How to Decorate a Hutch for Spring (with photos and tips)

You want to move your decor with you through the seasons but you also don’t want to change everything up completely all the time (who has time for that?)…

Let me show you how I updated my old hutch for spring with a nod to Easter. I decorated it while keeping in mind that I will want to change this to a summer look in only a few weeks. I love how my hutch is looking and I am hoping I’ll be able to give you an idea or two too.

Originally my hutch has three sliding doors but I removed them to play with this open hutch look for a while. I love that everything is much more visible and accessible without the glass panes. I’ll have to see how the dust situation fares, it might start to bug me. We’ll see.

But first, let me welcome everybody who came over from Lindsay’s blog ARATARI AT HOME, aren’t the kitchen shelves that she decorated for spring gorgeous!

Spring Decorating Ideas

As a decorating aficionado, I both love and hate this time of year. I love the fact that winter is nearing its end and that spring is all around us. I love that I can decorate with fresh flowers again, some even homegrown in my own garden. And I love that there are days when I can open up the windows and doors and let the light and air in.

At the same time, I kinda have a thing with this time of year. Decorating for spring when there is a snow forecast feels odd. After huddling inside under blankets all winter, any sign of sun and warmth makes me want to go outside and play, not inside decorating my home.

And then there is Easter…

I am not a fan of traditional Easter decor but you can’t really ignore it.

Well, thank heavens for decorating friends who do not seem to share my spring decorating woes. I am taking part in an awesome spring home tour blog hop and just looking at all those gorgeous spring decorations makes me rethink my spring decor hesitations.

You’ll find the links to all these beautiful spring homes at the bottom of this post.

How to Decorate a Hutch for Spring in Five Easy Steps

Whether you have an open china cabinet or a hutch with doors, whether it is a big space demanding hutch or a small curio cabinet, the basic steps for styling a hutch are the same. It is best to start with a clean slate. Take everything out and clean the shelves and prepare your cabinet for its new look. That’s the unfun part. Now lets start with the fun part: dressing our hutch.

Take Inventory

First things first. You got to take a bit of inventory first. What items do you have that you want to use, or that you have to use because their home is in that hutch? Are you working with or toward a color scheme? Are there any special items (like seasonal decorating accessories) that you want to include? Is there a particular style that you are going for, like farmhouse or coastal beach?

I like to use my dining room table for this. I fill it up with all the things that were already in my hutch and with the things that I shopped my home for. Just putting it all together on a limited space like my table sometimes is enough to spark some inspiration for interesting groupings and combinations.

This year I knew I wanted to have a bit of blue and white thing going so I could reuse last year’s Delft Blue DIY decoupaged Easter eggs and my sentimental stamped Easter napkins.

But I also wanted to soften that look with vintage blue/green glassware and fresh flowers.

Create the outline

Start with adding big items first. In my case that were the platters that I placed upright at the back (perfect start for some layering) and the bigger vases and pitchers that I knew I wanted to use.

Space those big items out. They are the background and your foundation for layering and grouping so make sure there is still plenty of white space around them, that you can fill in later.

Next, add in the other, smaller regulars. Try grouping and stacking them. I usually create at least one stack of plates as a riser and I love to organize the smaller items in little groups of three or five. I also break those rules often.

Add in the extras

My go-to decorating style relies heavily on using neutrals (see for example how I decorate in winter white). In this case, the base colors of my spring hutch decor were all variations of white, off-white, and cream colors (disclosure white is my favorite color). The extras were the colored items in blue and white and the green/blue vintage glass jars and bottles that I added. That light aqua of the vintage jars is a perfect companion for the blue and white.

It is perfectly ok to use non-china items, in a china cabinet. In fact, they make the look lighter, they can add a touch of whimsey and they are super useful as spacers and risers (think books, faux greenery, or small statues).

I have used books, jars with candles, baskets, decorative balls, and lots of other accessories as extras in my hutch decor.

Add seasonal touches

Now that the basic outline is done, and the extras have found their place, you’ll basically have a pretty and fully decorated hutch that is done and dusted. You can easily leave it like this (or take it back to this state as an interim stage until the next season).

This was the point where I added the seasonal touches for spring and Easter. I grouped some Easter eggs and feathers together in a dish, added a real nest (found not scavenged) and some faux birds nests with painted eggs, and found a place for two bunnies (this is the second year I have used Easter bunnies after doing without them for over 30 years !!!!). I love these particular thrift store bunnies that are actually baking molds. I love the vintage touch that they give my old hutch among all that new and shiny china.

Calm it down

Last step is an actual step. Step back for a bit. Go drink a cup of tea and leave your hutch for a while and then come back with a fresh look. What is too much (there almost always is something that needs to go)? Where is there white space missing? Where is it too busy? Taking something out usually makes the things that are left look better.

Another way of calming things down is adding the neutral color of faux greenery. The color green of plants and leaves (even when it is fake) has an oddly calming effect.

I added a little topiary and a grey-hued little plant (both from Ikea). They were the perfect finishing touch.

More spring decorating ideas

Now that we have the china cabinet sorted, maybe we could look at what we could do with the rest of our pretty china? We are in luck because Melanie from SOUTHERN CRUSH AT HOME is sharing how she sets her Easter table.

If you liked my spring hutch styling then I am sure you will love all the other spring decorating ideas, tips, and tricks my fellow bloggers are sharing.

Be sure to check them out.

Sand Dollar Lane  //  Postcards From The Ridge  //  Worthing Court  //  The Tattered Pew  //  Noting Grace

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2 Bees in a Pod  //  DIY Beautify  //  Cottage in the Mitten  //  Southern Home and Hospitality

Sonya Burgess // Thistlekey Lane // Dabbling and Decorating // Aratari at Home

Songbird // Southern Crush Home // Simply 2 Moms // Our Crafty Mom

Zucchini Sisters // Amy Sadler Designs // Bluesky at Home // My Family Thyme