12 Steps to Transition from Christmas to Winter Decorating

How To Transition from

Christmas to Winter Décor

12 Easy tips and tricks to decorate your home after Christmas!

1. Box up and organize your specific holiday décor - many Christmas decorations can double as winter décor but most will need to be put away. I love to organize my clear plastic bins by color and style. That way next year I will be able to pull only the bins I am using for the new holiday look. So now, go around the house and gather up any Christmas décor that you know will not work for winter. Pack up the mini-Christmas trees, the colorful ornaments, the Christmas wreaths, etc. Try to donate anything that you aren’t using, or tired of.
2. Declutter and clean – Put away magazines, left over gift wrap and bags, shoes laying around – all of it! Get it all up and off the floor. Then vacuum, dust, wash and straighten everything in the room. Now you are ready to re-introduce your winter décor.
3. Take away the Christmas Tree or try leaving your Christmas tree bare (with lights only). Some people enjoy having it up until the twelfth Night (also known as Epiphany Eve) It’s a festival in some branches of Christianity that takes place on the last night of the Twelve Days of Christmas, marking the coming of the Epiphany. So, you can opt to take it down then, be sure and pack up all the Holiday décor, especially the red and bright green items.
4. Add Greens and Rustic touches - Winter décor is toned down, try using simple, rustic touches like pinecones, pepper berries, birch branches twigs, evergreen sprigs, and the best of your greenery that is “real looking.” Use much less greenery than at the holidays. Even organic twine looks great wrapped around a pair of old books with a sprig of greens.
5. Bring in some branches - You can easily find branches in your yard, on a walk, or even on the ground at a park. And they’re free! Sometimes I spray paint them white, sometimes I spray them with “snow” and sometimes I hang ornaments from them. Use your imagination.
6. Leave out your mercury glass. The antique glass tones of mercury glass feel like winter. Silver mercury glass bowls can hold leftover silver Christmas ornaments, pine cones or antique necklaces and strands of pearls. If they are candle sticks add some cream candles, then add them to vignettes. Use them to store fruit on kitchen counters.
7. Use a diffuser with essential oils or scented candles Often the most inexpensive things can create a cozy space - like candles.  Winter is a great time to warm up your room with candle light. Diffuse your favorite scent, and enjoy the cleansing properties of some oils. To learn more about using essential oils check this out: https://www.kaycaregiving.com/links
8. Bring in or make a fresh floral arrangement – white roses, soft lilacs, or lily of the valley. Try your hand at forcing bulbs in silver soup tureens or mercury glass bowls. I love Paper Whites, Amaryllis, Daffodils, Hyacinths, and Tulips. I recently learned about forcing bulbs here: https://www.simopdesigns.com/post/forcing-bulbs
9. Add soft pillows, blankets, and textures – Now is the time to pull out your cozy blankets and pillows. Those rich looking sweater-knit pillows, faux fur blankets, or wool plaid throws, add that welcoming feeling we long for in winter. You can even make your own knit pillow out of an old sweater too. Use soft winter colors, adding pops of subtle colors like winter whites, grays, silver, and soft pastels around your rooms, They will be a contrast from the traditional holiday colors.
10. Hang Mirrors to reflect light – In the darker days of winter you can add mirrors to your walls to reflect light. I find mirrors at second hand stores and repaint the frames. I love a wall of mirrors in a bedroom, adds so mystique.
11. Accent with lighting - Change out your light bulbs. In the winter it is nice to have the glow of a soft creamy light. You can also add twinkle lights, fairy lights as accents for vignettes, of on tables, in a lantern, on logs in the fireplace, or around some greenery.
12. Add In season Fruits - We have a lemon and mandarin tree at our family home in Lodi. So every winter I gather a box of lemons to display on a crystal bowl in the kitchen. It’s a great way to use that “wedding gift” crystal. I also fill a tall large glass cylinder container with orange mandarins, leaving a few green leaves for color contrast. That pop of organic colors sure adds a lot of zing to my kitchen.

As much as I love Christmas, it always feels so good to get the house back together after the Holidays. In February I’ll move out some of the winter décor and add a little pink for Valentine’s Day. I love to celebrate every holiday through decorating. But for now, I’m loving the clean, spare look!  Want to see more photos?  I have posted pictures to my

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/impressionsredesign/

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I hope you enjoyed these cozy winter decorating ideas that transition from Christmas to winter décor.

Until next time!

Jonelle’