Think color, perhaps something new and different, as we get ready for spring with fresh paint to brighten our interior living spaces and enhance our moods as well
Depending on what part of the country we are in, it’s either starting to look a little spring or remains the dead of winter. Still, the spring will come, and we can begin taking one significant step to speed it along and make us feel better about closing out the winter season as we remain living in our present homes.
There still could be several very cold days ahead, and there could be some more snow and ice in the forecast – again, depending on where we live. Nevertheless, we can get past this and begin focusing on the warmer, bright spring days that are coming.
Spring is such a great season. It signifies rebirth and renewal. The grass turns green, begins to fill in, and starts growing again. Of course, that eventually means cutting it, but it’s nice to have a green yard again. The trees will begin to show their new leaves, and many of them will bus with beautiful blossoms and flowers. Flower beds that have been largely dormant or blanketed with snow will emerge with new, colorful blooms.
Spring also signals a time for cleaning, but we’ll that for another time. Notice how easy that was to put off cleaning until later? Isn’t procrastination helpful?
Back to getting ready for spring in a relatively easy, somewhat inexpensive way to approach the coming season and give us a headstart into feeling like spring is fast approaching or that it is actually here. Whether this is our own home or that of a client, the one thing that can be done now inside the home to make it fresh and ready for spring is to add a fresh coat of paint.
It’s amazing what new paint will do to brighten and freshen a room – whether it’s just a fresh application of the same wall paint that was there or something new and different to create a different look and mood. Color has a powerful ability to affect the way we feel emotionally. Maybe a new color will also suggest new furnishings, or it might complement new furniture that was recently acquired.
Nevertheless, paint has a rather magical quality that can hide imperfections and blemishes, freshen a space, create new life, and make us feel better about a room or particular space in our homes. The other great thing about paint is that it is not permanent. While some of us enjoy painting more than others, and some of us are much neater while doing it than others (minimal or no streaks, overspray, drips, or putting paint where it is not intended), we are free to paint as often as we like. There can be some logistics involved such as moving furniture, covering bookcases and other items, masking off the floor, and reaching a tall ceiling, but painting can be as frequent an event as we are comfortable doing. The end results make all of the efforts in getting ready and going through the process worthwhile – at least they should.
Another thing that new paint does is underscore our personal style and personality. It allows us to brand our space as ours. Even if the home immediately next door has a light blue living room, it likely is not the same shade and possibly not even the same brand of paint. It may have been applied months or even years previously. Then, when coupled with the accessories and furnishings in the room plus the colors of adjacent rooms, that living room next door – while essentially the same color as ours – can have an entirely different look.
This underscores the principle of aging in place where no two dwellings, even if they are adjacent and built at the same time and even occupied by twins or siblings, have exactly the same look or lives exactly the same. We all put our own personal touch on the space and have our own needs that we expect to be met.
We may have painted in preparation for the holidays because we knew we would be entertaining and needed the space to look bright and appealing for all of the people who would be coming into our homes. That’s fine, but we are at the threshold of a new season, and there is nothing that says that we can’t paint as often as feel we like. If we have the inclination to repaint – whether we do it ourselves or have it done for us – now is the perfect time to freshen our interior space and get it ready for springtime weather.
We look forward to spring with all that it offers. It lifts our spirits and makes us feel good after a relatively dormant indoor season over the winter months. Lets’ make a positive step of getting ready by spreading some interior paint.