7 Easy Ways to Decorate a Cozy House After Christmas

by | Home

Are you craving a cozy house after Christmas? But maybe with a more simple, clean, style? Check out these 7 easy tips to decorate for winter!  Keep reading for before and after pictures and budget-friendly styling ideas for a cozy house after Christmas!

I admit, while many people get so inspired to take down their Christmas decorations and refresh their homes, I have to really dig deep to find the joy.  If you’re like me, and crave a cozy house after Christmas, this post is for YOU!

In the past few years, I’ve really made an effort to plan ahead for the big Christmas “take-down”, complete with a plan for how to get that cozy feeling.  What I do love is a clean slate and the opportunity for fresh creativity.

Whether you’re still enjoying the glow of Christmas lights, still have Christmas decor up only because you dread taking it down, or have taken down the decor and are feeling like your house is bare, I’ve got help for you today!

I am finally putting the tips that I actually use, myself, into a somewhat organized format here on the blog.  Hopefully, it will help you during this season too.

Living here in Florida, I don’t fight the winter blues, weather-wise, like some northern friends may.  However, the home decor winter blues can be a real thing.  Do you ever get that feeling that after Christmas, your home will just go back to the “plain old regular thing”?

Let’s chat about how you can get out of that rut and make the winter decor season a perfect time to create a cozy house after Christmas!

How do I make my house feel cozy after Christmas?

  1. Remove (most) Christmas decor and anything with red or Christmas-specific themes.
  2. Undecorate your house.
  3. Deep clean and declutter your house.
  4. Slowly add back favorite decor pieces in neutral tones.
  5. Incorporate some faux winter greenery and mix with fresh plants.
  6. Use reflective surfaces to bounce light, such as mirrors and mercury glass.
  7. Enjoy lots of (battery-operated) candle light.

We are going to do a deeper dive into each of these important 7 elements.  However, feel free to jot down this list as you make your game plan for a cozy house after Christmas!

7 Easy Ways to Decorate a Cozy House After Christmas

Step #1 to a cozy house after Christmas: Take down Christmas decorations

How do you organize and store Christmas decorations?

By the time we have finished all of the family celebrations for the holidays, I’ll admit that while I still love our Christmas decorations, our home is ready for an overhaul.  Half of that battle is just organizing and storing away Christmas decorations in the easiest, best and most efficient way possible for the following year.

You can find my tips for easily storing Christmas decorations over on THIS POST.  I promise that these tried and true ideas work well for us.  While the job is still big and isn’t really very fun, having a good plan definitely makes it more bearable.

You may want to plan to leave out a few wintery greenery items.  For example, I leave some of the following available for winter decorating (though I do take them down and sort into a separate pile…more on that later.)

  • Table top faux trees in cedar or juniper (my personal favorites)
  • A couple of realistic garlands
  • Winter wreaths without decorations on them (just plain pine or cedar style wreaths)
  • Neutral colored and cozy rugs, blankets, and throw pillows that do not have a Christmas theme

Unless red is part of your year-round decor, I recommend, at the least, removing all of the red decorations from your winter decor.  Any other specifically Christmas-themed items, like a Nativity or Santa decor is ready to be neatly packed and stored away too.

 

Step #2 for a cozy house after Christmas: Undecorate your house.

How can I make my house look good after Christmas?

Start by undecorating your house.  Does that sound a little crazy?  Well, hear me out…

After I take down and pack up my Christmas decor, there are so many holes and empty spots.  Pots and cloches are missing the decorative accessory that completed the vignette.  The mantel is only half decorated and what’s there doesn’t look “right” anymore. There doesn’t seem to be a lot of rhyme or reason to what is left once you take out the statement pieces.  Right?

So, I find it easier to move all of the decor from the main decor surfaces, such as coffee tables, sofa tables, mantel, dining tables, etc.  Since I will put most of this decor back out, I use our long dining table as a staging area.

When I look around, I find that I have a clean, blank slate, ready to have fun creating in again.  While I miss the Christmas decor, I know the seasons move on.  I try to embrace the next season and challenge myself to love the way I can make our home feel for the new season.

All of these empty surfaces leave a blank canvas to create a cozy house after Christmas!

Step #3 to a cozy house after Christmas: Deep clean and declutter.

Even though I really love a clean house and do the best I can to keep it clean all season, there is just a lot more “stuff”.  Once the Christmas decor comes down, all of those surfaces are ready for a very thorough cleaning, including the corners of the floor and the dark recesses under the couch.

How many pieces of ripped wrapping paper will be under your sofa this year?!  Haha!

Undecorating your home really makes this deep cleaning process so much easier.  Plus, I always have a lot more fun decorating our home when I know it is super clean and fresh!

A few quick tips:

  • While you’re undecorating, notice anything else in the room that you aren’t using or don’t want anymore.  This is the time to put it in a thrift store or yard sale pile.
  • Open drawers and cabinets and do a quick declutter.  You can come back later to deep clean and reorganize, but sometimes I find it easier to just do a really quick clean out ahead of time.
  • If there are any items that you remove from your decor that are broken, you don’t love anymore, have grown tired of, or don’t fit your style, go ahead and get rid of those now also.
  • Take a day or two after “undecorating” to notice what you love or don’t love about the space.  Before bringing in decor again, take time to make the space function better (if needed) for your family.  If you have options for rearranging, this is a good time to make the space feel fresh in that way too.

 

 

Step #4 to a cozy house after Christmas:  Slowly add in favorite decor items for winter

How do you decorate for winter after Christmas?

Now, it is time to shop my house and start creating a cozy house again.  That table where I gathered all of the decor that I undecorated with (well, the pieces I still love and want to continue using)?  It becomes my store!

For winter decorating, I will look to add in a lot of neutrals.  Since I want to create cozy spaces, neutral colors are what feel the most calm and relaxing to me.  Plus, I just love white!  What can I say?!

This is certainly up to your personal preference, however.  You will want to bring in the decor that feels the most peaceful and relaxing and cozy to YOU!

Here are some key pieces I always incorporate for winter decorating:

Step #5 to create a cozy house after Christmas:  Use faux winter greenery and fresh houseplants.

How can I brighten up my house after Christmas?

Bringing some fresh plants back into your decor will literally bring life to these spaces.  You can create a cozy winter look by using some of your winter greenery that you had out at Christmas.  To make it feel more wintery and less “Christmas-y”, however, mix some real/fresh low-light house plants with those faux winter greens.

I usually keep a couple of wreaths out (without any decor on them), a garland or two for table decor, and a few of my realistic table top trees.

You don’t need nearly as much as you probably use for Christmas and you also don’t want it to feel like spring has come alive.  At the same time, a simple mix of well-placed winter greenery and fresh plants can brighten up your house and make it feel cozy after Christmas too.

If you’re needing some great faux plants, here are some that I’m using this year (and have in past years also):

 

Step #6 for a cozy house after Christmas: Use reflective surfaces.

What decorations can stay up after Christmas?

Two things that I always leave out from Christmas decorations are mirrors and mercury glass pieces.  Especially when the Christmas lights are taken out, I want as much cozy light to remain as I can get.  Reflective surfaces help the candlelight look deeper and fuller in a room and reflect light back into the room.

While mirrors are certainly an easy way to do this, adding mercury glass and metal finishes, like vintage brass, are also a great way to add a cozy touch.

Here are a few favorites that I’m using:

Step #7 to create a cozy house after Christmas: Use lots of candles.

How can I brighten my house after Christmas?

Use lots of candles to brighten your house after Christmas.  Literally.  They are the easiest way to add the coziest look and feel to your home.  At the same time, they provide soft, ambient light for the longer, darker evenings.

For practicality and safety, I use a lot of battery-operated candles.  I use these all through the fall, Christmas, and winter seasons, so they are well-worth the investment.  Having them all set on timers just makes me happy because they all start flickering on and creating their magic around 4:30 each afternoon and flicker off at about 10:30 each night, just in time for bed!

Here are a few of my favorites that I am enjoying this season:

How can I freshen the look of my house?

I hope these tips and ideas give you some fresh inspiration as you transition your home from the busy holiday season into one that is hopefully more calm, quiet, and restful.  Since I want this season to be those things, I think it’s worth my time and effort to help my home reflect those traits too!

Here’s to “undecorating” and slowly adding back in the pieces that bring a cozy, calm, and quiet feeling into our homes.  My hope is that by creating this environment, I can also prepare a space where my mind and heart can focus on those things at the same time.

Happy New Year!

I’d love for you to follow me on social media!  You can find my home decor inspiration on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook!  

Blessings,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.  Posts on Robyn’s French Nest may contain affiliate links. You can see our full disclosure details here.)

Pin It on Pinterest

Share This