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30 Simple Tips For Transitioning To Winter Decor

If you find once the Christmas tree and all of the sparkle, ornaments and glitter come down, the house feels a little bare, you are not alone!  For some reason, I find my home , especially my living room feels very sparse once the last ornament is packed away. These 30 simple tips for transitioning to winter decor from Christmas decor will help make your home look warm, inviting, fresh and cozy as you enter the new year into January and February. While it may not quite be time to bring in spring decor, you can bring in cozy winter decor and make your home into the next year.

Cozy winter decor

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1.Buy cleaners that smell amazing

The first thing we do when we pout everything away is give everything a cleaning to get up any glitter and dust. Use a cleaner that smells amazing. This will not only help you get in the after holiday mood of out with the old, in with the new, but give you a fresh perspective with a new scent. These are some cleaners I love to use to make my home smell really cozy and inviting. We really love this cleaner.

2.Bring in some new decor like fresh pillows or a cozy throw

Not only do our pillows and blankets start to feel a little tired, but a change is good. Even if you just get some pillow covers on the cheap they will help brighten up your space as you switch everything over.

Sharon Joyce kilim pillow on couch

3.Add fresh flowers or greenery

One thing that is really missing after the new year is all of the greenery that the Christmas season brings. It can make it for a weird, bare transition period after the holiday decorations come down. Bringing in other natural elements can help it feel fresh. As well as fresh flowers, good smelling greenery like eucalyptus can really make the room feel alive. If you don’t like the smell of real eucalyptus, you can make this faux wreath to brighten up your space.

eucalyptus and candles on a coffee table

4.Bring in beautiful scented candles

The warm glow of candle light always makes a home feel cozy. Buying high quality candles helps with indoor pollution and can make the winter months a little bit more bearable, especially when it is darker and grayer outside. If you don’t want to use candles, aromatherapy diffusers and room sprays can also bring in good scents.

5.Add twinkle lights to your decor

Who doens’t love a little after holiday sparkle? While Christmas lights are a bit too much, a battery operated pack of twinkle fairy lights can add just a bit of magic to a not so bright day or evening.

Brass swan on holiday mantelscape with moss and twinkle lights

6.Bring in a few real (or faux!) plants

There is something about having real plants that just makes a space feel more alive. Try these low maintenance plants if you are worried about having a green thumb.

Pothis plant in kitchen sink

7. Add a fresh vignette to your fireplace mantel

Creating something eye catching on your mantel is not only pleasing to look at but can set the entire mood for your room. You can make it either cozy and warm, or fresh and clean. Try using something like a dried orange garland over your faux fireplace. It’s an easy DIY that smalls good too!

Boho Winter Living Room with after holiday decorating with faux fur, dried grasses and botanical touches These 30 simple tips for transitioning to winter decor from Christmas decor will help make your home look warm, inviting, fresh and cozy as you enter the new year into January and February.

8.Add faux fur as a cozy throw or chair covering

Faux fur, sherpa and fuzzy,knit throw blankets all add to the cozy feel of a room. There is noting like feeling a little chilly and pulling a warm and soft blanket over the top! For that matter, adding a faux fur like a flokati rug as a seat cover on your chair can also make it feel cozy, soft and warm to sit on.

DIY flokati rug chair cover

9. Change the bulbs in your lamps

Light can make us feel all kinds of ways. If you have cool light bulbs in your lamps, consider changing them to a warm white or daylight bulb for a warmer cast of light closer to sunlight.

10. Style your coffee table with cozy things

A wood bowl of pine cones or evergreen branches and bring in a fresh nature element and texture. It’s also one of those inexpensive and easy winter decorating ideas I love.

Vintage bottle with pine greens

11. Add baskets to store items and bring in a natural element

I love a good basket ! You can fill them full of blankets,books, plants and more. They are great storage that can hide many things that looks good too! You can see how to make this belted basket here.

A basket with a belt that has books stacked on top
Add a basket of blankets to add hygge to your home

12. Force bulbs to bloom

Bulbs such a hyacinth, tulip, paper whites and daffodils can be forced to bloom in early winter and they bring in a much needed burst of color and fragrance! See here how to force your own bulbs. You can also buy kits, or sometimes even the grocery store will have them!

How to force spring bulbs

13. Add winter wreaths like cedar and firs or something fun like pom poms to add a touch of green

Wreaths aren’t just for Christmas time! Bringing in fresh greenery or having it on the front door can be a welcome addition to a plain door. Pom pom wreaths are a fun seasonless way to decorate.

14. Decorate with brass

Brass candlesticks or gold elements can bring in a warmth that other metals can’t with a timeless look. I love a good collection of vintage brass candlesticks.

Candles and brass candlesticks

15. Add cozy scents to your home

While not everyone wants to burn candles, you can still add yummy scents like vanilla that make your home cozy. I love using this trick with my crockpot and spices to make my home feel like baking.

16. Create a cookie and hot cocoa bar for a sweet winter treat

There is nothing cozier about winter than a place to get a warm comforting drink. Adding a hot cocoa bar ( you can add teas too!) is the perfect way to make it easy for everyone to grab a cuppa.

17. Create some handmade home decor

Just the act of creating something can help your mood. Even if you aren’t a big crafter or handmaker, you can make simple projects that elevate your winter home decor. Try your hand at paper mache, or even book page crafts.

Make a DIY paper mache bowl

18. Dress your dining table with pretty centerpieces even if it’s with faux flowers

Even if we don’t use the dining table all year, it’s still important the rest of the year. Create a pretty centerpiece with a dough bowl and faux orchids. Dressing up your dining table will make it less likely it becomes a place to just drop stuff off on and let clutter accumulate. See how to make this centerpiece here.

Dining room with vintage wood dough bowl and faux orchids and moss

19. Decorate for Valentine’s Day

Even though February seems far away at the end of December, the truth is on January 1st, it’s only a month and a half away. While you don’t have to bring in big red hearts, thinking out bringing in some greenery with red berries, love birds and other decor can give a nod to the holiday without going over the top.

20. Use books to decorate

Books are one of those timeless decorating ideas. A good stack of books invites some one to want to grab one. use them for height under an object, or create a stack that someone can just pick up and thumb through.

books in decorating add hygge into your life

21. Declutter your space

Even though it may seem bare, sometimes there is still clutter. January of course is a good time to go through all of your things, organize and declutter. Starting in a closet or junk drawer is a good idea to get it moving along.

22. Mix in warm wood tones

Bringing in warm wood tones like wood bowls, or natural elements like birch logs to create a cozy natural feel, like these birch vases you can DIY.

Make DIY birch bark vases

23. Change up your furniture placement for an inexpensive and fresh new look

Sometimes when the Christmas tree gets put away all a room needs is a quick change up with some new furniture placement. Try placing a chair in a different place, or swapping the furniture between rooms by shopping your home.

24. Display things you love and your favorite collections

After the room is cleared, it’s a good time to display your favorite collections and put them in a place where you can enjoy them.

25. Add a small lamp in an unexpected place

Bringing in a small lamp in your your kitchen or bathroom away from wet areas can bring a little bit of cozy light to the space.

Cook books and lamp on wood countertops

26. Add a new accent color

Sometimes a fresh color can help brighten everything up. Pick a fresh color and add it in pillows, art and throws.

27. Swap out your art

Swapping out art can be as easy as buying a calendar with beautiful art and framing that. Or swap between rooms, and did you know many local libraries lend art?

28. Bring in Hygge

Hygge is a Danish way to bring in a cozy feel to your home. You can see this post here on how to bring more Hygge into your home.

29. Give an old piece of furniture a look look with paint

Sometimes a freshening up an old piece of furniture with paint can give a space an entirely new feel. You can also try removing the paint and bringing in a the natural look of bare wood or adding a whitewashed look.

30. Add dried flowers around the house

Adding a small jar of dried flowers to a windowsill or bookshelves can make a little pop of something new to look at and will last along time and add texture.

Bunny tail grass in a white ceramic boho vase

I hope you loved these 30 simple tips for transitioning to winter decor from Christmas decor. I hope it will help to make your home look warm, inviting, fresh and cozy as you enter the new year into January and February!

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