Lift your mood and your spaces with these crafty updates

Lead image: Edward Bulmer’s paint shade, ‘Jonquil.’ Credit: Photopia Photography

By Laura Dweck 

The season’s light and warmth changes the way we use our home over spring and summer. If your home feels like it’s been as dormant as your garden in winter, there are lots of updates large and small you can make to fall in love with your spaces all over again. 

Spring clean and declutter 

If a full house declutter feels overwhelming, focus on one space only and think of repurposing an existing space that will enhance the way you live – whether that’s a coffee station made from a cluttered cupboard or a new cloakroom space created from a forgotten corner with the aim of a smoother exit in the morning.

So Souk tableware

Relocate furniture

One of the biggest changes you can make to your space to see it through fresh eyes is moving furniture to reconfigure your layout and create a better flow. Adapt the rooms to the changes in how you actually use the space, which may be different from when you first created the room. That could be simply changing the direction of armchairs in a snug to point towards a now blooming garden view rather than huddling around a fire, or relinquishing that messy kids’ craft table in the corner of your kitchen that they have long grown out of – perhaps swapping it for an oversized armchair, perfectly positioned to converse with the cook. 

On a more superficial level, if you have plans to host over the next few months, why not introduce some decorations that can see you through the warmer season. My focus is the table and I’ll be introducing brighter colours in the form of single painted candles and hyacinth vases, which are a great alternative to bud vases. 

Hoste and So Souk have joyous tableware that deserve to be on show all week long, and not just reserved for supper with friends. I loved reading recently that dinner with candlelight lengthens the time people dwell at the table. Surely that can only be a positive thing if chats over dinner are the only regular family time.

Murano glass vase by Carlo Moretti

Space for new interests 

For those still holding firm with new hobbies or resolutions, I applaud you – you made it past January so they’re likely to stick now, and it’s well worth dedicating proper space to your meditation/Peloton/puzzling to maximise enjoyment.

My hobby space is an overflowing windowsill given over to seedlings, gaining confidence with each growing season. I’m looking to create a potting table which can double up as the beginning of an outdoor kitchen. I just need to subtly shift my husband’s ice bath that didn’t see any use beyond January 2nd.

If after all of that you’re still craving a bigger change to ring in the seasonal shift, crack out the dust sheets and get painting. Farrow & Ball have introduced nine new paint colours – a beautiful mix of moody and bright. Or take a look at the perfect lightening shade: Edward Bulmer’s ‘Jonquil’. Much like Little Greene, you can select the depth of colour. I have opted for 20% in my hall stairs and landing – it feels more formal than the plaster hues and the warmth it exudes feels like a summer’s day every time I come home.