Spring beckons you!

Spring is just around the corner. Taking inspiration, bring in the myriad colours of spring into your home, writes Swati Kapur.

Let’s start with cleaning our homes first. There’s a lot to be packed and tucked away in storerooms — duvets, throws, comforters, jackets etc. However, take a careful look and you will find that cushion covers and sheets too need a change from dark warm colours to bright and colourful shades. So, wash, dry-clean, sun-dry and pack them all safely before you even think of introducing new shades. Take time to clean your ceiling fans. Dust them properly, including lights and fixtures, and change the direction in which your fans are blowing. This will bring in some fresh air.

Let there be light

It’s time to pull apart the curtains and let the sunshine fill up the room. Create natural effects with sheers, blinds and curtains in tissue, tussar or floral cottons. Stores like Fab India, Pure and Ebony Gautier have a range of products that can enliven and refresh your room instantly. Consider changing shower curtains too for a splash of colours in the bathroom. If winters have left behind cold mildew or dampness, get the doors repaired and have the walls painted with new colours

Bring in some nature

It’s not necessary to have a sprawling garden in front to feel the spring magic. You can bring in spring with your choicest blossoms in beautiful vases and pots. Pick up some from the garden or go for a colourful bunch and tuck it in a corner. You can also use your treasured antique bowl or silver pitcher and tuck in flowers. Or ask the florist to make a custom-designed arrangement that goes best with your room.
Float two or three blooms like gardenias or gerbera daisies in a crystal bowl. A floating candle or two will give it a glowing effect. Artificial flowers like cherry blossoms or magnolias are a perfect fit for the season. This is the right time to visit nurseries and shops selling beautiful pots.

Create your own palette

If it’s about spring, it’s got to be about shades of yellow and green. So play it up right from the walls to the linen to the vases and pots on the bathroom sill and create the spring fever in the house. You may like to change the winter shades of browns and reds to turquoise and violet for this season.

However, remember, it’s not just about forcing a colour down the house, there needs to be a shift in the overall energy and the way you look at your own house. Don’t just follow a fad but create your very own.

Take the garden right up to the ceiling with some subdued or dramatic floral wallpapers. They are easy to install and you can change them in a couple of years when you’re bored of it. Also find local artists who can draw motifs on the walls. Raje Chauhan works on people’s walls and brings alive their dreams!

“My favourite challenge has been when a client asked for a complete makeover and I painted a tree with birds and flowers in a living room. The wall art was not just admired by guests but I actually got a lot more work because of it,” he says. Baby pastel patterns of flowers and trees can be created for a nursery.

For young children, a heavenly orchard or spring time garden can spike imaginations. Bring out the old vibrant saris and stoles you have dumped long ago and reuse them as table runners and cushion covers. It is time for the long-forgotten wrapped up gift items to come out and sit beautifully around the living room, the study, the bedroom or even bathrooms.

Accessories

Stocking up on springtime accessories doesn't have to take a toll on your budget. All you need to do is keep surveying the local markets, for all the right stuff that resonate with the very essence and flavour of the season. Choose from pots, rugs and carpets, bathroom accessories, curtains, photo frames, glazed and plain mirrors, motifs that can be placed on tiles or doors etc. You could also take up a course on a new art or craft and create a product of your own.

Spring scents

A neat and fragrant home is absolutely inviting. Instead of wasting money on sprays and other products designed to make your home smell better, create your own spring scents. Try a simmering pot of cloves and cinnamon or dried flower leaves to give your entire home a great scent. I use a lot of camphor on ‘goodnight’ pluggies to diffuse the vapours. Other options are rose and lemon grass incense, a spray of gulab jal around the house, sandalwood scents and sticks placed at the right corners. Identify your personal scent for the season!

Must-do’s for the season

• Have a party where every guest is asked to bring a flowering plant of the season and create your own garden of friendship.

• Paint the ceiling of a white room to a lemony yellow or violet and rest under its calming effects.

• Wallpaper your rooms with natural sceneries and motifs.

• Experiment with glass doors-stick pastel shade fabrics with velcro on a glass pane. It will act as a sheer and also render a new spring look.

• Nests are among the season's most powerful and poetic signs of rebirth. Bring in their gentle revitalising energies into your home. You can also go for some bird in nest themed linen, cushion covers or bathrobes.

• Give table linens the look of patterned textiles by using fabric markers and stencils in spring's favourite colours.

• Wake up with spring's prettiest birds every morning with hand stitched bed and pillow covers.

• Brighten you porch or patio with some cheerful pillows in cotton napkins or tissues.