"Getting A Head Start On Spring"
By Pat Stelzer
RusticDecorating.com (Great Gift Ideas!)
Watching snowflakes fall is entertaining only during late November,
December and maybe part of January. Long about February, those
winter blues set in, and everyone becomes anxious for the arrival of
spring. By the middle of February, people are beginning to get cabin
fever, hoping to awake and find early signs that winter is on the way
out. No one can rely on Puxetawny Pete, the ground hog, to be
accurate, so why not take matters into one's own hands.
Changing home décor ever so slightly can help combat that slide into
winter doldrums. Toward the end of February, put a little "spring"
inside the house in easy, simple ways. Change those winter pieces
depicting snow scenes with something that heralds the season of
rebirth. Put away snowmen and poinsettia pictures. Bring out
decorative items that remind everyone of early spring flowers and
gardening activities. Crocuses, irises, jonquils, are among those
first welcome signs that spring has arrived. Use the colors of those
spring harbingers to brighten rooms and help counteract winter's hold
on the human spirit, remembering that home is where the soul is
renewed.
Simple things work best. A touch of spring color in a throw pillow,
a picture or collage of spring blossom signs, change the atmosphere
of a winter weary house and buoy spirits of its residents. Plants
started in pots resting on a kitchen windowsill become a daily
reminder that it won't be long before those emerging seedlings can be
moved outside. A large clay pot of bulbs, when the first green
shoots begins to appear, brings with it the promise that by the time
the flower bursts forth, spring will have arrived.
February is also good time to begin making plans for the yard and the
house. Spend February deciding which rooms to redo, how to replant a
window box or flowerbed, anything that looks to the coming season of
change and new growth. Walk through the house, making note of things
that need attention or could do with a change. During those last few
weeks before spring arrives, shop for paint or fabric or garden
supplies. Start those new plants inside. Hang a new picture
depicting spring flowers or simply change that winter welcome sign
for one with flowers and birds.
Decorating for holidays is a custom in most homes, so why not make it
a seasonally directed activity, too. Celebrating each season with
special, but simple, decorative nuances can work wonders for the
house as well as those who live within its walls. Summer's red,
white and blue are replaced by fall's gold, orange and brown. Those
give way to the red and green of the Christmas season. Bring a little
spring, yellow, pink and lavender, into the picture when those last
vestiges of winter refuse to release their hold on the weather.
Don't wait until Easter to do it. Making home decorating a year-round
avocation can be easy and fun using different wall hangings
and `knick-knacks' that change with each season, and it is one of the
least expensive ways to achieve a year-round sense of "newness" in
the overall décor.
Pat Stelzer is a content writer for RusticDecorating.com. She has
recently published her first mystery novel, "DANGEROUS RESEARCH, BY
GEORGE!" Information about it can be found at RusticDecorating.com.