Spring Hygge
Spring begins so fickly. A warm day, a cold day. A hot day, snow. A warm day with a cold breeze. A cold day with a warm breeze. Just like autumn, we start the day in cardigans and sweaters, but layered over short sleeves. Both boots and flip flops clutter the doorways.
Spring is a time to notice. It’s so short yet abundant in magic. Trees bud out overnight. Daffodils, a flower linking back generations of women, spring up in a happy yellow. We start digging through last year’s detritus and find flowers springing up. In just a few short weeks, the winter—gray and monochrome—is beaten back by a riot of colorful flowers. Brown and gray is replaced with rich greens. The sky sparkles, the birds sing, everything is busy and alive with life!
So what is spring hygge?
We still want to fill our homes with coziness, but we long to throw off winter, to feel bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. We want to stretch and laugh with delight. We don’t want heavy any more. What are some things we can do to stay cozy but take advantage of spring’s budding out?
● Change out heavy blankets for light ones
● Transition closets even if layers are still needed
● Trade out velvets and wool for cotton and linen
● Get new sheets
● Introduce fresh colors into your home
● Make or bring out of storage spring pillow covers
● Air out the beds
● Explore the library’s seed catalog
● Buy or make bouquets of flowers
● Berry Salads
● Painted Eggs
● Explore Easter Myths and Resurrection Stories
● Buy a new dress
● Enjoy a traditional Easter Feast
● Incorporate a nature journal into your home and learn about local flora and fauna
● Lighten meals with more salads and bright green veggies
● Open your windows
● Pause to enjoy the sound of rain
● Read the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis
● Visit a plant store
● Enjoy the first glass of iced tea
● Spring Clean!
● Plan planting
● Plant!
All this and more are wonderful ways to embrace spring and create coziness while encouraging your home to release the sleepy hibernation of winter. Growing up, spring was the time gardens were started and baby animals were born. It was a busy, busy time of the year, but it was also a time for exploring. Not only did the forest and hills take on new life as they shook off the winter chill, not only did the sides of the road suddenly become decorated with wild flowers, but seedlings sprouted and little baby birds chirped their high pitched hunger at their parents. Spring is broad but also very close and small. Each day had new green growth as beans reached for the sky and the oaks leafed out. This is why we deep clean in the spring! This element of expansive and narrow fills the world and is so useful in our homes. Spring cleaning is the tried and true method of wisking away the cobwebs of winter for the bright, lively green of spring. This too is cozy. It’s a different cozy then snuggling in in winter, but it’s cozy none the less.
Personally, I almost never actually “spring clean.” For some reason, the year starts off with a roar and the next thing I know it’s June. But spring cleaning seems hard-wired into our DNA. I want to spring clean. I want the energy and ability to shut life off for a week and clean until my whole house is gleaming. I’ve even thought of hiring a cleaning crew to only do spring cleaning. Maybe one day I’ll do that. Or, maybe I need to spring clean from March through May and just give myself more time.
Either way, Spring is a time of life, blooming, a slow start and then a brilliant dance as everything bursts into color. Hygge
