I haven’t written that many “Around the House” posts, but the few I have written have the same theme — they highlight my mom’s creativity and wizardry in the house. This post is no different.

Our house is full of hundreds of my mom’s special touches. They’re easy to overlook on a day-to-day basis — especially given we’ve been in this home for 17 years now. That’s why I like writing this kind of post; for a moment, I really get to stop and appreciate my mom’s beauty reflected in the home she created.

Today I want to share a small and simple example of this.

To start, take a look at the below two pictures, which are of my bedroom. See if you can spot the difference.

Found it? Okay, that wasn’t especially difficult. The first picture shows my bed with a red comforter, and the second with a white and red flowery one. (If this wasn’t clear, consider getting your eyes checked.)

Many years ago, I got my room painted, and my mom bought me new comforters. Every winter, she would lay out the red one — the warmth of the deep red made my room feel cozier as the weather got colder and the days darker. Then when springtime came around, she would change it to the white flowery comforter, which symbolically served as representation of spring flowers and the lightness that came with the season. Wonderfully poetic, really.

Over time, when winter approached each year, I would anticipate my comforter change. It’s kind of like the red Christmas cups that Starbucks brings out each year; the introduction of the red cup is a reminder that winter’s coming. My red comforter is no different!

When winter gave way to spring, I would again anticipate that it was time for my comforter change. And when my mom made the change, spring had officially begun in my books.

I so admire my mom’s attention to details. Changing my bed comforter is hardly a dramatic switch, yet it certainly transforms the look and feel of the room. And so deliberately in line with the seasons — only a truly creative spirit could have planned for that!

Indeed, when I moved out and into my own place in the UK, I bought a comforter set that happened to come with two slightly different covers. I only needed one and so initially kept the second in a cupboard, but at some point my room began to feel a bit stale and same-old, so I took a page from my mom’s book and changed the comforter. And so long as I lived there, I continued to switch back and forth between the two comforters when I wanted to change up the feel of my room.

This Friday — with winter behind us and spring upon us — I put away my red comforter and I pulled out the white one. And so my mama’s sweet tradition will live on.