I’m not sure why I’ve never really decorated for Valentine’s Day before, but it could be that I’ve been a room mom at my children’s school for years…so technically, I’ve been doing a lot of Valentine’s decorating!  Just not at home!  I do love this fun holiday and we always try to do something special with our kiddos too.  Family is so important and more than ever, I’ll take every opportunity to celebrate us!

I decided that this year, I was going to look for some ways to incorporate Valentine’s Day décor in simple, budget-friendly ways.  After all, this décor will only be up for a couple of weeks before I start making some transitions to early spring.  And I don’t see any reason to break the bank for a holiday that is celebrated with hearts, flowers, chocolate, and candles!

I also wanted to make my touches of Valentine’s subtle and things that would complement our home’s décor, rather than requiring full-scale redecorating!  Since I have a neutral color palette throughout our home, I decided to take on the challenge of neutral Valentine’s Day décor.  That being said, I think you could use these same ideas and tweak them to include the traditional reds and pinks for fun!

Here are five ways I incorporated simple, neutral Valentine’s Day décor into our home:

Neutral Colored Hearts

This is a really obvious one, but I included it because I love the instant touch of Valentine’s Day that a garland of hearts brings!  I used three different garlands:

      1. French postal sorter heart garland from Penny and Ivy

Emily is so incredibly talented!  You may remember the miniature stockings I had in our entryway at Christmas that I purchased from Penny and Ivy!  Her work is impeccable and I love how this heart garland adds such a classy touch to our living room!  The neutral colors complement our home while still being festive and the vintage French postal sorter fabric is the perfect addition to our vintage pieces!

      2. Kraft paper sweetheart notes garland

You can find the tutorial for this garland here.  My kids love to do arts and crafts so this was a fun way to incorporate them into the process and I smile every time I walk past their sweet notes.  Each child wrote something they love about each member of our family and we strung them together on the mantel!  By using neutral colored pencils, we kept a simple look.  But there is no doubt that this mantel is ready for Valentine’s Day!

        3. White yarn heart garland

You can find the tutorial for this garland here!  We hung this garland across the mirror in our music room.  Another way to simply add to a space and get an instant Valentine’s Day look!  I love the texture of the yarn and how the white hearts go with the white furniture and chunky white throw pillows in this room.

Again, you could tweak either of these simple DIY heart garlands to make the fit the colors you want to use in your decorating!

Simple Flower Arrangements

One quick trip to my Trader Joe’s and about $20 gave me enough flowers to sprinkle through our living spaces and enjoy during this week leading up to Valentine’s Day!  Keeping with my neutral theme, I chose white stock flowers that will last all week, some white tulips, eucalyptus greenery, and little fillers.  I several small arrangements that I can add to our living room, kitchen, music room, and my nightstand!  A small jar of flowers adds instant life to a room and speaks of your thoughtful way to make the holiday special for the most important people in your world…your family!

Another fun thing about creating several small arrangements is that I can move them around and even bring them all to the dining room for a Valentine’s Day tablescape!  Stay tuned for that coming up on my Instagram next week!

This is also a great time to invest in a new fresh plant or two and add to your kitchen sink or table!  It’s a simple, thoughtful touch that adds a bright, fresh look to your space.  I like to put my fresh plants in vintage containers for a little extra character!

Signs

I was a lucky girl this Valentine’s Day season!  My husband surprised me with this incredible vintage Whitman’s Chocolates sign that I admired at an antiques show we visited.  I am not an easy one to surprise, so he really got me!  But I love the way the green pops against my woods and whites, while still blending in with the neutral décor.

A vintage sign for Valentine’s Day may not be something you can just snap your fingers and find, but add it to your vintage hunting list and look throughout the year!  Vintage chocolates boxes and little vintage candy signs can be spotted around flea markets, both in person and online, so keep your eyes open!

You can often find sweet signs about love, family, or Scripture, especially online.  Consider picking up a small one to add to a favorite Valentine’s vignette!  You could also take card stock and print one online or try your hand at writing your favorite verse in calligraphy! 

Here are a few favorite verses that I love for the Valentine’s season:

• “Love is patient, love is kind.” I Corinthians 13:4
• “Love…it always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.”  I Corinthians 13:7
• “We love because He first loved us.”  I John 4:19
• “I have loved you with an everlasting love.”  Jeremiah 31:3
• “There is no fear in love for perfect love casts out fear.”  I John 4:18

Candy!

You really can’t have Valentine’s Day without some candy, right?  I picked up a few bags of yummy chocolates…in neutral colored wrappers, of course…and added them to vintage bowls on the coffee table and in the kitchen!  This is proving to be tempting for our whole family, but we set a little rule that each person can have one a day for the week!  After all, a little chocolate is good for you, right?!  It is a simple way to add some fun and festivity to your home for the season.

Adding the chocolates to my vintage, wooden bowls makes them feel a little more special.  I love being able to actually use my vintage items…and my family is enjoying it too!

Candles

Nothing sets a romantic, cozy atmosphere like candles!  I use battery operated ones all through the winter.  I love how the flicker on each day around dusk and we get to enjoy them during the long, winter evenings.  I also keep some favorite candles on hand and you can find one lit in our kitchen or on the coffee table most evenings!  For me, celebrating love and family is all about creating a cozy, inviting atmosphere.  I want our family to feel like home is really a great, big, cozy hug.  No matter what is happening in the world, we have each other and our home is a haven.  What does that have to do with candles?  Well, it’s all about a cozy feeling and peaceful environment.  Candles are a simple, but impactful, way to get that in your home!

Here are a few ways to add candles:

1. Add a jar candle to a dough bowl with a simple, green wreath or clips of fresh greenery from your yard.
2. Fill a bowl with small rocks or sand and add taper candles, like I did here! You can even use battery operated ones for something that just flickers on each evening and is a little more safe to have on all the time.
3. Use a dough bowl or tray and add a few pillar candles. This makes a quick and simple centerpiece, or use it like I did on my coffee table!  I added a few little sprigs of faux greenery to soften the edges and give it more life.

So you can see that our Valentine’s Day décor isn’t flashy and we won’t be winning any party décor awards!  But it feels calm, peaceful, and loving…with a little splash of fun and festivity!

If you don’t usually decorate for Valentine’s Day, I hope this inspires you to pick up a bag of chocolates or bundle of flowers on your next grocery store run.  It takes the smallest, most simple things to create a thoughtful and loving home.

Blessings,

Robyn

​

​