Looking for hutch decorating ideas for spring? Here’s how I changed up my favorite yard sale hutch from winter to spring.

I know we’ve all slept since Christmas but do you remember this hutch that I decorated with tiny houses and trees?

It still looked like this yesterday. The rest of the house is all decorated for spring. There are flowers and blue and white and spring decor everywhere else. But in the kitchen? It’s the land that spring forgot.

Yep.

Winter houses.

Winter trees.

Winter sparkles and tiny snowflakes.

Vintage trucks filled with tiny Christmas trees.

But now?

Spring has sprung in the kitchen.

And now the hutch looks like this.

|| faux peonies || faux pink flowers || bunny butter dish || white pitcher ||

Just in case you were wondering, this is not Extreme Makeover:  The Hutch Edition.

No laser wrinkle removing.

No hair extensions.

No facial reconstruction.

No dental implants.

Nothing drastic.

It’s just a mini refresh.  Kind of like when Kathy Lee and Hoda nab an unsuspecting woman off the street and take her into the studio and they change her hair color and give her a new haircut and style and put some eye shadow on her and dress her in some Spanx and a really cute outfit from JC Penny’s. And then she tentatively steps out from behind the curtain and her family gathers around her and is all like “You look incredible.”  Then she breaks into hysterical sobs because she realizes that she has finally left the 1970’s behind and stepped into 2023.

|| faux peonies || faux pink flowers || bunny butter dish || white pitcher ||

 

Not that the 1970’s isn’t all that and a bag of chips.

It’s just sometimes we all could use a mini-facelift.

Or a good pair of Spanx.

Whichever comes first.

|| faux peonies || faux pink flowers || white pitcher || sugar and creamer ||

 

I truly love this hutch holding up the back wall of the kitchen. It’s one of my favorite yard sale finds ever.

It’s been all over the house. It used to be upstairs at the farmhouse and then it was in the playroom and eventually, one day, it made the arduous trip across the Mississippi river to my kitchen in Texas.

Where things are a lot fancier.

Much more uptown.

Much more the royal blue eye shadow and JC Penny spiffy dress crowd.

|| faux peonies || faux pink flowers || white pitcher || sugar and creamer ||

 

I’ve had so many different things on its shelves and it’s survived all of them. But today? I wanted to talk about something different.

Today I wanted to talk about how I changed it up from winter into spring.

Here are the steps that I took to change it up for the seasons.

Hutch Decorating Ideas For Spring

1. Take everything off the shelves

I know.

I get it.

It sounds counterintuitive.

But sometimes it’s really hard to see the hutch forest for the trees. You need a blank slate to help you figure it out. So let’s start our hutch styling with taking everything off the shelves. Then stand back and take a good look at your hutch.

Isn’t it so cute?

Pat your hutch on the back.

It’s about to get even cuter.

|| faux peonies || faux pink flowers || bunny butter dish || white pitcher || sugar and creamer ||

 

2. Add height

This is the first step I take whenever I style a hutch.

It’s just hutch common sense.

If you lined the shelves of your hutch with bowls and stacked plates and you never added anything to the back of the hutch it would look empty. This hutch is a little challenging because the back of the bottom shelf is so tall.

Here are a few simple tips for adding height to your hutch:

  • plate holders
  • simply add plate holders to the back of your plates and hang them up on the hutch
  • add oversized platters to the back of the hutch
  • line up plates against the back of smaller shelves

|| faux peonies || faux pink flowers || white pitcher || sugar and creamer ||

 

3. Stack it up

Don’t just think vertically when adding dishes to your hutch.

Think horizontally, too.

I add stacks of books all over the shelves. The stack makes it easy to get everything at the right height.

When I first started decorating the hutch and I didn’t have tons of dishes, I just went to Walmart and bought two sets of white dishes and then stacked them all over the hutch. I stacked the coffee cups on top of plates and so on. Once I found pieces I loved, I didn’t need to stack everything because I had larger size pieces, but it all started with a stack.

4. Keep it odd

When placing things on your hutch, you want to add things in odd numbers.

Some people call this the rule of threes.

(total aside: but really—between us? Why stop at three?)

I’m not really sure why, but odd numbers just make everything look better. Shop your house for a collection of your favorite things and then add them to the hutch in uneven numbers. You can see all the groups of threes on the hutch.

|| bunny butter dish ||

5. Add pops of color

When I decorated the hutch for spring it was important to add color.

Here are some of my favorite ways to add spring:

  • add a vase full of branches with green leaves
  • full a bowl full of apples
  • fill pitchers with flowers (real or faux)
  • layer in the pops of colors on different sides of the hutch

Here’s where we started.

|| faux peonies || faux pink flowers || white pitcher || sugar and creamer ||

 

And here’s where we finished.

Winter to spring in under 30 minutes.

Except.

Except it wasn’t just winter.

Wait until you see what I found when I rearranged the pitchers.

Yep.

PUMPKINS.

Mini pumpkins that I tucked into this tiny pitcher and promptly forgot about.

Sigh.

Just when I’m all about myself? An errant gourd shows up.

You got this friend.

Your spring mini-hutch makeover is just around the corner.

I know it’s 2023.

I get it.

But just between us? Sometimes all a makeover needs is to go old school with a really good eyeliner, some Aqua Net Hair Spray, a little blue eyeshadow…

….and to get rid of the pumpkins. 🙂

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Comments

  1. Image for Lee Stearns Lee Stearns

    I love the colorful spring refresh! On another note- do you have a store near you called “ At Home”? They have a new line called Providence that has your style all over it! Check it out! You’re a breath of spring to all of us! Thanks for sharing your joy, humor, enthusiasm and encouragement!

    1. Image for Barbara Barbara

      Cute spring update. The tiny goards made me laugh. Your blog is such a refreshing read. Did you buy the faux blossoms online?

  2. Image for Shelley Lehmann Shelley Lehmann

    I soooooo look forward to reading your posts; you are entertaining! Errant gourds... LOL! And the whole "Kind of like when Kathy Lee and Hoda nab an unsuspecting woman off the street and take her into the studio..." cracks me up! You make the start of my day fun. Thank you!

  3. Image for JC JC

    Hahaaaaa....you made me smile! This is such a happy spring look and the flowers will never droop. That's a win! Just wondering now that spring is nearly upon us and yard sale season will be sprouting, are you going to bring back, "What I Bought Wednesday's? Just wondering. :)

  4. Image for Karen Karen

    It’s beautiful! I love the color pops. Random question though: What is the silver metal container on top of the hutch in both the winter and spring pics?

  5. Image for Jodena Beale Jodena Beale

    Such pretty colors, and you crack me up with the stories. Your hutch looks fantastically spring. Just beautiful like you. Now I have to find where I put my aqua net hairspray and blue eye shadow.

  6. Image for Rena Rena

    Love your writing, your style, and your heart! Thanks for a good chuckle this morning, Karianne. The hutch looks perfectly springtastic now!

  7. Image for sharon k brown sharon k brown

    Good morning, Karianne ! Everyday, anxious to read your site ! You are such an inspiration ! I appreciate your positive attitude, joy, humor, enthusiasm and cuteness ! Yes, you are a wonderful story teller. My home is decorated in blue. When I was married, I selected Blue Danube China which I still love after 53 yrs ! Thank you for making me happy !

  8. Image for Diana Clark Diana Clark

    KariAnne there are so many faux flowers now that are beautiful. You always find them. I had some very real looking Lilacs I put in a vase at work and I used Lilac spray on them. I can't tell you how many people thought they were real. Love your posts. You bring a smile every time I read one!

  9. Image for Marlene Stephenson Marlene Stephenson

    Oh it is so pretty, your hutch is ready for Spring and I love all the pink flowers. You always decorate so pretty, thanks for the inspiration.

  10. Image for Jan Kinman Jan Kinman

    Perfect as usual! Just the right amount of color! Karianne, I love how you write in story form. It always brings a smile to my heart & a memory.

  11. Image for Kris Kris

    I liked your winter decorations, but the spring ones are even prettier on your hutch. I love the contrasting colors. Of course, you could have just put out your dessicated gourds, haha.

  12. Image for Michele M. Michele M.

    You are so funny, KA. I hear reading this all alone laughing in hysteria. You crack me UP! Errant gourd. Bwuahahahaha. OK so want to say I love your sweet touches of spring on your hutch. So we have like a bajillion daffodils and one lone daffodil bloomed the other day with this very odd unseasonably warm weather we've been having. One. And just when the rest were sure to follow it was 28 degrees last night. I even put away my bird bath warmer. What was I thinking? This is Ohio. Expect snow anytime, eh? Anyway, I am going to get out my Easter/Spring box and pretend that warm weather was here to stay. And make a hot cuppa tea and watch those green daffocil stalks till another pokes its wee head and blooms. May take a whole pot of tea. Keep it springy! ♥

  13. Image for Debbie Debbie

    Ditto the above you ARE a great story teller, funny. As always your hutch looks beautiful either way. I love you blog, your sense of humor all of it Happy day KariAnn and thankyou

  14. Image for Marian Marian

    Hi Kari Anne, I was not feeling great today when I began your blog, but as I was reading, I began smiling and then laughing. The 50's and 60's cane roaring back. Blue eye shadow, Aqua Net hair spray, and eye liner were in great demand. You have a way of bringing back good ole things. Yes, I had a good laugh. Thank you for sharing new things as well as vintage. I wish I had room for a hutch. It would be filled with beautiful things like yours.

  15. Image for Debbie Debbie

    Love, love your spring hutch KariAnne! And as someone once said, you are like a friend/neighbor who talks to us and are sitting across the table from you sharing a great cup of coffee and chatting the morning away. Loved this post!

  16. Image for Becky Cassera Becky Cassera

    I totally get it! I always find bits and pieces of seasonal things that I throw in vases and pitchers on my hutch.

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