A Big List of Ways to Make it Feel Like Spring

The season of de-thawing, sidewalk tulips, and outdoor café seating (plus some art for your walls)

When we moved to New York, I told myself I wanted to really feel the seasons.

Not just notice them out the window or comment on the temperature, but let them shape my rhythms. I didn’t grow up somewhere where the leaves turned gold in October, where it snowed before Thanksgiving, or where spring meant real blossoms pushing up through the sidewalk cracks. But now I do. Now I get all four seasons, and I’m learning to pay attention to them.

Growing up, I loved school (still do—I work in one now). One of my favorite things about it was how seasonal everything felt. Teachers changed their bulletin boards, swapped decorations, and even changed the scent in the little wax melter on their desk. Fall smelled like apple cinnamon, and I remember that scent lingering in the hallway every September. There was a rhythm to the year, and I found so much comfort in it. Each season ushered in the same events and community calendar events. I loved that as a kid.

Part of being the Creative Director of my own home means making space for that kind of joy — for rituals, little resets, and small things that mark the moment. Not performative or overdone. Just meaningful.

Spring is that reminder. It’s a time to open the windows, let the light back in, and shift into something a little lighter!

Here’s a big list of ways to make spring feel like something in your home—fresh, soft, creative, and just for you.

HOME + ATMOSPHERE

• Change your desktop wallpaper to a gingham picnic, cherry blossoms, or soft florals

• Open the windows and put on music from a French café playlist, or a little jazzy jazz

• Add fresh herbs (mint, rosemary, lavender) to a vase in your kitchen window (save some for a pitcher of water!)

• Hang a string of paper butterflies, pressed flowers, or sun catchers

• Spritz your sheets or sofa with a light linen spray (this is my favorite of all time)

• Add a bowl of lemons, oranges, or tomatoes to your table

• Rearrange/refresh one corner of your home (bookshelf, nightstand, entryway)

• Diffuse a fresh oil scent

• Put a bouquet in your kitchen

• Play a spring-themed playlist while doing some spring cleaning (open your windows to let fresh air in)

• Swap your throw pillows or tea towels for something pastel or floral

• Hang a spring wreath made of eucalyptus, dried citrus, or faux flowers

• Make your to-do list pretty: use a colorful pen, washi tape, or sticky notes

• Keep a little “joy tray” with a candle, a matchbox, and a seasonal book (I like "Before the Coffee Gets Cold”)

OUTDOORS + NATURE

• Take a “tiny things” walk: look for mushrooms, buds, bugs, sprouts

• Start a nature journal with daily sketches or pressed leaves

• Visit a farmer’s market and buy the prettiest produce you need. Display proudly in the fridge.

• Take your coffee outside — even if it’s still a bit chilly

• Scatter wildflower seeds in your yard, window box, or a public green patch

• Walk a new route to notice new trees or gardens

• Make a “cloud diary” — take a photo of the sky every day for a week (bonus points to turn them into paintings)

• Sit in the grass for five minutes and do nothing. Just notice.

• Go on a “smell walk”: notice the dirt, the blossoms, the rain

• Leave a tiny bouquet on a neighbor’s doorstep

• Try identifying birds by their calls using the Merlin Bird ID app

  

CREATIVE PROJECTS

• Make a seasonal Pinterest board (here’s my spring wardrobe inspiration board!)

• Create a spring color palette and name the colors yourself :) — I’ve been sharing some!

• Decorate your laptop desktop like it’s a room — icons, wallpaper, layout

• Paint your nails in a soft ombré of pastels or use nail stickers

• Write a spring-inspired short story, poem, or journal entry

• Start a fresh sketchbook or scrapbook for spring — collage, draw, doodle

• Print photos and make a seasonal gallery wall

• Write a spring bucket list and decorate it like a school project

• Try painting or embroidering a tote bag with a flower or veggie motif

• Make a photo diary of “spring textures” (bark, blossoms, cracks in the sidewalk)

• Press flowers in a book and make bookmarks or cards out of them

• Make a tiny zine about your spring rituals

FOOD + RITUALS

• Eat strawberries in a bowl, quick!

• Make toast with lemon curd or strawberry jam and eat it outside

• Try a new spring drink each week: lavender lemonade, iced matcha, herbal spritz

• Have a backyard or windowsill tea party with real teacups (invite lots of friends)

• Make tiny open-faced sandwiches: radish + butter, cucumber + dill

• Bake something with edible flowers or citrus zest

• Make your own salad dressing and put it in a cute bottle

• Keep fresh herbs in water by the sink and use them daily

• Put lemon slices and fresh mint in your water

• Choose a spring cookbook to flip through for seasonal ideas

• Light a candle before breakfast and make the moment sacred

• Buy yourself a single fancy pastry from your favorite local bakery and savor it

• Create a little “picnic basket” for inside — just snacks, tea, and a blanket

STYLE + SELF

• Pick an outfit that screams SPRING and wear it boldly!

• Add a ribbon to your ponytail, your purse, or your kitchen drawer knob

• Paint your nails a jelly color

• Switch to a tote bag or market basket for everyday use

• Wear perfume even if you’re staying home

• Try a new hairstyle just for a week

• Swap your pajamas for something linen or floaty

• Curate a “Spring Uniform” — 3 go-to outfits you love and feel like yourself in

• Make a DIY honey lip scrub (invite friends over for a little craft party!

• Wear socks with strawberries or tulips on them

• Give yourself a “market day” look just to go buy bok choy

LITTLE THINGS THAT FEEL LIKE MAGIC

• Watch Little Women, Kiki’s Delivery Service, or Paddington 2

• Press flowers between pages of your planner

• Make a playlist called “Botanical Garden” or “Windows Open Mornings”

• Pink lemonade?! When’s the last time you had pink lemonade!? Oh my gosh I just remembered there’s strawberry lemonade too

• Sit by the window (early morning or late evening is best for this) and read a chapter with a blanket and tea

• Tape a love note to the inside of your cabinet for someone special to find

• Keep a tiny notebook in your bag for poems or overheard phrases

• Go to the library and check out a new, big book

• Draw something with oil pastels, and hang it on the fridge

• Treat a weekend like a spa day — even if it’s just 20 minutes of still

• Print your own spring bucket list — tape it somewhere!

• Change your wall art! I made you some art prints! You can download any of these prints for free in their highest quality in the red clickable link provided below: