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4 Fun Ideas to Celebrate Spring this Easter

Easter is coming this Sunday, and we’re getting ready and excited to celebrate here at Kelley Astore Interiors! Whether or not you’re religious, Easter marks a time to celebrate spring and all the budding life around us. Especially after such a difficult year, this spring feels especially symbolic and full of hope for a new and better life. All over the country, flowers are blooming, the days are getting longer, and the trees are sprouting with new life. Keep reading to find out 4 fun ideas to celebrate spring or Easter this year!

Traditional Celebrations: Family Time & Easter Egg hunts

Whether or not you’re religious and will be attending a service, there are many traditional ways to celebrate this time of year that will always be fun. Get the kids involved with dying and decorating Easter eggs, and then use the eggs you’ve decorated together to set up an Easter Egg hunt. Establish a prize for the winner and watch the whole family have a fun time.

Set up your backyard for an Easter Dinner with the family. Decorate with fresh flowers and soft colors. Be sure to check out our article for tips on hosting an outdoor celebration! If you’re unable to have family over this year, schedule a time for everyone to hop on a Zoom call for a virtual Easter Dinner. Have everyone go around and name a few things they’re excited for this spring and their hopes for their lives post-pandemic.

The most important part is being with the people you love, in person or virtually. Spring is such a beautiful time of year and should be celebrated in harmony with your loved ones.

Go on a Long Nature Walk

As blossoms fill the trees, this is one of the best times of year to get out in nature and take in the sights and smells of spring. On a sunny day, invite your loved one to join you and choose a trail you haven’t taken before. Turn it into a family fun activity by challenging the children to see how many different plants and flower species they can identify or find. If they’re able to find a certain amount, reward them with chocolate eggs or with choosing a movie to watch that night.

Alternatively, book a day off work and head into nature with your journal. Find a peaceful and quiet spot to lay down a picnic blanket and write down all of your intentions for the spring. Pay attention to the songs of the birds and the wind gently blowing through the trees – let it fill you up with hope for a better future.

Get in the Garden

The spring planting season has arrived and the warmer weather invites us to get into the garden. There is something in soil called Mycobacterium Vaccae which actually activates neurons in the brain that stimulate serotonin production. Serotonin is the brain chemical responsible for making us feel happy and content. That’s right – gardening is a natural antidepressant, which is perfect for anyone who gets the winter blues. Whether you’re planting in pots, a raised bed, or straight in the ground, it’s the perfect time of year to begin gardening on a regular basis. If you’re not sure where to start, visit your local garden center and employ the help of the staff to get you started. If you’re short on time or eager to fill your garden quickly, garden centers will have plenty of potted plants that are ready to be transplanted straight into your soil.

Get Creative With Flowers

One of the loveliest things about nature is that it is meant to be interacted with – not just looked at. It’s the perfect time of year to begin experimenting and getting creative with flowers. Why not try learning how to arrange your own bouquet? There are online classes and free resources to help get you started.

You can also try learning how to press flowers to keep their color and life around much longer than their natural life span. Alternatively, learning how to dry flowers and bouquets is a fun and simple task that will leave you something beautiful to decorate your home with.

Bring the spring inside!

In addition to these fun easy ways to celebrate Easter, be sure to check out our article on four ways to brighten your home in preparation for spring!

One of my favorite Easters was when I was able to celebrate in NYC. There were so many beautiful flowers around, and I can’t wait to go back when I’m able to. There is no doubt that this past year has been particularly hard on many of our hearts. Let us strive to learn from the Earth: no matter how cold or devastating the winter seems, Earth always comes to life in the spring. We too can grow again and look to the sun for our nourishment. Let us be gentle with our hearts and with each other. Happy Easter and happy spring!

How to Bring Character to a Room Through Woodwork

Wood is one of the oldest materials known to architects and interior designers. Humans are connected to wood. As Donald Culross Peattie said in American Heartwood, “Wood if you stop to think of it, has been man’s best friend in the world. It held him in his cradle […] was the frame of the bed he came to rejoicing, the log upon his hearth when he was cold and will make him his last long home. It was the murmuring bough above his childhood play, and the roof over the first house he called his own.”

This versatile and hardy material is one that is not going to go out of style. In the United Kingdom, they use the term “joinery” for woodworking, especially aesthetic woodworking. It refers to the way that two pieces of wood are joined together. But the name also demonstrates the way that cleverly used wood can “join” or tie elements in a room together.

The ways you can use wood in interior design are near endless. It’s a practical, often cost-effective, and easily accessible material that looks amazing. Keep reading to find out 3 easy ways to bring character to a room through the woodwork.

Coffered Ceiling

Coffered Ceilings are a great way to add dimension and character to a room, making it appear taller and more interesting. A coffer refers to sunken panels in a ceiling, often in the shape of rectangles, squares, or circles. Coffered Ceilings date back to the ancient Greeks and Romans who used stone to create the coffers. They were a symbol of prestige and formality.

Today, the most common type of coffered ceiling is created with wooden beams crisscrossing to create geometric patterns and shapes, and the results are stunning. Painting the sunken parts of the ceiling the same color as the walls, and then painting the wooden beams the same color as the trim is a quick and easy way to tie a room together into one cohesive design. Alternatively, staining or leaving the naked wood with a simple varnish adds beautiful depth and color.

Built-Ins

Bespoke built-in units are one of our favorite things to create for our clients at Kelley Astore Interiors. We always use wood and often use glass for added texture. Wooden built-in units are such an easy way to add character, storage space, desks, TV stands, and more without taking up too much space. The combination of shelves and cabinetry provides space for decor, books, and clutter that you want to put away. The wood provides a lovely contrast in texture, and once again can be painted or designed to match the wooden trim and coffered ceilings.

This built-in unit will house a TV, books, and family pictures. It transforms the room into a truly wonderful place for the family to come, relax and watch a good movie. As we find ourselves spending more and more time at home, it’s lovely to have your TV and all the components fit nicely into one area.

Floors

Perhaps one of the most common ways to incorporate wood into a design is with wooden floors. Wooden floors are elegant, practical, and look simply amazing. No matter which wood type and color you choose, wooden floors always provide a lovely contrast to the walls. They can be dressed with rugs to section a room off.

Whether you choose to use the same type of wood on your floors as on your coffered ceiling, or you choose two contrasting tones, using wood for multiple elements in your design will automatically bring character to a room and tie a design together. In this entryway, we used the same wood for the floors as we did for the stairs and banister. Do you see how it makes the room look cohesive?

Choosing Wood & Designing

If you are looking to renovate a room and incorporate wood, be sure to check out our article on different types of wood for kitchen cabinets or anywhere in your house where you want bespoke wooden cabinetries and units.

At Kelley Astore Interiors, we work with the best craftsmen and woodworkers to help turn your dream home into a reality. Attempting to install coffered ceilings, built-in units and wooden floors can be difficult and overwhelming without proper experience and training. So let us help you! Head to our services page to book your free consultation today.

THE DOWAGER DUCHESS OF DEVONSHIRE, PHOTOGRAPHED BY BRUCE WEBER AT CHATSWORTH, 1995.

Celebrating Women’s History Month: My Favorite Trailblazers

March is Women’s History Month: a time to celebrate women and challenge the barriers we still face today. According to Zippia: The Career Expert, women make up about 75% of the United States interior design industry but still tend to be paid less (female interior designers make an average of $55,179 per year compared to the $55,546 of their male counterparts). Additionally, men tend to be able to enter the industry at an age 7-8 years younger than women. And this is just for the interior design sector, the statistics are much starker for architects.

Needless to say, progress must still be made. As a female designer myself, this is something close to my heart. I have always been influenced by great women designers now and throughout history. Keep reading to learn about my favorite trailblazers: two historic women designers who inspire me every day.

Deborah Vivien Freeman-Mitford Cavendish: the Dowager Duchess of Devonshire

The Duchess of Devonshire is one of my favorite style setters, and where I draw a lot of my inspiration from. I’ve always admired English design, but the energy and spirit that Deborah attacked her designs with always inspire me.

Born to barons in 1920 and the youngest of six daughters, Deborah was deemed to live an extraordinary life. She married Lord Andrew Cavendish who became the 11th Duke of Devonshire upon his father’s death in 1950. Deborah quickly found herself the chatelaine of the extravagant 297 room Chatsworth house, which she had referred to as “a fabulous mess” following the two world wars. She wasted no time in bringing Chatsworth house back to life and into a major English historic site.

IMAGE FROM CHATSWORTHHOUSE.ORG

Chatsworth House is breathtaking, to say the least. It is the epitome of grand excellence, wealth, elegance, and beauty – all at the hands of the 11th Duchess of Devonshire. However, what Deborah did following her husband’s death in 2004 is where the real show is.

Deborah was instructed to move out of Chatsworth House upon her late husband’s passing, so that her son, the 12th Duke of Devonshire could take over Chatsworth House. Deborah moved into the Old Vicarage, an 8-bedroom country house less than a mile from Chatsworth. Once again, she wasted no time in using her magic to refurbish her new home and garden. Even in her 80s, she was working tirelessly to create a place to call home for the rest of her days. Seen planting rose bushes and turning each room into a unique celebration of the old and new, I consider her to be one of the original “grand millennial” style setters. She filled her home and garden with unique bespoke pieces and souvenirs, each with personal sentiment. The pictures alone speak for themselves.

Diana Vreeland: A Woman Who Refused to Apologize

Diana Vreeland is another one of my favorite women in history. Most known for her fashion authority and being the editor-in-chief for Vogue Magazine in the 60s and early 70s, she also had a passion for architecture and decorating. But perhaps the most remarkable part about her was the unapologetic passion and daring vision she brought to every project she worked on. In fact, it was this that brought her a certain amount of notoriety. It’s said that many of her employees would leave the office crying, when she wouldn’t take no for an answer and when she allowed her creativity to run with no bounds. I can’t help but wonder if she really was the “tyrant” that some tabloids enjoy making her out to be. When I look at her story, I see a woman who refused to be held by the barriers of her time, even if that meant being painted as a “monster.” She knew that she wanted to change fashion and make history, and that’s exactly what she did.

Her creativity wasn’t confined to just the magazines she worked on. Her New York Apartment is an ode to her eclectic vision and understanding of color. She once said, “I want my apartment to look like a garden: a garden in hell!” Her apartment is a wonderfully varied composition of bold colors and patterns. While most people may not describe wanting their home to bear any semblance to hell in any shape or form, it goes to show that Vreeland truly embodied the idea that her home and her art was for her and her only.

A Lesson in History

Today, women across all industries are still expected to apologize for being bold, accommodate the male ego, and follow the status quo. These two women bravely embodied their creativity to the fullest extent, despite what may have been expected of them. They were unapologetically bold in their vision, and that is the spirit that I want to carry with me throughout every project I work on.

To learn more about me and what I built with Kelley Astore Interiors, click here.

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