Spring Spruce Up! — The Basic Bitch Blog

Being on maternity leave, I spend a lot of time at home. Sometimes I’m productive and other times I watch marathons of Property Brothers. Warning, watching marathons of Property Brothers will lead to day dreaming of sprucing up the ol’ humble abode. I'm writing from personal experience. What better time of year, then spring, to do some sprucing up? I'm not going to say spring cleaning because let’s face it, we hear the world “cleaning” and we immediately recoil in a “Hell. No!” face. I don't enjoy cleaning but, I am not opposed to organizing and sprucing for spring. I define spring sprucing as hiding away all the reminders of winter and welcoming all the good feelings spring brings us. That’s something I think we can all support, am I right?

In my opinion the best place to start your spring sprucing is the front entrance to your home. This part of the house takes the most abuse during our very long, over staying its welcome, Canadian winters. Well at least in our household we abuse it, severely. Slushy boots everywhere, salty snow covered dog paws, wet gloves and coats all around. Basically it's a visual for how ugly winter feels about mid February.

Below I’m listing my 3 “must have’s” to keep your front entranceway organized and winter free, and then 3 ways on how to spruce it up for spring! If you are in fact like me and guilty of Property Brothers marathoning, you HAVE to know about Wayfair.ca. Hello, the catchy jingle… “It’s the feeling of done, it’s done, it’s so much fun!” Just be thankful this is a blog and not a vlog, because I will never have a career as a singer and you’d probably never return for future posts after that! Anyhow, I’m using Wayfair.ca as inspiration for items I think will help with a spring spruce up for your front entranceway or hallway. They have such a variety of products and items to browse through, and honestly when you've got a 6 month old the last thing you want to do is get stuck mid browse in a store with a hungry baby or stink diaper baby. Browsing from the convenience of your couch while watching Property Brothers is so much more appealing!

My Must Have's

Found on Wayfair.ca, product code ZPCD1417

My first must have suggestion, if you don’t already have one, is a storage bench. It's a multi functional piece for this smaller area of your home. We use our storage bench to hide all the family scarves, gloves and hats during the actual winter months and after the snow has long melted. We also now use it as a "table top" for the babe's car seat and other baby travel items. Honestly the only time I ever used it as a "bench" was when I was 9 months pregnant and trying to put shoes on. Our bench is a simple leather one like the picture to the right.
This option, well my scenario for it, only apply's for those households with pets. We have a little Chihuahua mix and winter is not her jam. She has multiple winter coats that I don’t care to see all year round. I use a cute little wicker basket to store her coats in and other year round dog stuff. Since it’s so cute I don’t care about storing it out in the open. You can find a plethora of cute baskets to use for this type, or really any other type, of storage here.
My third must have is a shoe rack, but preferably one you can hide in you closest. Our rack is exactly the same as the one below, maybe it isn't the prettiest but who cares! It’s hidden away and functional for storing all those clunky fall and winter boots until next year.

Found on Wayfair.ca, product code REBR4752

Found on Wayfair.ca, product code BGRS2605

Now for the fun part, the spruce up!

A new front door mat is a spring must, maybe not every spring but at least every other spring. Especially in a household with pets! Or better yet, have a mat specifically for the winter season and one for the spring/summer season. If you feel like going the route of seasonal front door mats go with a nice vibrant coloured or patterned mat for your spring/summer choice. I’m loving the pinwheel look pictured to the left.
My second spruce up recommendation, and it seems like an obvious one, is the addition of plants! However in my house, as I’ve mentioned before, my cat is the serial killer of any type of flower or plant. The below hanging succulent flowers would be a great addition to the front area and also out of reach from the serial killer.
Lastly to complete my spruce up list is new shoe mats. They actually probably take more abuse then the entrance rug. You can also do the seasonal shoe mats and I am in love with these mats and the vibrant colourings they are available in. Just because they hold your shoes doesn't mean they have to be ugly and boring. Live a little!

Found on Wayfair.ca, product code MRI1402

However you plan on tackling your spring spruce up, have fun with it! Cleaning sucks, but organizing and sprucing up is good for the soul. Even one new spring spruce addition can change up a room in your home. I’d love to hear your tips for organizing yourself for spring and how you like to spruce up the home after our long winter!