Essentially EmmaMarie

Christmas seems like ages ago, and long gone is the Christmas tree and hustle and bustle of the season. I always feel a bit bereft after taking down the Christmas tree and so many of my Christmas decorations, so I decided a while ago that I wouldn’t take it all down! Here in Pennsylvania it is cold and except for the sporadic snowfall, it is quite bare outside as well. I don’t want the inside of my house to feel bare as well! I want it to feel cozy- extra cozy! I want to decorate for winter, after all winter is a season too!

What should you take down and what should you leave up?

Since I just can’t quite cope with taking away all of my Christmas and winter decor at once I tend to leave up greenery,(I use faux so I have the ability to do this), my little trees that look wintery, and instead only take down the things that are expressly Christmas related. Now there is some discussion over whether to leave up any decor if it is very glittery and my feeling is this- if you like it leave it, and if you’re tired of it take it down! I would say by conservative standards you should take down anything glittery but since I like glitter to brighten up winter’s darkness I leave it.

I don’t typically use any red in my decor throughout the year. I’ll add in a touch or two of red in the Autumn and I use red at Christmas. So I take down most touches of red except if I have berries in with my greenery.

My rule is if it’s true in nature it can be true in my decor!

For this reason I also keep up certain glittery accents as well; trees, frosted every green accent balls, etc.. I love the look of white, glitter dusted branches, I love it outside my house when the branches glisten with snow and frost and I love it inside as well- faux snow and frost that is!

But you don’t want everything to be bare?!

I call this decorating for winter. In our excitement over the holidays we forget that winter too is a season. Maybe you decided to take down the glittery accents and trees but still you want something to make your come special through winter! Think cozy! Throws, pillows, and candles can really warm up and transform a space you want your decor to appeal to all the senses, and in winter I love to appeal to the eyes, and the sense of touch. It has been said that we feel texture with our eyes as well as our hands so bring in lots of different textures! Replace pristine books with worn, warmer looking ones, faux fur pillows too look soft and warm, woven baskets to chase away the sterile feel of a Christmas ridden home.

Here’s a quick list of some of my favorite winter decorating items:

Branches- bare branches in a big vase can be a show stopper!
Pinecones
Every green and Frosted evergreen branches
Candles, candles, and more candles!
Faux Fur pillows and throws
Deer sheds, (antlers)
Twinkle lights
Logs in the fireplace- even if it’s not a working fireplace!
Faux Sheepskin Throw

Want Other Touches of Winter?

Just because the Nativity Scenes and Santa’s have been put away doesn’t mean that the snowmen have to leave yet- where I live we still have another 2 or 3 months of snowman making weather! In addition you can leave up decorative little trees, silver deer figurines, and wintery accent balls like I did below!

Remember What You Like

I know myself and I want glitter and branches and basically want my home to transform from a Christmas wonderland, to a winter wonderland for the next few months. But what do you like? I think winter is also a great time to add more white to your decor than usual. Also maybe you keep a pretty traditional style home but would like to incorporate more vintage elements into your home then why not try it now?!

Maybe you are tired of some of the colors and decor that you have been using as staples in your home, take this season as a little breather and an excuse to play and have fun with your decor! I think the number one reason we get bored with anything is because we stop having fun with it. So have fun! And check out my post on Creating a Cohesive Color Pallet as a springboard for ideas if you have the urge to switch up some of your decor!

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