A pop of purple

Even if the weather has been less than spring-like, I'm still striving to embrace the season (while sporting a wool coat).

And part of that means pulling in more pops of colour around my space as I go through my seasonal deep clean - fresh tulips in the kitchen, new tchotckes on my (newly installed!) shelves and, even, a little friendly pop of colour in my fridge.

Admittedly, meal preperation and stowing groceries aside, I don't spend a whole lot of time peering into my fridge. I never thought about making it prettier inside (so long as it's clean.)

But then I saw the "rich aubergine" Mavea water pitcher, and, well, because I'm a sucker for anything purple, I just had to have it.

 
In addition to looking pretty in my fridge -- and on my table, where it's often sitting waiting to be refilled -- the pitcher also has a handy digital display reminding me when it's time to change the filter (I always forget) and a sort of "trap door" in the top, so you don't have to remove the lid to fill it.

But really, I got one because it's pretty.

It's also available in sage green, black, white and red for $39.99, at retailers Williams Sonoma, Sears, The Bay and Home Outfitters.

Spring cleaning: Who has the time?

Officially, it's spring, though it does seem that Mother Nature begs to differ after yesterday's blustery snow squalls.

That means it's time for gleaming windows, fresh scrubbed floors and perfectly organized closets. At least in theory. (To help get you started, I recently shared some of our best cleaning tips, check them out here.)

In reality, it's hard to find the time to give your home an overhaul. It's tricky enough to just keep up on top of the things we have to do - laundry, dishes, general tidying - that working in a deep clean can feel more than a little daunting.

In fact, as I've started to tackle my own spring cleaning, I've become the queen of the unfinished project. Because, of course, one project always hinges on another. For example, I want to re-organize my closet. But that means getting the books that have been hanging out in a box in there out of the way. And to unpack those, I need to hang shelves. So, feeling all kinds of productive, I enlist a friend and start hanging shelves. But I run out of wall anchors. So, for the past three days, "Buy wall anchors" has been written in screaming letters at the top of my to-do list - and more than a week after "starting" the job, my closet is not any cleaner.

(As a bonus, I do have two shelves hung, and they're totally rocking my world.)

Experts say the way to manage these tasks is to make a list - check out Martha Stewart's here (it's a PDF) - and try to tackle just one task at a time. For example, one evening, plan to empty out your medicine cabinet rather than going over the entire bathroom with a fine tooth comb.

So, my first mistake was letting the job snowball. If I was going to tackle a task like closet cleaning, I should have focused on the closet alone, tucking that box away in a corner until the day comes when "Organize books" works its way to the top of my list - somewhere after buying, and hanging, shelves of course.

This way, you make progress in achievable chunks and, hopefully, feel inspired to actually tackle these bite-sized tasks rather than saying "I just don't have time to deep clean my kitchen tonight."

So, tonight's goal: Buy those darn wall anchors. Then revel in a job well done.

A chair for hugging?

Sometimes, design comes up with brilliant solutions for problems in our homes that we'd long ignored - take, for example, the Magisso magnetic dishcloth holder that preserves your kitchen's sightlines without leaving your dishcloth in a soggy heap at the bottom of your sink.

Othertimes, it solves problems that I didn't know even existed.

Take the Hug Chair by Ilian Milinov (spotted on Twitter, original post here) - designed to make the simple act of having someone sit on your lap more comfortable - by keeping them from sitting in your lap at all. Instead, your loved one perches in near proximity on a separate raised seat.

Useful? Perhaps. Though obviously not as cuddly as the original. To be honest, to me, that extra seat is less about togetherness and more about being a perfect laptop perch - now there's a problem I did need solved.

A touch of the Irish ... green room roundup

Ah, St. Patrick's Day. While the evening festivities are certainly a draw, I also see it as an excuse to explore a colour that doesn't factor very heavily in my wardrobe or decor: green.

So, in honour of my green dress, and those lucky few already raising a pint this afternoon, here are a few spaces that make it easy to be green:

This room by Colin and Justin is certainly a little too bright green for my taste, but I admire how boldly it embraces the grassy shade to make the space feel fun, young and modern.

This kitchen, also by C&J, is a subtler way to bring a splash of fresh green into your space. Soft green cabinets are perfectly accented by the oh-so-carefully staged floral arrangements and green apples.

The green cabinets in the kitchen, as spotted on House & Home, ratchets it up a notch, but I kind of love them - especially when paired with the wallpapered ceiling and the industrial, exposed lighting. Not to mention those cute mismatched schoolhouse chairs.

This room, sourced from Katy Elliot, is a much subtler take on the shade. A darker, muddier green, it's more in line with my preferences at the old Casa Speedy - and it keeps the room from feeling like it's St. Patrick's Day, or Christmas, year-round. Plus, I love how the dark hue is balanced by all that fabulous white moulding.

This dining room, spotted on Desire to Inspire, is simply stunning. The green wallpaper. The mid-century modern chairs. The casual leafy centrepiece. I love it.

You can scope out more green spaces on Apartment Therapy. Happy St. Patrick's Day - Sláinte!

Lighting up in my apartment

I must confess, winter makes me complacent. First, there's the holiday rush, where shopping, decorating, travelling and partying pushes aside normal routines and to-do lists. Then there's the January blahs, when all you want to do at the end of the day is cuddle up with a good book and a mug of hot chocolate. It's hard enough to keep up with the day to day maintenance tasks - hello buying a new frock to make up for two weeks without laundry - not to mention tackle all those home improvement jobs that have slipped off your radar.

Come March, I'm finally ready to shake off the cobwebs, both literally and figuratively. I'm tackling those dustbunnies and getting the Jennasium ready for entertaining again after a slow winter.

Perhaps the biggest, and silliest, sign of my complacency was the lack of overhead lighting in my apartment. In the summer, when I moved in, light in the evenings and the mornings wasn't a problem. I acknowledged it would be a necessity, but I didn't take any action. As the days grew shorter, I started grousing about how dark it was in my place as I pulled out mismatched socks and sweaters that turned out to be purple instead of black.

But, instead of dealing with it, I, like so many other homeowners and renters, just worked around it. As the months passed, I started wafflilng on whether I should even bother. After all, I'm a renter and a bit of a nomad - I've had disposable contacts last longer than addresses.

Then, my brother came to visit, and, inspired by the extra set of hands (and his electrical savvyness), I finally got around to installing overhead light fixtures in my living room and bedroom.

Man, did it ever make a difference. Getting ready is the morning is simpler. I'm finding it easier to stay organized. It's brighter, more welcoming, and, I must say, really quite pretty. I should have done this months ago!

A hastily snapped shot of my feminine fixture for the bedroom, via iPhone as I hastily matched clothes (in full light!) this morning. Below, when it's turned off.

And, for the living room, I swept over to Ikea for a simple pendant, which looks, upon second glance here, ridiculously crooked in this shot.

I chose a white pendant, and shortened it dramatically, because I wanted to keep the sightlines in my teeny tiny space as open as possible.

Finally, inspired by how much more human I felt when I wasn't stumbling around in the dark, I added a pop of black to my console table.

The fact that my pack and go lunch is in this shot is a sign that I really shouldn't snap photos hastily on my way to work. Ah well. Apologies.

Either way, adding more lighting has made a huge difference at home - and inspired me to tackle those other simple tasks that could improve my life!Re-organizing cupboards, moving fridge shelves to better accommodate wine bottles and a new shoe rack to accommodate my collection have all worked their way back up my list.

What household improvements have you been putting off?

Spring cleaners, start your engines

Why not get a head start on your spring cleaning while the cold weather is keeping your trapped inside?