welcome spring house

Welcome To My Spring House, I’m so excited that you are here!  If you are new here and are visiting from one of the other tours this week, my name is Jo-Anna and I welcome you to my site!  If you would like to know a bit more about me, you can read more here.

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It’s SPRING!  It’s really truly, finally spring!  Can you see me doing a happy dance?  We’re finally having days of warm sunshine, the air is beginning to have that spring rain smell, and everyone just seems to be more hopeful.  That’s what spring does to people up here in Alberta…even though we know that we will still get another blast of winter…but each day that it feels like spring we rejoice.

With each changing season I like to freshen up my home.  I look forward to each change…refreshing and redecorating helps me to get through our long winters.  It’s kind of a mode of survival for me, especially in the spring because our winters are so long and after a while the colours of winter tend to get tiresome and make me long for colour.  So this year I didn’t waste any time bringing spring inside.

In the last few years I have really embraced colour.  I used to shy away from bold colour because I was afraid of the seeming permanence of it…what if we move…all the magazine and Instagram houses are white…we have kids…and on and on and on.  But as I get older I feel more confident in what I like.

 So I shamelessly have brought more and more colour into my home and I love it.  My family loves it.  Our home feels bright, sunny, cheery and happy and I really believe that the fun pops of colour contribute to that.  Even on the most grey day, inside it feels colourful.

This is the first time that I have fully embraced colour on our main floor…over time I have been slowly sneaking it in with the addition of our colourful kitchen table chairs and an aqua cabinet in our eating nook.  But this spring I decided to go all out and add more and more colour to many of our living spaces.  The biggest change is in our living room.  I always kept this space fairly neutral because I felt like I should…why though?  I have no idea.  I decided to stop that line of thinking.  I found some artwork at Minted (you can find all the details, including links, on this artwork and the pillows near the end of my post) that set the stage for everything else I added to this space.  I was drawn to flowers, and colour so that’s what I chose, and I couldn’t be happier!

I also found pillows to tie all the colours together…one can never have enough pillows right?  My husband *might* not agree with this point, but he’s a good sport…and I see him relaxing in that corner surrounded by all the fluffy.  He likes it.  😉

All.  The.  Colour.

I also need flowers.  I have decided that aside from sunshine and the ocean, I run on flowers.  I need them.  They make a room feel alive and hopeful and happy.  So for $5 for a bunch of 5, I can’t say no.

With the addition of all the colour in our living room, I feel like our whole main living space flows more seamlessly.  The mantel artwork and the couch pillows match the colours of our eating nook too.  All the yellow, aqua, pink and white…it makes my heart skip a beat.  These are my colours.

Even our patio door matches…I could paint all of our doors yellow, but that’s a bit much, I do admit.  😉

I also brought out our bright dishes, added a new table runner that I found at Homesense this spring, and set the table with more flowers.  This table makes me smile.

Spring has also arrived in our master bedroom.  I added this soft floral duvet, took down the winter art, and added more flowers.  The most simple changes make such a big impact.  If you want to see more of this bedroom space, stop by and read the post I wrote last week with tips to bring spring into your bedroom.

I hope you enjoyed my spring home tour and maybe found some inspiration to add some spring cheer to your space!

Information About Favourite Things in This Post:

• Pink Faux Fur Fluffy Pillow from Chapters
• Living Room Artwork from Minted:  Meander Flower Picture, Abstract Peony Watercolor, Yellow Blooming Dahlia Art,
• Bedroom Art from Minted:  You Make My Heart Bloom Art, Day Dreams Art
• Pillows from Minted:  Pike Place Boquet Flower Pillows, Soft Stripes in Green & White Pillow, Polka Dot Pillow, Pink Abstract Watercolor Pillow
• Blossom Duvet from Annie Selke
• Aqua Cabinet from Wayfair
• Ektorp Couch from IKEA

Go on a Spring House Tour!

For more spring decorating ideas, I hope you can take some time to check out these beautiful spring homes that are part of this years Canadian Bloggers Spring Home Tour!  Another great way is to follow the hashtag #CBHomeTour on Instagram!

AKA Design  //  Life is a Party  //  Lemon Thistle  //  Clean & Scentsible

Brooklyn Berry Designs  //  Amidst the Chaos  //  The Happy Housie  //  PMQ for two  //  Elliven Studio

Satori Design for Living  //  Suburble  //  So Much Better with Age  //  Pop of Pretty  //  This Little Estate

The DIY Mommy  //  ME!  //  Woman in Real Life  //  Kim Power Style  //  The Learner Observer

The Creekline House  //  Love Create Celebrate

Have an inspired day!

This post contains affiliate links.  Thank you for supporting A Pretty Life!  xo

Disclosure:  My new art pieces and pillows were provided by Minted for review, with no money exchanged.  All opinions, thoughts and pictures are my own.  I truly love them!

Decorate for Spring in the Living Room!  Simple ways to add some seasonal spring cheer to your home.

Hello friends!  This week I’ve joined 37 blogger friends as we come together to share our homes all decorated for spring!  These tours are part of the Seasonal Simplicity Spring Series hosted by Krista of The Happy Housie.  In case you missed my first two posts in this spring series, you can read find them here –> How to Grow Plants from Cuttings, and my Simple Spring Vignette.  Be sure to visit all the spring home tours in the links at the bottom of this post.

If you’re coming over from Jennifer’s home at Town and Country Living, welcome!  Today, as part of this tour, I’m sharing my living room all decorated for spring…or early spring…or wishing it was spring.  At any rate, it’s spring inside!

I decided to decorate my home for spring in stages this year.  This is my early spring decorating with colours that are a little more rich than you might think of for spring. I was really drawn to these dark, yet vibrant colours, because the truth of the matter is, we still have about 2 feet of snow outside.  And I just wasn’t in the mood to pull out all the bright pastel colours.

I also wanted spring decor that could easily transition from winter to spring…so still bright and cheery, but not full on spring, know what I mean?  I think I’ll really spring things up when I bring out my Easter decorations, but that won’t be for a couple more weeks.

The inspiration for my spring living room came from these vibrant floral pillows that I found at Chapters.  I was drawn to the bright pattern and velvet fabric…I just knew they would look perfect on our velvet couches.

And because I can’t stop at two pillows, I added more.  I found the 2 green floral pillows and 2 velvet rose coloured pillows at H&M, in their home section.  Who knew H&M had a home section?!  They had so many beautiful pieces that were very reasonably priced.  It took everything in me not to buy all. the. pillows.

Gorgeous.  I love pairing patterns with patterns and more patterns.  I think as long as the colours compliment each other, it works.

I also added a couple new throws to compliment everything…but also because every couch needs throw blankets!

Then I finished off my decorating with some plant life.  It’s been years since I had live plants in my home.  Can you believe that?!  Years. That’s actually ridiculous. I used to have a house full of plants, but then I had babies, then toddlers and puppies, and I got rid of them all…not the kids or puppy, the plants!  😉  But now my babies are all grown up enough to leave them alone so I’ve slowly started to bring in some plants, and I love it!  Nothing fancy yet, just a few air plants, succulents and cacti.  I even decorated an entire spring vignette with cacti!

Now there’s nothing left to do but sit back on my cozy pillow laden couches and sip tea until actual spring arrives.  I can’t wait.

Thank you so much for touring my living room!  I hope you feel inspired to add some touches of spring to your own living space.

More Spring Home Tours:

Next up on this Seasonal Simplicity Spring Home Tour is Rhonda of Hallstrom Home, so make sure to check out her beautiful spring space!  Then hop on over to all of the other pretty spring homes, in the links below.  It’s so fun to see so many different and beautiful styles.

Jenna Kate at Home // Sincerely, Marie Designs // Town and Country Living
A Pretty Life // Hallstrom Home

House by Hoff // Tauni Everett // The DIY Mommy // Clean & Scentsible // Rambling Renovators

The Happy Housie // The Turquoise Home
Amber Tysl // Inspiration for Moms // Lemon Thistle

Southern State of Mind // Modern Glam
Taryn Whiteaker // A Burst of Beautiful // My Sweet Savannah

Shades of Blue Interiors // Finding Silver Pennies // Life is a Party // Bless’er House

Summer Adams// Tatertots and Jello // Paint Me Pink // This is Our Bliss

Home Made Lovely // So Much Better With Age // Maison de Cinq
Craftberry Bush // Rooms FOR Rent

Maison de Pax // Zevy Joy // Place of My Taste // Deeply Southern Home // Kim Power Style

Have an inspired day!

Practical and pretty ideas for a Simple Spring Mantel and Living Room!

It’s spring inside my home!  There *may* be over 2 feet of snow outside, but inside it’s spring and I love it.  This time of year is when I hit my threshold of tolerance with winter, so any bits of spring and pops of colour are a welcome respite.  It feels good to transition to a new season with a little refresh inside my home…it makes the house feel light and cheerful, and that makes me happy.

And we’ll just ignore the fact that earlier this week we had a -31 C windchill.  And that I’m still wearing my parka, toque, scarf and Sorels.  Sigh.

But never mind the weather!  I decided that it was time to lighten things up indoors.  I always love the feeling when it’s time to transition to a new season or holiday. I especially love transitioning from Christmas to winter, then from winter to spring…because by the time that March hits, I want spring so bad.  And it doesn’t take much decorating to make it feel springy and fresh.  In fact, this year I didn’t decorate that much for spring, but it’s just enough that my home feels light and airy.  I kept things simple by switching out my winter pillows for the spring pillows I already had, then I added some fresh flowers.

Tulips make everything pretty.

I also made a new wreath to hang on my mantel…I really really love it.  And it only took me 5 minutes to make!  Now that’s my kind of craft.

I used some of the same flowers on this wreath, that I used to make my Simple Spring Wreath that I shared here last week.  For this new wreath, I used a different wreath base, and tucked in sprigs of the paper flowers.  So easy.  Then I hung it up on my mantel.

Spring Wreath Details:

• I used a Wispy Grapevine Wreath Base (from Michaels…use a coupon!)
• Paper flower sprigs (from Michaels)
• I just tucked the sprigs into the wreath base.  That’s it.  No glue, nothing.  I didn’t want to use glue, because I may take apart the wreath some day, and I can reuse the base.

Then I used some leftover paper flower sprigs to make this arrangement.  Again, I just tucked the sprigs into the twigs.  I love how it turned out!

Looks nice, right?  Just enough.

Such a simple refresh to welcome spring!  It doesn’t have to be complicated to be beautiful.

More Spring Home Inspiration:

• Spring in the Kitchen
• Spring Master Bedroom
• 2017 Spring Home Tour
• Spring Table Setting

Have an inspired day!

It’s Spring in the Kitchen!  Simple and pretty ideas to add some cheer and sunshine to your kitchen this spring!

Welcome to spring in my kitchen, I’m so excited that you are here to visit!  If you are new here and are visiting from one of the other tours this week, my name is Jo-Anna and I welcome you to my site!

My spring kitchen tour is 1 of 24 Canadian Spring Home Tours hosted by the lovely Shannon of Home Made Lovely and Christina of The DIY Mommy!  Over the course of the upcoming week, you can visit 24 homes with cheerful spring decorating inspiration…I hope you can take a moment to take a tour of everyones homes…the links are all at bottom of this post.

Today is my day to share, and I’m really happy to have you here!   Come on into my kitchen…it’s spring here.

This year for my blog spring home tour I decided to focus on just one room in my home…the kitchen.

The kitchen and eating nook are actually the most colourful rooms in our house, so decorating here for spring is really fun!  For some reason, I find adding colour to this space really easy, unlike the rest of the house.  I wish I could embrace colour in my whole home as easily as I do in my kitchen.  Slowly but surely, I’m getting there…bits of colour are find their way all over my house.

I started my spring decorating with this Simple and Pretty Spring Wreath that I made and shared here last week.  Initially I had it hung over my kitchen linen chest of drawers, but decided instead to hang it on our patio door…I love it here.

I added a few new things to this space, but not much.  As much as I can, I try to ‘shop’ around my home when I’m decorating.  And things are pretty colourful in here already with the recipe book cabinet and chairs.  But I did buy some new pretty chair cushions at Walmart (they’re from the Pioneer Woman line)…on a side note, have you been to Walmart here in Canada lately?  It’s looking a lot like Target and I like it!

I also switched out the art in this space and hung up all my spring pieces that I got from Minted last year.  I like how cheery they are in here.  They’re like windows into spring outside, even though we still have over 2 feet of snow, but we’ll just ignore that fact mmmmkay.

And isn’t this little mountain shelf so cute?  I got it from Timber Grove Studios based out of Moncton New Brunswick, and use it to store my essential oils.  It’s so pretty and I like having easy access to all my oils that I use every day.  I love the pop of white against my cabinet.

But my biggest decoration addition are flowers…I buy loads of tulips this time of year.  Having bouquets of tulips around just makes me happy.  And honestly, flowers are the best kind of home decoration.  Cheap and cheerful.

Flowers errrrrywhere.

And in my eating nook, I decorated my linen drawer with some lemons in a turquoise Bundt pan, more tulips, and hung more cheery art.  It’s spring all over.

I love this little view when I look over from my stove.  It’s sunny and pretty and makes me happy.  It’s the little things.

I even added some spring touches to my counters…not a lot, but just enough, sometimes less is more.  I love the pops of yellow and turquoise in here.

While I was cleaning things up for my spring tour, I also took the time to organize and tidy my kitchen space.  I got busy organizing drawers, my pantry, cupboards and countertops.  Even that was enough to make it feel like spring in here.

And while you’re here…let’s sit down with some tea and a blueberry buttermilk muffin…we made them just for you.

Simple Ways to Create Spring in the Kitchen

• Add fresh flowers
• Change out your art for more light and colourful pieces
• Hang a spring wreath
• Display some cheery tea towels
• Put out bowls of colourful fruit, like lemons
• Add a colourful new rug in front of a door or the kitchen sink
• Hang some sheer white curtains (or just wash the ones you have!  😉 )
• Buy some cheerful spring napkins for meals

Thank you so much for taking a tour of my spring kitchen!  I hope you feel inspired to add some cheer to your kitchen space!

Spring Home Tours from Years Past:

• Spring Master Bedroom
• 2017 Spring Home Tour
• Spring Table Setting

Kitchen Spring Cleaning Resources:

• How to Organize your Freezer
• Kitchen Drawer Organization
• Kitchen Organization
• Building a Baking Pantry
• Building a Dinner Pantry
• Organizing the Fridge

Go on a Spring Home Tour!

For more spring decorating ideas, I hope you can take some time to check out these beautiful spring homes that are part of this years Canadian Bloggers Spring Home Tour!  Another great way is to follow the hashtag #CBHomeTour on Instagram!

Monday

Home Made Lovely  //  A Pretty Life  //  The Happy Housie  //  Life is a Party  //  This Mama’s Dance

Tuesday

So Much Better With Age  //  The Dreamhouse Project  //  The Learner Observer  //  A Burst of Beautiful  //  Woman in Real Life

Wednesday

Clean and Scentsible  //  Paper Rose  //  Harbour Breeze Home  //  Emmett’s ABCs

Thursday

The DIY Mommy  //  Mint Candy Designs  //  Rambling Renovators  //  The Creek Line House  //  PMQ for two

Friday

Kim Power Style  //  Northern Style Exposure  //  Vinyet Etc  //  Amidst The Chaos  //  One House 2 Barns

Have an inspired day!