5 Easy Ways to Refresh Your Home For Spring

Let Spring In! After the dark days and frigid nights of winter, it's only natural to want some change. Here are 5 no-cost ways to bring spring into your home in just a few minutes.

1. Move your art around... maybe even put a few decorative pieces away until fall. This can be figurines, sculptures, paintings, vases. You will see it all with fresh eyes
2. Clean. Don't hate me for this one - but as you clean your space you will engage with it, discover old favourites, and uncover things that are broken, old or just disliked. Get rid of anything you don't consider useful or beautiful. It's an old standard... but it can't be beat.
3. Change your bed linens. Keep a winter and summer duvet - changing to lighter weights and fresher colours will feel right as the season changes. It will also help your sleep. Take this change-over time as opportunity to wash your pillows and duvets. You don't have to have lots of linens and cushions - just put away excess and keep your sleeping space airy and light.
4. Ditch the throws, dark rich colours, and heavy slipcovers in the living room. Store away the layers that make the room feel 'cozy'. Cycle in things that remind you of spring and summer from other rooms - Add just a few clear glass vases, statues, a mirror all in fresh light colours... be creative and let your inner designer out.
5. Roll up the rugs. I love rugs - dark, wool, rich and luxe. But their time is fall, winter and early spring. Summer is the time for bare floors or light rugs. Store your rugs for fall... and they will feel loved and cozy when they come out of hiding!

All except the cleaning can be done in an afternoon... and will make your whole home feel fresh and light. These are small changes but make big impact because they make you look at your space with new eyes.

If you want to splash out and spend just a few dollars consider these - fresh flowers (potted or cut), new hand towels in spring colours for your powder room or main bathroom, 2-3 cushion covers to brighten up cushions you already have and love, and fresh scented hand-soaps.

When the weather is finally warm and fresh, fling open the windows and let the breeze fill your home with spring!

Mattress Tango

One of the best investments you can make is a good mattress. Get the best mattress you can afford - that doesn't mean the most money, it means you do the research and get a mattress that is right for you and your back. You spend 1/3 of your life in bed and you only get one spine... you're worth the time and money!

When you get that good mattress, make sure it sticks around for a long time and stays healthy too. Flip your mattress to balance the wear!

If your mattress is the same on the top side as the underside, then there are 4 possible positions:

1. The way it is right now
2. Turning your toes to where your head is
3. Flipping the mattress over to the underside
4. Turning the head to the toe position on the underside

If this describes your mattress, flip your mattress every 3 months (seasonally). To keep it sane, grab a permanent marker and write Jan-Mar, Apr-June, July-Sept, and Oct-Dec - one on each of the sides described above. This will take you about 20 minutes and lots of effort (2 mattress flips) - but it will save you lots of time, mental energy and hassle in the future. Every time you change the sheets you will be reminded that the current month should be written where your head is.

If you are like me and have a pillow-top mattress, there are only 2 possible positions because you can't flip your mattress over. I'd suggest writing on the top and bottom (since it's a great no-brainer visual reminder) Jan-Mar and July-Sept on the top and  Apr-June and Oct-Dec on the bottom. You will be turning your mattress every 3 months.

Picked up this wisdom working in a 5* hotel.

Lazy Housekeeper Advanced - If it's viable when the weather is below 0C, take your mattress outside and let it air. Freezing temperatures and sunlight both kill dust mites in about a half hour. If this is not possible, then steam your mattress at 120F (50C) to minimize the vile critters.

Simplify!

For every regularly-used bed in your home, you need 3 sheet sets. Some may want special seasonal sheets, or keep an extra set out of nostalgia, but if you want a linen closet you never have to clean or neaten, stick with 3 sheet sets. Because you only have 3, this is license to splurge on sheets that make you happy to crawl under the covers each and every night. You spend nearly 1/3 of your life in bed (or we should!) so get the best you can afford. 

Sheets should breathe, be of excellent quality cotton, good thread-count, be a colour you love. Thread count is a good indicator but can also be misleading - how fabulous is each thread? Egyptian and Turkish cotton are good (there are many grades and types of cotton), but don't let that alone be your deciding factor. FEEL the sheets... do you love them? Do you like the super-soft feel of very high thread counts? The crisp of medium thread-counts? Do you want the added durability and wrinkle-free life of polyester-cotton blends? Do you like cotton, cotton sateen, silk, blends?

I've learned my lesson: I don't buy sheets online. I bought a set of 450tc Egyptian cottons sheets at a decent price. They are too thin, with less-than-sturdy construction, and I just don't like using them. I am giving them to my mom so they will hopefully get used.