Welcome everyone to the Hop Into Spring blog hop! I am so excited to be hosting this hop and to be joining nine other talented friends who will be sharing their homes decorated for spring. At the end of my post you will find the complete schedule with links to all of the other tours, so you can hop right into spring with us!

 

For this hop I am sharing part one of my Early Spring Home Tour, which highlights the living room and dining room. On Friday I will be sharing part two, which will be my Early Spring Kitchen Tour, so please be sure to stop back by then. Now who’s ready for some spring inspiration? I know I am! Let’s get hoppin’!

 

“Welcome spring!” March is a such an exciting month as we transition into spring decor by incorporating touches of green indoors which reflect the awakening of nature outdoors.

Since Easter is only a few weeks away from Saint Patrick’s Day this year, I have created an early spring theme throughout the house using lots of green. Moss, herbs, and early spring flowers reference both St. Patrick’s Day and Easter, and I can easily add in more traditional pastels and pops of color as the season springs forward.

This year I really tried to stick with the “use what you have” decorating motto for the majority of  my spring and Easter decorating, but I still wanted to do something new to the living room for spring. I decided to play around with furniture pieces I already had to see what I could come up with. To change things up I switched out our round coffee table for an antique trunk that has been in a different spot since we moved here, and I am loving the new look.

 

I did invest in some new pillows and pillow covers that will work all the way through spring and early summer. The pillows easily updated the living room and made it feel fresh for spring. Even though velvet is a heavier fabric, it is one of my favorite textiles and the teal green color is certainly springy. I have been seeing velvet pillows and curtains popping up everywhere in magazines, design catalogs and in stores for spring as well.

 

I also found this beautiful spring botanical garden pillow at Target. Since it is neutral it works great in our living room. The black design inspired me to try combining my black ticking stripe pillows (actually covers) just to see how they would look, and I am so glad I did! The black and linen adds a little more farmhouse style to the living room.

 

 

For early spring I have styled the trunk “coffee table” with a beautiful hurricane candle globe filled with moss and a vintage green transferware saucer as a candle base. I always consider blog hops and home tours to be special occasions, so I have lit candles all around to create a cozy and welcoming ambiance for all of my blog guests.

 

 

I topped a vintage McCoy pot with a moss ball and I brought out a little succulent for early spring garden style. For whimsy I added an old rusty bed “spring” to celebrate the arrival of the season. Later I added another sweet bird on two tiny ironstone plates.

The only new decoration I bought for Easter was the cute burlap, moss and lace Easter banner on the fireplace. It was very inexpensive at Hobby Lobby, and I thought it would work really well to tie in all of my rustic, shabby chic decor and spring elements together.

 

Last month I gave our fireplace a makeover by covering the outdated tile with faux tin backsplash from Lowes. I faux finished the tile for age and patina. To make the fireplace seem more original and reflect my vintage junky chic style, I placed a salvaged antique fireplace cover in the center. I have also styled around the hearth area with a couple of beautiful faux olive trees topiaries and some other junkin’ finds. The Easter banner is a nice focal point for the “new” fireplace.

 

 

 

For spring I styled a simple mantel with seasonal accents mixed in with my everyday mantel decorative pieces. Since early spring means waking up to birds singing and finding nests full of pretty little eggs, a bird theme is also appropriate for spring and Easter in addition to bunnies and baby chicks.

 

If you have seen my spring home tour from last year, you will probably recognize a few of my favorite little birds, mossy nests, and eggs, although I have tried to be creative by using them in new ways and in different areas.

 

I always incorporate decorative accents which reflect the true meaning of Easter, the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and new life for all of creation. I created a cloche display on the mantel using this pretty little Bible verse stone in a mossy nest. A small olive bucket full of faux rosemary is a reminder of the new life that is already springing forth in my herb garden too! You will see more of my faux herbs and garden style in the kitchen on part two of my tour on Friday.

 

The best part of using birds for spring is that they can “nest” around the house all through summer too.

I also styled my dough bowl over on the antique buffet with a spring birds theme and shabby vintage junk treasures.

 

 

 

 

 

Here you can get a better look at the antique buffet with the dough bowl, and the French doors which lead into the dining room.

 

Since the living room opens right into the dining room I always try to have some continuity in my decor and design from each room. I had some extra moss and candles so I decided to carry the early spring/March green theme into the dining room too. For early spring I have kept the dining room decor very simple, but I will create something a little more special for Easter.

 

I shopped my vintage dishes stash for any spring green patterns. I found the two other saucers that match the one I used in my hurricane lamp in the living room, and I also used them as bases for the candle holders on the dining room table.  A pair of vintage dogwood plates adds more vintage spring style.

I really love the simplicity here on the farm table, especially since we use our table every day. For an easy centerpiece I filled an antique ironstone pitcher with cotton and greens floral picks along with taller branches of pussy willow. Earlier this week I picked some fresh daffodils from the yard and added them in for bit of spring color.

An old ironstone platter is filled with moss balls, a few little eggs and a concrete garden bunny. I used a chippy vintage, salvaged tile which has been nailed to wood as a base.

 

Two more little concrete garden bunnies are displayed on each side of the salvaged mantel behind the table.

Each little concrete bunny is a bit different, but I have given them all a festive green “cotton tail” for Easter.

 

More subtle touches of spring green adorn the antique, salvaged buffet mirrored shelf above the faux fireplace mantel, including an orphaned tureen lid with a pretty green pattern, and my little vintage March angel.

 

 

 

I always like to have plenty of seating in the dining room so I moved this French chair in for Easter since we will be having company. Now we also have a long antique church pew on the opposite side of the table too!  I have been searching for a pew for almost two years, so I am really excited about this find!

I have been waiting for this spring home tour to reveal the pew! After about a month in the garage, we finally moved it inside last week, and now it is right at home in our dining room. It is in the perfect spot since it can be pulled right up to the table for extra seating, just in time for a big family Easter dinner around the old farm table!

 

“In The Morning When I Rise, Give Me Jesus” is a beautiful sacred song, and the sign seems right at home on the pew along with a couple of very old hymn books.

 

As you can see, I have also used the same black stripe pillows from the living room here on the pew…and they will also be showing up in the kitchen (the perks of having a “virtual” open house—you can use the same decor in different rooms!)

 

The kitchen is off to the left through the original 1921 butler door. We will end part one of my Early Spring Home Tour today with a sneek peek into the kitchen.

Beautiful sunshine and bursts of yellow and green signal the arrival of spring in the kitchen! If you love cottage farmhouse style be sure to come back for my early spring kitchen tour after you have finished touring all the homes on the hop today.

 

 

Early Spring Home Tour Part Two

Well dear readers, this concludes part one of my Early Spring Home Tour, and I truly hope you have enjoyed it, but the fun is just beginning! Next up on the hop is Stacey at Poofing The Pillows. I can’t wait to see what she has to share!

 

 

Thank you so much for visiting today! Be sure continue on and visit all of the rest of the blogs for more lovely spring inspiration. Enjoy the hop!

Amber

Farmhouse Friday Link Up

Revelation 4:5: You make all things new.