Interior Decorating

Winter Decor To Keep The Doldrums Away

Every year when I take down my Christmas decorations, usually the weekend after New Years Day, I am very ready to put them away and start the year off with pared-down, clean and fresh decor. Not so much this year. As I started to undeck my halls, I felt strongly that I had to add back in some “winter decor” to keep the doldrums away. Since I didn’t have any strictly “winter decor,” I knew I’d need to repurpose a few of my Christmas decorations.

Christmas mantel with green and red topiaries and a swagged lighted garland.

As I’ve mentioned before, the fireplace is the focal point of our family room, so I knew I wanted to decorate the mantle. I love the way my mantle looks at Christmastime. It sparkles with lots of lights and shiny red ornaments. However, after the holidays, it had to go. While the long swagged garland seemed way too much for after Christmas, I knew I still wanted the warmth that some greenery would bring to the mantlepiece. 

Winter fireplace decor

In order to achieve the look I wanted, I utilized a very old unlit scotch pine garland (which adorns the top of my dining room hutch at Christmas).

Scotch Pine garland on top of the china cupboard at Christmastime.

as well as several different evergreen picks to create a lush piney base for my winter mantel.

Flameless candles, various sized pine cones, and a string of fairy lights add texture and sparkle to the mantel. I kept the pots of preserved cypress topiaries and added pairs of black candlesticks to provide height to the composition.

Three huge widow-maker or Coulter pine cones anchor the mantel design along with preserved cypress topiaries in black pots and pairs of candlesticks.

I brought the design of the mantle decor down to the hearth with a couple of lanterns, more jumbo pine cones, and an additional evergreen spray.

More pine cones and a couple of lanterns create a coordinating vignette at the base of the fireplace.

I think the overall design is nicely balanced and evokes a lush winter forest typical of the Carolina’s (no snow!).

To keep the theme going on my coffee table, I switched out the red poinsettia for white cyclamen. I also replaced the other red elements with black and white objects.

This is my Christmas coffee table arrangement. I took this picture for my own design reference and did not intend to use it in the blog. This is why my laptop and my son’s graphic novel are ignominiously in the shot.

The winter fireplace and coffee table decor coordinate with candles, greenery pine cones, and black and white elements.

The other area I focused on was the kitchen dining area. On the table, again, I simply switched out the red poinsettias for white cyclamen in the planter and the red plaid table runner for a graphic black and white runner.

White poinsettias and cyclamen in a footed transferware tureen placed on top of a black and white table runner. The runner was made by placing placemats end to end.

 

Christmas kitchen buffet

On the buffet, I put away the reindeer, the wreaths on the sconces, and the red plates. I kept the live potted miniature pine trees and the lanterns. For some sparkle, I added a lighted silver dollar branch to a glass vase filled with curly willow and faux greenery.

The kitchen buffet lights up the mid-winter nights with sconces, lanterns, and an arrangement with lighted silver dollar branches.

 

I haven’t decorated after Christmas before this fun COVID year. But seeing how easy it was to tweak my Christmas decor to create a peaceful winter scheme, this will not be the last year I celebrate winter with decorations in my home.

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6 thoughts on “Winter Decor To Keep The Doldrums Away

  1. Lisa,
    Thank you! I look for opportunities to enjoy beauties. The cyclamen are one of my favorites. I haven’t had some in a bit. I took my decorations down right after Christmas. Put I put up some fun lovelies that make me smile.
    Keep moving forward,
    Deborah

    1. What a great idea! I always get a little sad when the decorations come down and I don’t need any extra reasons to be sad this year!

  2. VERY PRETTY LISA—I TOO ENJOY KEEPING THE WINTER THEME GOING IT GOES SO WELL WITH OUR SNOW AT TIMES. EVERYTHING LOOKS BEAURIFUL!!!

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