Today is the first day of spring and I always like to do some spring cleaning and then rearrange my home with some new accent pieces and accessories. It not only makes the house feel fresh and clean but changes the look.

With the arrival of spring in Tahoe we usually see the return of our favorite wildlife — bears. There is simply no other home accessory that says Tahoe like a bear. As you drive up and down our local streets, bears welcome, wave, give house numbers and hold mail boxes. Sometimes it is even hard to decide if they are real or not. We love our bears.

Inside the home, bear accessories make every Tahoe home come alive with a playful mood. I have an entire guest bedroom furnished in bear accessories to welcome guests to our home. It always brings a smile to the visitors and the conversations immediately turn to the bears of Tahoe.

I found the best places to shop for bear accessories right here in our little area of Tahoe. Everything from dishes to beautiful wall paintings of bears can be found in local shops. I always have so much fun looking through each shop and am surprised that the items are not the same from shop to shop. Every one seems to have something unique.

The Ace Hardware bear collection includes some very nice dishes to serve salads, pasta and all your meals. It also includes many accessory pieces such as the salt and pepper set. The rest of its bear collection includes bears doing favorite things like reading and holding signs. There is even a carved mother and bear cub as well as bear accessories that can be used to hold candles plus many other decorative accent pieces.

The Potlatch offers fun bear items for the home and even some clothing. To furnish your bathroom in Tahoe bears, you must have the bear holding the toilet paper roll. The “Wipe Your Paws” sign at the front door is sure to bring a smile to all that enter. Its collection includes many other great bear items from signs to a collection of beautiful handmade wall hangings, and the cookie jar is sure to please every bear in your house.

At the Tahoe Store the collection is all around. There are wind chimes and bear flags to hang outside. Check out the many fun items to serve guests — a tray, plates and napkins and even a wine bottle holder. Be sure to ask about all of the items with bears or check all around the store — picture frames, cookie jars, a Denali Blanket, stuffed toy bears and books and the large bear footstools. Don’t miss the candle holders.

You might be surprised at the next store offering bears, Art Attack Art Gallery. But they are a Tahoe art gallery and bears are Tahoe. In the gallery are several paintings, statues and even a cabinet made by Sticks Furniture Company has a bear painted down the one side.

The next two stores I found with collections of bear accessories are in Kings Beach and both have lots of fun items.

Robin’s Nest is again a shop that you want to go through from top to bottom to find every single item. The delightful bear planter will be great on any deck or at the front entrance planted with flowers. The bathroom accessories include a holder for a toilet bowl brush, towel bars and rings, tooth brush holder and Kleenex holder. Other accessories include dishes, kitchen accessories, napkins, glasses and mugs. But don’t miss the snow globes, lamps, signs, stool or switch plate covers.

In the Inside Outfitters shop you might want to ask for help or just spend time looking from top to bottom. It is filled with bear accessories from bear signs, to lamps, to switch plate covers and trivets. Don’t miss the big pillow, the rug and footstool, hand painted boxes, hooks, key hooks, door bells, lights, canister set, dish towels and fleece blanket. A favorite I found in this shop is the ginger bear soap to complete my bathroom collection.

As I shopped around for bear accessories I did find a few items in Raley’s and at the Made in Tahoe Store inside the Tahoe Biltmore in Crystal Bay so be sure to check other favorite shoppin