Spring has arrived here in Melbourne and with it comes sunlight, heat and relief from one of the coldest Winters in 30 odd years.
A new season brings with it a notion of excitement and hope and a flurry of cleaning and decluttering our homes. While we live fairly minimally here, I too am a rather large fan of changing the home up for the warmer seasons. It’s time for me to pack away the heavy woollen throws on the sofa, change the orange blossom Carriere Freres candle for a lighter scent (Tomato is my absolute favourite- definitely worth exploring this range if you haven’t already) switch out winter blooms and heavy greenery for bunches of all white flowers.
Glossy magazines have hit the shelves with trend reports for interiors this Spring and while I personally don’t think you have to scrap everything you own and start new each season (nor do I think the magazines are actually suggesting this), it’s okay to step back and get an essence of the market and see if, and how, you want to bring this into your home.
Let’s have a little look at the major trends that are popping up.
Burnt Orange Linens by themodhemian.com
Burnt Orange
Richer hues are becoming the go-to shade over the warmer months in our homes. While many use small pops of colour throughout their home the brave are leaning towards larger investment pieces of furniture in a bold way. Burnt orange is a suprisngly versatile shade that works brilliantly with millennial pink, teal and indigo blue, and of course, crisp white if you want to create more of a fresh and clean look.
Biophilia in the living room by Dwell
2. Biophilia
Plants have been used as an accessory in homes for years so this is really nothing new, other then the type of plant we are bringing in, the volume of greenery and thefts we are keeping them in.
Plants have amazing health benefits and if you haven’t already seen it, this is an amazing Ted Talk about growing your own fresh air. Kamal Meatte outlines the types of plants that can help clean the air and how many are required per person.
Some of the trending plants are the humble, easy to care for, cactus, crocodile ferns, Anthurium, Coffee Plants, Snake Plants and Alocasia.
Ceramics by cherrykitchencabinets on Pinterest
3. Ceramics
Pottery has been around forever and seems to be in and out of ‘fashion’. Today, with the rising popularity of Scandinavian hygge and Japanese wabi sabi there has been a resurgence of making ceramics. These days, colours are slightly muted or richer, glazes are more matte and shapes are slightly more organic and thinner in profile.
Spring is a season of promises and new beginnings and everyone seems a little more joyful and ready to socialise after a Winter of hibernating. Home spun ceramics used on the dining table are now collected from a number of sources, rather than everything exactly the same from the same store. Plates and bowls don’t necessarily match, rather they work together through tonal qualities. Perhaps it is one colour referenced in each item, or you have bowls from one artisan and plates from another. Investing in a large low bowl is one way to embrace the trend as it can be used for garden salads, pasta dishes, bread rolls, fruit salads or even as a piece of art on the dining table.
Ceramics are also being used to soften spaces. Bathrooms are often white and clinical (though that is changing as they are more commonly becoming sanctuaries for relaxation and self care and the finishes are hand made tiles and layouts promote space and calm – but that’s a topic for another post). Ceramics are used as planter pots for greenery, vessels for toothbrushes or small dishes for soaps or jewellery to rest in when washing your hands. Ceramics have a tactile nature to them and in a bathroom encourage slowing down.
Linen bedding by parachutehome.com
4. Soft, tactile finishes
Delicate details are tipped to become popular this season through the use of tassels on towels, feathered ornaments, floaty ballet prints adorning walls, cloud style light shades and lighter colours of velvet upholstery.
Tactile finishes give a sense os beauty and a level of interest in what can be a limited colour palette (think white, greys, blush pinks and natural tones).
This is one of the easiest styling trends to introduce into your home this season. Switching out cushion covers on the sofa, or replacing a wooden through for a linen version can all help to make a room feel lighter and optimistic. Curtains can be switched from heavy velvet winter versions to floaty puddling-on-the-floor linen versions. Dressing your bed in linen sheet and duvet sets is my absolute favourite thing to do. In fact, once we made the swtich from cotton bedding to linen we have never looked back. We use linen sheets all year round and change the colours each season. This Spring we’ll be sleeping amongst light grey sheets, navy pillows and mustard cushions.
For more ideas on how to interpret this year’s Spring trends into your home, be sure to follow me at The Design Convention on Pinterest here.