AAANND, we’re back!!! We’re also anxiously anticipating the Spring weather, which doesn’t seem to be anywhere in sight! (By the way, did you catch our Instagram Stories with the 3 snow days/NO school in the UK or the Michigan Avenue evening snowball fights?)
Anyway, with the Fall & Winter holiday decor down, it was looking a little ‘blah’ at the house– not festive, not glittery and it was somewhat drab outside when the snow melted, came back & melted again. Since we weren’t quite ready for a full on ‘Spring Cleaning’ or to bring out the beautiful flower boxes, we found a simple way to bridge the gap between this seasonal ‘awkward stage’ with a few floral arrangements and what may be the single easiest & cheapest way to enter into divorce territory– a thousand new pillows for the sofa & chairs in the family room. We like to switch up the pillows & throw blankets every season because 1) it’s a simple way to change the mood of the room and 2) our kids destroy nice things (accidentally) so nothing lasts too long if it’s in constant contact with little ones.
Now, our husbands prefer a more streamlined, ‘minimal’ look and so they do not always appreciate the painstakingly curated cache of 18 huge pillows in the family room, nor do they always feel the vibe of a few new throw blankets, so while we wish they could appreciate the a.dose.of vision for the genius that it is, we digress… that can be saved for a later post… Below you will find a few super simple & inexpensive ideas to update your space for this in between season too!
Best, N+K
New pillows in greige, beige, charcoal and the palest blue.
Notice the jade plant from this post is still alive! You see, we’re nurturers!
While we definitely prefer fresh flowers, there may be a situation where we absolutely need a low maintenance option, and luckily there are plenty of great quality faux flowers that we can get instead. A few of our favorites are found HERE, HERE, HERE & HERE. Try to add at least one or two live, hearty succulents to the mix if at all possible. Even we can keep succulents alive!
Here we used an off white faux floral in a silver glass vase to keep things light and airy on the kitchen table
In the Master Bedroom, we added a tiny bit of color with the lightest pinky-peach flower with muted sage color leaves in a square mirrored vase. The goal was to have this nightstand be as girly as possible. Oh, and the wallpaper in the room isn’t actually wall paper at all- it was hand painted. K+ loves David Hicks and so she adapted his famous hexagon wallpaper into a loose, layered, distressed wall treatment. It took several nights of good old-fashioned hard work, but hand painting it herself was the best option at the time. (any other moms DIY when the kids go to bed, or is it just us???) The Restoration Hardware nightstand, which once upon a time was stained black was also hand painted with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint & Annie Sloan Wax and given a new life when K+ was on a DIY binge- as was the other nightstand and one of the giant RH dressers. Some people thought we were crazy to paint nice RH furniture because it wasn’t ‘flea market’ type of stuff, but don’t be afraid to repurpose or repaint your furniture- even the nice stuff! We LOVE the finished product so much more than the factory finish.
We added the brighter coral-pink floral arrangement in a white geometric vase to add a pop of color & texture to the mostly white foyer. You can catch a glimpse of one of K+’s original canvas paintings in the mirror’s reflection- see how the flower color works well with it? In yet another DIY haze, K+ hand painted the table white with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint & Annie Sloan Wax. It used to be black, but the foyer needed to be lighter & brighter. And the Annie Sloan Chalk Paint situation is totally addictive. Anyone else with us on that?
Yep- these shelves got the Annie Sloan Chalk Paint & Wax treatment too! We found the mirrored frames ages ago at West Elm, but dug them out of storage to add some of K+’s original art & a favorite line from Springsteen’s ‘Hungry Heart’ when we lightened up the foyer. In the brilliant words of the ‘Boss’, “Like a river that don’t know where it’s flowin’, I took a wrong turn and I just kept going.” Like we say here @a.dose.of, if the shoe (or quote) fits, wear it. 
(mirrored frames= awkward iPhone photo reflections)
A giant bowl of succulents adds a refreshing touch of green to the hallway buffet. Surprisingly enough, we paid someone else to custom paint this piece of furniture (HERE). However, you will see the bottom of a canvas painted by one of our kiddos. We love to display our kids abstract art in a place of prominence!
This bowl can easily be replicated for either live or faux succulents by using an old wooden bowl, a plastic liner, potting material for succulents & some Oasis floral foam for live plants, or by using using an old wooden bowl, dry floral foam & sheet moss with faux succulents.
We love freshening up our homes for the different seasons and hope you can use some of these simple ideas in your own space. And let us know what you do to spruce things up- we’re always on the lookout for great ideas!