that we both really enjoy in our home. Personally, I’m usually most productive in coffee shops, so I use this scent partly to trick my brain into productivity mode. 😉

5. Decoration Rotation

I regularly do this when I’m avoiding a big project or task (please, applaud my procrastination skills), but I got caught up in it about 10 days ago. I pulled a few pieces out of the archives and tucked some darker, tired pieces away for the time being. I didn’t even move big pieces of furniture and yet our home feels revived. My tips are to make sure you’re using different heights, grouping items, making use of trays to keep like items together (like decanters on one, remote controls and books on one, etc.), and mixing in plants–fake or real–to make your home feel alive.

Honorary Mention

If I decide to bargain hunt, I’ll also swap out our velvety West Elm curtains in our living room to something lighter for the warm seasons! I’m eyeing these super cheap and pretty curtains from IKEA. I’ll keep you posted if I take the plunge!

Have you given your home some attention for spring? How do you refresh your spaces in little ways? Thanks for checking in with me here on the blog and I hope to hear from you in the comments below! 🤗