Around the House: Spruce Up Your Home for Spring

By Yehudit Garmaise

The rain may be coming down today, but colorful flowers will soon be popping up.

The first day of spring is just three weeks away.

When the greenery looks more vivid outside and the warm weather returns, we may look around and wonder how we can spruce things up at home. There is no need to do major renovations to make small improvements to increase the enjoyment of the homes and create a positive sense of renewal and inspiration.

Consider the following list of “small” things that can be done to take the first step toward preparing for the spring Yom Tov season.

1. Curtains: Like clothing, curtains get dirty and wear out. At the very least, they need to be cleaned. Take them down and take them to a professional dry cleaner, or have someone come to steam-clean the drapes. Only wash curtains yourself after checking the labels to ensure you can. 

Don’t put drapes in the dryer, as their length could shrink. If your curtains don’t hang dry without wrinkles, iron your curtains before rehanging them or hanging them, and then use a portable clothes steamer to steam away the wrinkles.. Alternatively, if the curtains look like they need to be replaced, now is the time.

2. Get carpets and rugs professionally cleaned, and replace any threadbare throw rugs.

3. Bath and kitchen towels: If any bathroom or kitchen towels have holes, tears, and strings hanging from them, it is time to toss old towels or cut them up and use them for cleaning rags while buying a new set.

4. Chairs: Are any of the chairs in your home just uncomfortable? Kitchen chairs? The chair on which you sit to work? Look for sales or even gently used furniture at consignment shops or resale shops to replace anything that just doesn’t feel or look great when you take a seat.

5. Think of your favorite color, and then make it pop: Keep your eyes out for inexpensive pops of color for your home, such as elegant throw pillows for your couch, a new rug, or matching coffee mugs.

6. Declutter: Many times, the best way to improve space is not by adding to it but by removing the clutter. Take an hour each day for a week or two to look around and consider what papers should be filed or thrown away, what toys and clothes are no longer used, and what kitchen items are never used. Toss whatever is garbage, box up items others can use, and give them away. 

7. Bring spring inside by adding a plant or two to sunny spots inside the home. Ferns, hanging plants, potted floor plants, and flowering plants are easy to care for and perfect for a new season. Water and prune dead leaves every week.

Pick up some cheerful, inexpensive, fresh-cut flowers, or keep silk flowers in a vase on your dining room table or other surfaces to bring good cheer to everyone who enters your home.