spring at home: seasonal changes
lighter blankets, polka dot plants, and putting away my winter boots.
The first night sleeping under my lightweight summer duvet feels like a whole new world. I love rituals like this - switching up bedding, swapping in out-of-season clothing, tucking away my winter boots. You could just call these things housework, or organization, or simply items on a to-do list, but I find that the slight shift in perspective of thinking of them as seasonal rituals has a whole new feeling to it. Making the bed? I have never looked forward to that a day in my life! But out with old heavy winter blankets and in with a lightweight summer quilt? That I can get excited about!
In a perfect world, March 19 would find us still under a dusting of snow and on March 20 it would all magically melt, the birds would come out, and it would hit a steady 65 degrees straight through June 21. In reality, it’s always a bit hit and miss when warmer temperatures actually reach us (and I have been fooled about winter being over at least once a year, every single year). On Thursday night we had what appeared to be the final overnight frost in Minnesota and I have my fingers tightly crossed that spring is truly upon us. Perhaps a bit naively, I’m going for it. I’m right in the midst of my turning to spring rhythm, stowing away all the bulky, cozy winter gear and bringing out some hints of summer to come.
Rotating to spring bedding.
We use the same duvet cover year round* but rotate through two different duvet inserts depending on the time of year. We have a very heavy, warm duvet that we typically take out in October (or November if we can make it). Finally this weekend, I am swapping over to a very light insert that we’ll use throughout the spring and summer months. There will likely still be a few chillier nights yet this spring, but I’ll just layer on warmer pajamas when needed.
*Though I do have dreams of getting a few different bedding sets to rotate with the seasons - ocher linen bedding in the warm months and dark forest green flannel in the winter. Maybe some day!
Stowing away winter clothes.
I keep a fairly minimal capsule wardrobe, wearing the same couple of pairs of jeans, favorite t-shirts and a few blouses all throughout the year. Since I wear a relatively small number of items, I can keep nearly all of them in my closet on two hanging racks and a couple of small drawers. There is also a dresser in our bedroom, where I use my dedicated drawer to tuck in my out-of-season clothing.
Today I pulled my stowed spring/summer clothes out of the drawer (in all their wrinkled glory!) and filled it back up with a few very warm sweaters, a fleece jacket, and some warmer shirts that I won’t be wearing over the next few months. By tucking these out of sight, the number of clothes I have to choose from is smaller = less decisions = ease! I love ease.
Adding some notes of spring around home.
I own just one tablecloth, a hand-me-down from my Grandma Carola. While it’s blue and woven and not overtly spring-y, I thought of it the other day and decided to put it out. There’s something about having a “dressed” table that just feels a little special, like a marker of change. I also have a bouquet of birthday flowers out on the table that I will be keeping alive as long as I possibly can. (We’re past two weeks now and minus a few yellowing stems I’ve pulled out, they’re not looking too shabby.)
If there is one single impulse buy I can wholeheartedly get behind, it’s a grocery store potted plant. They’re typically small, they’re generally in season, and they are guaranteed lovely (at least for a little bit, sometimes not as long as you’d hope). I recently picked up this polka dot plant and put it in a little terrazzo pot whose previous resident had passed on. It has little pink leaves and gets a little taller everyday and it has just been bringing me so much joy. Get yourself a polka dot plant!
One more seasonal shift: spring reading.
Along with adjusting to the seasons within my home, I also like to mark the change of the seasons with my reading, music, and the movies I watch. I just picked up the third book in Ali Smith’s seasons quartet, Spring, at the library and I’m giving it a go. Last weekend, I read Louisa Onomé’s Pride and Joy, an over-the-top family novel about a 70th birthday party over Easter weekend that turns into something else entirely. Along with picking up Spring at the library, I’ve also borrowed a few children’s classics fitting for the season. I’m currently reading the Secret Garden and Anne of Green Gables is up next. I’m picking up a nature memoir by Jim Crumley from the library this week, the Nature of Spring, and really looking forward to it. For the final spring read in my queue, I am very, very far down on the library waitlist for Enchantment by Katherine May, a book all about awakening wonder. I really enjoyed reading Wintering earlier this year and I can’t wait to dig into another Katherine May read.
I would love to find more novels set in the spring time. If you have any suggestions, please send them my way!
Those are all the spring rituals at the top of my list! How are you marking the start of the season? Are there any simple changes that are bringing you joy? I’d love to hear!
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