Spring Home Tour: Entry, Kitchen, Dining, Living Room

Hello and welcome to the first part of my spring home tour. This tour isn’t going to overtly scream spring to you. You will find no bunnies or eggs, no green moss, no spring flowers save a singular vintage piece of art. What you will find is a simple and livable approach to the season. As winter comes to an end and spring starts to slowly roll in, I like to take my time and refresh little things here and there such as textiles. And plants. . . spring means more plants, inside and out. Truly, I just like excuses to buy more plants. If you are hopping over from Remodela Casa, welcome! Cristina’s home is one of my absolute favorites and her DIY skills are unmatched. Now let me take you on a spring tour of the main living area of my home, where our family of five spends most of our time. In case you’re looking for anything pictured, I’ve created a little sliding gallery below each section for shopping. (This blog uses affiliate links and I am an Amazon associate.  I earn a small commission on purchases made through my links.  Thank you for your support!)

Spring Entry

Come on in!  Last fall I painted our front door a soft shade of orange which is warm and cozy but also feels fresh for spring. Thank goodness, because I don’t have time to repaint it right now although I did recently see a moody teal door I was into. Front doors are just so easy and fun to change.

Our entry is small but mighty, and as you can see it opens right into our kitchen. All we have room for is a little shoe bench and a statement piece of art. Literally, it makes a statement: If you’re looking for a sign, this is it.

While this entry is petite, I take design notes from Yoda. Size matters not when it comes to adding style. This is one of my favorite places in our home because its small surface area makes it a great space for creative fun. The walls were stenciled a couple of years ago, shortly after moving in, and I still love them as much as I did then. Let’s head on into the kitchen!

 

Kitchen

We renovated our kitchen and finished it a little over a year ago. The sink is the first thing you see when you walk in our front door so it was important to me that it made a statement. This brass sink is probably my favorite piece of the kitchen and it’s surprisingly easy to clean.

As you can see, we have open shelving all around our kitchen. (By the way, I should tell you, there’s also another wall you won’t be seeing because it wasn’t quite photo-ready, but it’s got a double pantry, microwave and our family command chaos center. You’ll catch a glimpse of the pantry, but the rest is a hot mess. This is a reminder that we bloggers only show you the pretty things, but we all have secret messes. If they say they don’t, they’re lying!)

I don’t change too much in the kitchen for the seasons, but I do try to mix in some fun items on our shelves and I change our dish towel.

As a former vintage store owner and forever thrifter, I’ve always had a fondness for vintage art. I added a couple of pieces I’ve found that have a spring feel to them. One is a recent addition from a local shop here in Greensboro, Reconsidered Goods, which is a non-profit creative reuse center which supports the arts. I’ve also added a few more plants which always give a space life. The plants also came from a local vendor, Tiny Plant Market. Katherine sells at pop ups and her plants are always beautiful and healthy.

This leggy pothos looks a little sad at the moment and I need to let you know it didn’t come from Katherine.  I created it last year from propagations and over the winter I didn’t notice that its leaves were getting so heavy that it began to pull the roots out of the soil.  I noticed it wilting and kept watering to no avail.  I couldn’t see what was happening to the roots because it was on a top shelf.  Finally, I realized what was happening and fixed it, but it doesn’t look as nice as it once did.

This photo didn’t come out too well, but I wanted to show you how I added a little spring color with a dinosaur clay sculpture Emmy made for me years ago.  It’s one of my favorites of all of the clay projects my kids have made.

As I mentioned, I also added a new towel to my oven.  This “Made with Love” towel was a gift from one of my best friends and I adore it – it’s perfect for spring!

It’s got such pretty florals and colors plus a sweet sentiment.

On the opposite side of the sink, I added a pink platter to my shelves that was handmade by a local artist, Lindsay at Suite One Studio. She’s extremely talented and used to have a line with Anthropologie.

I love how the pink plays with my back door.

I also updated my wooden letter board and added a fun saying for the season. 😉

Simple touches and more plants are how I do spring, so may as well celebrate it on the letter board.

Here’s one last look at our kitchen before we head into our dining room.

Dining Room

When we renovated the kitchen, we actually opened it up to the dining room, so I am never really sure if it’s technically a dining room anymore or it it’s become an eat-in kitchen. Whatever it is, let’s check it out.

Hey, there’s that pantry I told you you’d get a little sneak peek of!  Ha.

Last summer, I painted this sun mural on the wall and I love how it makes a statement and is neutral but still fun. I’ve been on the hunt for a cabinet to fill the wall next to the banquette for almost a year. We desperately needed something to store glassware and liquor and I also wanted a place for my record player. Finally, I found the perfect piece and I’m so happy with it! This room was missing a little touch of vintage, but this piece of furniture is bringing it.

It’s been so nice having this cabinet in place and I had fun styling the top a bit. Plus, I am not gonna lie. Wilder is really into the Disco Mickey Mouse album from my childhood, which is the record you see in place now. It’s a pretty hot album, and Macho Duck is by far the best track. 😉

I generally keep our dining table pretty clear now that many of us use this space to work. Plus, with a grabby toddler around, it’s safest. We refer to Wilder as “Hands Across America” when he’s reaching for all of the things he shouldn’t.

Last fall, I also added that gorgeous terra cotta wall hanging which came from Ore & Wool, a Maryland Fiber art shop. Tarah, the owner, sent it to me as a gift after I interviewed her on IG live.  She’s extremely talented and has created some amazing new pieces and looks lately that really stand out from other fiber art out there.

As you can see on the table, I did pick up some fresh eucalyptus at Trader Joe’s because it always makes the house smell so nice and it adds a whimsical touch. And of course, while I was there, I had to pick up their berry lemonade which is a family favorite.

In the corner of the banquette, I added some pillows I had on hand to bring in the current colors in this space. . . black, white, terra cotta and a neutral. It’s funny because I generally like to just use a few pillows in this corner, but I always struggle with getting the combination right.  Is it just me, or are pillows sometimes so hard to get just right?

Now we’re going to complete our little loop through our main area and head into the living room which lies between the dining room and entry.

 

Living room

Before I go on showing you this space, let me just say that Catcher, our dog, wouldn’t move. He’s got a leg falling off of the sofa, but “he don’t care.” And if you look really closely, you’ll see our other dog hiding on the sofa.  20 points if you can find her! Anyhow, here’s our pink living room. It’s a rather small space, but it works for us. As you can see, I even squeezed in a little home office. The view above is looking in from the dining room doorway. In this room, all I really did was change out my pillows and I added one new plant. Boom. Now it’s spring.

On top of all of its other functions, this space currently serves as my gym so I had a little fun with my letter board. (Total overthinker here!)

If you look under our TV stand, you can see all of my equipment, plus my mat rolled up in the basket in the corner. In these “unprecedented times,” we gotta do what we gotta to in our homes, right?

Oh, and there’s the one new plant I added, also from Tiny Plant Market. And how cute is this planter from Target?

The astrological art above the television was painted last summer by me when I was going crazy at home. And here I am still going crazy at home. 😉 By the way, do you see those floor cushions? Yeah, they’re for the dogs. . . but they only use them when the couch is taken. Look at that side-eye.

As I mentioned, a few of the pillows are new.  I purchased that tribal looking stripe one as well as the two blush tassel pillows from Global Stitch recently. I’m really happy with them, especially the pink. I wanted to use them in our dining room, too, but I only ordered two.

I also mixed in a black pillow I had as well as Sawyer’s “Stay Weird” pillow.  He’s had that for years and I’ve always loved it! A little back story on it: I actually bought one for a friend as a gift several years ago and he saw it and loved it. Sawyer isn’t usually into decor, so I figured since he was into it, he needed one. Plus, to be totally honest, I encourage my kids to embrace all of the things that make them “weird” or different because those are going to become the things that set them apart and make them special. It’s hard to see that when you’re a kid or teen. As an adult, I know it to be true. Anyhow, I asked if I could borrow it for now and he gladly shared.

Just behind the sofa in the corner by the door sits my “office.” If you’re looking for tips on how to fit a home office into your small space, I wrote about that here.

I actually had string lights up for Christmas and took them down after the holidays. But this corner is so dark that I missed having them, so I decided to replace them. It’s a little dorm-room like, but you know what? I love it. These string lights make me happy and that’s how your home should make you feel. I work here every day and I want a space that sparks me. (Pun intended.)

My shelves are filled with some of my non-fiction books, items I need for work, and a gorgeous painting I just got from a local artist, Krystal Hart.

My editor recently gifted me this little crow, too, and I adore him! She knew that crows were my sign, so she saw it and thought of me. He serves as my muse. Or perhaps he serves to be amused.  He looks rather bemused, doesn’t he? (Also, how many other words can you come up with that use “muse”. . . and, go!)

Speaking of my job, I brought in a little piece of clay pottery that Sawyer made years ago to hold my business cards. I’ve always loved this piece and it’s perfect here.  Emmy’s dinosaur sits in the kitchen, and Sawyer’s dish here and both pieces fill my mama heart.

As I mentioned, this space sits right next to our front door, so it’s important to me that it looks great and is functional. I am really happy with the flow of the living room and office nook off of the entry.

Here’s another view looking into the living room from the entry.

And now we’ve finally made it full circle, back to the front door!

 

Thank you so much for stopping by today. I hope you feel inspired in some way to make your home a place that makes you smile. Now head on over to Inspiration for Moms next. Laura’s home is always so beautiful and so organized- you’re going to love it!

A Stroll Thru Life – Worthing Court – Town and Country Living – Hymns and Verses – Decor to Adore – White Arrows Home

Tuesday

Cassie Bustamante – Inspiration For Moms – Thrifty and Chic – Southern State of Mind – Clean and Scentsible– RemodelaCasa

Wednesday

Grace In My Space – Whispering Pines Homestead – The Wood Grain Cottage – StoneGable – It All Started With Paint – Monica Wants It

Thursday

Southern Hospitality – Pink Peppermint Design – 11 Magnolia Lane –
Modern Glam – CitrineLiving – Our Southern Home

Friday

This Is Our Bliss – Cuckoo4Design – A Pretty Life – Up To Date Interiors – Chalking Up Success – Fox Hollow Cottage – Follow The Yellow Brick Home