Virginia Kail's Cookeville TN Real Estate Blog

Cookeville Homes for Sale ~ Adding a Touch of Spring

I don't know about you, but by mid-January I am so sick of Winter that I give serious thought to running away with the circus.  To help combat the Winter blues, I like to bring Spring indoors at my house.  If you have your house for sale in Cookeville or the surrounding area, you might consider taking this approach as well.  Most buyers are weary of Winter, and a home that's already hinting at spring is a welcome relief.  So how do you add a hint of Spring to your house?  Here are a few suggestions:

1. Create Spring Vignettes.  Nothing says spring like birds, bunnies, and flowers.  Create little vignettes around the house that incorporate bird nests, bird eggs, bird houses and of course some little faux birds.  You can also use a bunny theme, or a combination of birds and bunnies.  Tuck in some small live flowers, such as the little primrose I added to this vignette in my dining room.

2. Make is smell like spring.  I suppose everyone has their own idea of what Spring smells like, but to me it smells like fresh flowers.  My favorite way of bringing that smell into my homes is by adding Bath & Bodyworks wall flowers air fresheners in the "Bamboo" scent.  I have no idea why they named the fragrance Bamboo, because it smells like the most awesome fresh spring flowers.

3. Add fresh flowers.  There are really two ways to do this, but the key is to choose flowers that bloom in Spring.  My favorites are Tulips, Hyacinths, and Daffodils.  You can opt for fresh cut flowers such as the tulips I chose above for my foyer.  I like to use fresh spring colors and display them in either clear glass containers, or clean and simple white.

4. The second way of adding fresh flowers is to buy potted flowers. Every year I buy pots of Hyacinths that are just getting ready to bloom.  The flowers will last for a couple of weeks, and the smell is out of this world. 

Here's the really cool thing about taking this approach: Once the flowers have finished blooming, you just set those pots out of sight somewhere where they can still get sunlight.  Let them dry out and die off on their own, and then before summer just store them away. (I put mine on the lower shelf in my sun room).  Next January, get those dried up pots out and trim away the dead foliage. Put them on a sunny windowsill and start watering them. Before you know it, those bulbs will be sprouting and you will have fresh spring flowers.  The following pictures demonstrate what I mean. The pots look like dirt and dried leaves, but look close at the second picture. This daffodil has already sent up the first green shoot.