How to Use Uplifting Blues and Greens in Your Hamptons Home This Spring

Greetings to all in the Hamptons from Harlech, perched on the majestic, sweeping coastline of North Wales.

Mt. Snowdon, far above the bay, is outlined by a spring snowfall while down here at the water’s edge golden swathes of daffodils, resilient pastel primroses, hawthorn and broom hedges are all in bloom. In the south of England the usual May showing of woodland bluebells has already pushed up through the soft warm soil. Fluffy white clouds, periwinkle blue skies and the fresh vital green of spring’s early growth abound.

It’s the perfect time to refresh and revitalize your home or office; throw out the magazines and paperwork piled up over the winter months, re-pot the house plants, de-clutter your laundry and utility rooms (why do we buy multiples of everything?!), create order and surface space in your kitchen, rethink recycling tasks so they are less of an eyesore and more effective. In other words, make your environment feel lighter, less stressful and charged with optimism for the coming months.

I love this month’s theme for The English Home magazine: “Enliven interiors with uplifting blues and greens.” No need for garish tulip colors to mark the beginning of spring, or even the decorator’s staple of pink and green. Instead, work with the clean, refreshing simplicity of an honest cobalt blue or the vibrancy of a fresh-mowed green. Easy on the eye, elegantly cheerful.

Walking around a village in Cheshire, England I spotted a wonderful display of blue-and-white fabrics and wallpapers that would elegantly freshen up a powder room, kitchen nook, hallway or bedroom, bringing a sense of peace, clarity and harmony to home dwellers and visitors alike.

Work in the kitchen, the heart of the home, and place a blue-and-white milk jug of white daisies and green ivy on the window sill or re-pot early season herbs in an oriental blue cache pot. Visit the consignment store and pick up a rural scene blue-and-white tureen or serving platter and fill with Granny Smith apples for an eye-catching display. If the installation of a new blue Aga is a stretch, then just exchange your tea towels for fresh blue-and-white striped linen ones and place a blue bowl filled with lemons and limes on the stove or hob. Place a feathery fern in a white pot next to the sink, and, if your stainless steel friend has seen better days, change it for a white porcelain one and feel the difference immediately.

In the entrance hall display a recycled blue wine bottle and a vintage blue vase to catch the light and provide a calm yet uplifting welcome to your home.

So, feel re-energized and create a clean, simple, fresh home environment with blues and greens that breathe new life into your hopes and dreams this spring in the Hamptons.

Helen Lind is an interior decorator, organizer and home stager working in Long Island and Manhattan. You can contact her at (516) 922-3518 for a proposal or consultation, or visit her www.englishivyinteriors.com.