The Nester
About the Author

Myquillyn Smith, The Nester, is a home stager, redesigner and design school drop-out. Her last home (a rental) was featured in Better Homes & Gardens, Cottages & Bungalows, Ladies' Home Journal and in her upcoming design philosphy book, The Nesting Place: It doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful....

(in)side DaySpring: things we love
& you will too!
Find more at DaySpring.com
(in)side DaySpring:
things we love
& you will too!
Find more at
DaySpring.com
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  1. What a lovely idea! Paperwhites remind of Easter, for some reason. And Easter reminds me that the hurt brings new life. I could benefit from that visual reminder during the bleak, cold, dark days ahead.

  2. I love the look of paperwhites, but when I tried to grow them the smell was incredible! And not in a good way. I had to take them outside. Did I just get the wrong kind?

  3. My go to items are smelly candles. My hubby and I have we”weird schedules” – he works at a hospital and may work holidays. I work for a university and am off for a week at Christmas.

    We don’t do much decorating as it is just the two of us & we have families to see. The paperwhites do look nice.

  4. I love these…they are my birth month flower…I have never grown them, think I will try it!

    Is it weird that I am having a REALLY hard time packing up my Nativities? I have them in new spots on my bookshelves & am seriously thinking they are staying up for now…I just can’t put them in a box. Everything else is packed up, or re-done for post-Christmas…feeling weird.

  5. I’ve been wanting to try paperwhites and even bought the bulbs and then I found out it will take about 8 weeks to force them to bloom. Needless to say, I don’t have that kind of patience so I need to just buy them already done this year. I’m also trying my hand at succulents because I heard they are hard to kill and have no gardening skills whatsoever!

  6. I’m waiting for the little bowl of crocuses that my in-laws sent me to bloom!

    I worked like a maniac cleaning out the medicine cabinet, the linen closet, and kitchen cabinets yesterday. Purging the shelves of expired medicine, odds and ends of junk, and re-organizing what was left was a great mid-winter project and left me exhilerated and relieved! I can now open doors without a cascade of misc. clutter tumbling out around me. Very energizing to have things where they belong!

  7. beautiful!

    i too, like to fill my home with candles to create a warm glow during the winter months.

    i’m loving the green of the paperwhites, thank you for the idea!

  8. I just posted about these! (www.farfromflawlesslife.blogspot.com). I plant them each December, knowing I’ll need the pick-me-up in January. Hiacynths and tulips will bloom by March – if you get them planted now!

  9. I have loved paperwhites for so long and have wanted to grow them for Christmas arrangements. I have a hurricane that is just waiting for me to fill it with something…now I know what! : )

  10. […] Plants make a room feel instantly fresh and alive. I brought my sweet potato vine in during the fall and it’s still doing pretty well. He gets moved around every week or so.  I keep a little table by our window and rotate plants out from there into other parts of the house.  My yellow poinsettia is still looking nice so he’s still out and not terribly Christmasy and we just added a little bonsai tree from Ikea to our coffee table.  And of course, yesterday we talked about paperwhites and their magic powers. […]

  11. Thanks for the lovely pictures. Those paper whites are beautiful, but I agree with others that I don’t love the smell…tends to give me a headache.
    Just a suggestion, when I plant my fall bulbs, I throw the extra in pretty much any pot I have around. I leave them in the basement and maybe water twice. They started to sprout new life right as I was putting my Christmas decor away. I brought them up and have started to treat them like I do all my other houseplants, you know light, water, etc. and they’re coming to life.