Refresh & RENEW
Petal power.
Fill vases, vintage containers and baskets with bouquets, and showcase them throughout your rooms. Select fresh or artificial flowers, depending on what’s available in your area, such as forsythia, wisteria, violets and pussy willow to enhance vignettes. Hang artificial boxwood or lavender wreaths with colorful ribbons on exterior and interior doors.
Farm-fresh fabrics.
Punctuate seating and beds with an assortment of pillows that provide pops of seasonal color to the setting, and add coordinating throw blankets or quilts to create a layered look. Use textiles to update furnishings, as Patty did when she reupholstered the seat cushion of a vintage chair in a garden-themed motif and filled in missing panels on a sideboard with striped fabric.
As the winter season winds down, Patty Carpenter takes a cue from nature’s shift to usher lighter accessories into her Alabama home. To add the bloom of spring to your decor, consider some of Patty’s simple decorating ideas.
Barnyard buddies.
Welcome whimsy into your home and celebrate new life by incorporating cloth or ceramic animal figures, including chicks, bunnies, hens and lambs. Display vintage animal or barnyard prints on walls and propped on tabletops.
Rustic remnants.
Bring in outdoorsy texture with weathered materials, such as patinaed metal lanterns, twig-twined birdhouses, birds’ nests, and crosses made from salvaged wood.
Happy hues.
Create a focal point by painting a single wall a springtime color such as green, yellow or purple. Or, give outdoor furniture a quick makeover with vibrant paints.
country style “We believe is warm, homey, welcoming and cozy.”