Curating a bright and moody spring aesthetic 🪴
Filling my home with blooms, blossoms, neutrals, and tons of light - and why it is so important
Hello, you. Happy weekend.
I feel a bit silly sharing a letter with you about something so “frivolous” as how I am curating and creating a bright and moody spring vibe in my home. I mean, there is so much going on personally and globally that is heavy, painful, and way more important than how I am decorating my home for the season, right?
Maybe not, actually.
It’s a bright, but gray Saturday morning and I’m snuggled down under my covers. Steaming hot coffee in my hand, a few candles lit, and soft daylight streaming in through the cracks in my curtains, I am thinking about what’s important to write about and crafting this letter to you.
It’s not very often that I wonder if I should write about something or not. Usually, I just write what I write. Mostly, it’s what I need to write at any given moment. In fact, I never really plan these letters. And, when I blogged, I never ever scheduled posts or had some kind of editorial calendar. Oh, after 12 years of blogging, I definitely tried. But, it never worked. Because it’s just not me.
I think my style of sharing is much more focused on documenting, journaling, and sharing my photographs and words in real time, as my life unfolds from day to day and season to season. The only thing that I have planned for this year is my letter/podcast shared at the beginning of each month. Otherwise, I write what I feel, when I feel.
This morning, as I was sipping coffee and uploading photos to my computer, I realized that I have snapped a lot of shots around my home recently and I suddenly felt that I wanted to share a letter with you about aligning my home with the energy of the season.
And that takes me back to wondering if this is a subject that really matters or not.
Of course, obviously, I do believe that it matters. How I feel in my home is extremely important to me. How I bring the mood and energy of the season into my home is also a top priority for me throughout the year. Especially when either my inner world, the outer world, or both feel a bit topsy turvy and chaotic. So, yes. Curating a home that flows with the seasons is a worthy subject on which to write; but, more importantly, it is a worthy, and fulfilling, way for me to live.
My home - a sanctuary for me and for others
As a spiritual person, I believe that my home is a sacred space. More than anything, I want it to be a place of rest and retreat. Throughout the seasons, I want my home to smell of lavender and vanilla and incense. I want there to be soft lighting, natural materials like wood and jute, cozy fabrics, and beautiful things that are unique and personal to me and my wife.
I want my home to be a welcoming space that feels calm and harmonious and inspiring.
In times like these, when life feels overwhelming and heavy, coming home means surrounding myself with a sense of safety, warmth, and joy.
And I realize how very privileged I am to be able to have a home that provides me with this feeling. To begin with, I have a home, a roof over my head and food in my belly. That in and of itself is something for which I am deeply grateful.
I share my space with my incredible wife and our sweet, lovely cat, Bear, which means that I am surrounded my love in my home - another blessing beyond words. My wife and I share the same desire for what we want our home to be. And, we work together to create the mood and energy that reflects our vision for living an inspiring, calm, meaningful life. It is beyond amazing to have a partner with which I can share my life - I am fully aware of how blessed I am.
And, because of these blessings, we want our home to be open and welcoming to others. Unfortunately, we live in a time and place where people do not just drop by unannounced very often. So, we try to be mindful of finding ways to gather people in our home to celebrate holidays, for cozy winter dinners, or wine and snacks and conversations, or game nights (which my wife loves, but I do not. hehe), or summer balcony hangs. The point is to create a home that is not only a sanctuary for ourselves, but also for others. A sacred space filled with love and beauty and inspiration and simplicity - where others feel accepted, warm, and want to gather together.
Aligning my home with the season of spring
For me, as I follow the rhythms of the year and the cycles of the seasons, I find it grounding and inspiring to let my home also reflect the energy and mood of the seasons as they come and go.
I shared a post about creating a cozy autumn home last September. I’ll provide a link to it at the end of this letter. And, I thought that it would be fun to give you a little peek into how I am curating a bright, moody, calm vibe for spring this year.
As always, I mostly just go “shopping” in my own home. For spring, I change the linens, the sheets, and the pillow covers on the sofa to lighter neutrals and earthy tones. I bring in flowers and blooms for tables and other surfaces. I decorate with eggs and feathers, which remind me of new beginnings and rebirth. I buy new candles, cozy and warm pastels, for my dining table and bedside table. And, yes. I do use candles all year long, even when it is bright out. To me, it adds a special, sacred mood to any room or space. Finally, I open up windows as much as possible to let in the cool, fresh air of the season.
By just shifting things around, the energy in my home shifts. It’s a very simple shift in intention that makes all of the difference, I think. And, of course, I add in a tiny bit of creative magic.
One of the best things about seasonal living isn’t just the joy of following and watching nature change and shift as we make our way around the wheel of the year. I find that actually bringing the energy and mood of each month into my home helps me to lean into each season as it comes and goes.
And that, in turn, gives me a deeper sense of appreciation and acceptance for the season. But, more than that, bringing the season into my home keeps me deeply present. It is a grounding ritual and practice that creates a certain mood, aesthetic, and feeling that carries me, day by day, through the season.
Do you change your home with the seasons? What rituals and celebrations and holidays inspire you to decorate?
If you need a bit more help getting in the mood, take a listen to my current spring mixtape and spend some time this weekend faffing and curating your home for spring (or autumn, if you’re in the southern hemisphere - here’s my autumn mixtape). Wishing you a lovely, bright and moody April weekend, wherever you are, my friend.
xoxo. liz.
Liz, thank you for this. Yes, it matters. The idea and practice of Home as Sanctuary affirms that, along with creaturely comforts, we also flourish with spiritual comforts in our every day human lives. The physical and the spiritual are inseparable threads that weave together in a loving home. I admire how you see a freshness in the changing seasons and bring those longings into the way you and your wife create a sense of Home together.
I do the same thing, decorating my apartment with the seasons. I like to change my bedcover to something darker during the cold months and softer tones in Spring/Summer, I also have a different wooden decor to hang at my front door (a birdhouse for Spring, a snowflake for Winter, for Christmas a wreath made by grandmother). Sometimes I also switch around books on my bookcase and shelves. I really like your desk setup with all the notebooks 😊