How to Cozy Up Your Home After the Holidays

*Hi Friends! I feel like this post is slightly out of place, going up way later than I hoped. I’ve had this written since the first week of January, but haven’t been able to take photos of my house that I absolutely loved. (The lighting has been so terrible with no sunshine!) So even though my photos still aren’t exactly how I’d like them, I’ve decided they are good enough… because I’m dying to share this post with you!

We all love the feeling that Christmas decor brings our home. Twinkling lights, sweet smells, and sparkling Christmas trees make everything feel instantly cozy. There is nothing that I love more than sitting by tree, listening to Christmas music, sipping on cocoa and snuggling with Trev. Just the thought of it makes me warm and fuzzy inside.

My home has always felt at it’s best, most warm and most inviting during the Holidays. Then, the New Year comes and it’s time to throw away the Gingerbread Houses, pack up the ornaments and take down the garlands. And my heart starts to hurt. Taking down the Christmas decor and returning our home to it’s regular state feels sad, empty and like all the coziness and happiness has been packed up and put away until next December.

I’ve felt this way ever since I started decorating our apartment for the holidays, but this year, when it came time to take down our Christmas decor in our house for the first time, it was 10,000 times worse. So, I made it my mission to find ways to keep our home feeling cozy without the stockings hung by the chimney with care.

And so far, so good! Yes, I still miss my Christmas decor. (I just loved it so much! If you didn’t see it, click here!) BUT I love how welcoming and cozy my home feels even without my Christmas decorations.

PS… I will admit. This post is up a littttttle bit later than I had hoped. BUT I feel like it’s still relevant because I still had the post Christmas decor blues until about a week ago! Which is when I realized you all might be struggling with your home decor still too!

Looking for a little inspiration to keep your home feeling cozy too? Try out a few of my Tips for Cozying Up Your Home After The Holidays!

Leave up neutral holiday greenery, or add in new plants and stems. One of the hardest things for me when taking down my Christmas decor is getting rid of all my Christmas greens, like garlands and of course my tree! Greens in general help make rooms feel calmer and brighter… which in turn makes you feel happier and more relaxed. Two states that we often associate with the words cozy and welcoming. If you have neutral holiday greens, like wreaths or stems, keeping these out can help make your winter decor pop! But if you are like me and don’t decorate for winter, try adding different shades and styles of plants to every room in your home!

What would we call these stems?! I’m not exactly sure and have had them for years! I love them and feel like they are perfect no matter what your decor style! I believe they were from Hobby Lobby.

Probably should have fluffed up my plant a bit! Oops! Both plants and pots are from Michaels.

Love this cute little guy!

Add in new, warm textures, like pillows, throws and rugs.

When you think of tangible things that are warm and cozy, I can pretty much bet you dream up blankets and pillows in the softest fabrics like sherpa and faux fur! To me, these scream winter/Hygge/holidays. BUT, don’t think you have to choose these kind of textures. Any texture will up the cozy factor in your home, especially if you choose warm, neutral colors. I love choosing accents with fringe too! I choose pieces that feel warm and inviting that I can match with my decor all year until Fall and Christmas roll around again. As for my rugs? These two beauties have become staples throughout my home because I love how happy they make me feel! You can find my area rug here (I have it in both my den and my living room! Plus it’s on MAJOR sale right now… 60% off with free shipping!!!!) and my smaller accent rug is from Target! It’s called the Sylviidae Stripe Woven Accent rug, and would you believe it’s from Target?! (It’s on sale right now too!)

Create cozy nooks and crannies. Going hand in hand with adding texture is creating cozy places to curl up and snuggle in! For me, those places are our big ol comfy couch and chair, and our den! I added neutral throw pillows and blankets to these spaces, allowing me to get lost in a sea of coziness every time I sit down.

Our couch came with lots of pillows, but I’ve added these woven pillows from Kirklands, and a throw blanket from Target! (Wish I could link it but can’t find it anywhere on the site! It’s from the Fall/Christmas season I believe.)

Mix in a new scent with your favorite Christmas ones. Does anyone else LOVE how their house smells during the holidays?? I had the most perfect combo with my Praline Pecan and Cream candle and Mahogany Balsam wallflowers. I still had a few wallflowers left over, so I’m still letting my house smell a little bit like Christmas at Abercrombie, but mixing in a little Marshmallow Fireside too!

Evoke Happiness with black and white photos… Happy memories are the quickest and easiest ways to make you smile and to make your house your home. We have them hanging literally everywhere, each from a special moment in our lives or a happy travel memory.

Our travel photos on our fireplace are one of our newest additions to our home and I love them! I’m still trying to decide if I should add a few more though. All of the frames in my house are various versions of frames from Michael’s! The ones on our fireplace are these in various sizes. I always get them when they are either Buy 1 Get 1 Free or Buy 1 Get 2 Free! Also, our chairs look so sad without pillows! I’m still searching for just the right ones to add to this space!

The entryway in our home is also filled with black and white photos of happy memories, like our first anniversary, an engagement photo, and even Jacksy Cat’s first Thanksgiving! Our entryway table is our newest addition to our house and I love it so much! It’s practical in that we have a bowl for our keys and a basket for our junk, but also so pretty and welcoming! The vase and basket are brand new from Hobby Lobby (not online yet), the small console table is from Walmart, bowl and black candle are Target, and the artwork is made by me! (I took pieces of all the wallpaper we un-covered in our home and made a collage with them, as a little tribute to the previous owners!)

… trinkets from travels… our built ins are filled with trinkets we collected over the years. We love to look at them and talk about the things we loved about specific places/vacations.

I love love love this little hand made vase from Nantucket!

and Family Heirlooms. These are the most important decorations in our home because they keep us connected to those we love most.

My amazing piece of home that my dad made for me this Christmas.

A quilt from Trev’s grandma who we lost a few weeks ago. Basket was part of a Christmas gift, but if I had to guess where it was from I’d say Hobby Lobby!

I don’t love how these shelves look just yet, but this is what it looks like at the moment! I do love a few of the items on these shelves though! The top shelf hold the green candy dish that used to sit on my great grandma’s table, and a pink glass bottle from a cherished family friend. The boxes on the second shelf were all made for me by my grandpas, with the exception of one, that is a pub style Shut The Box game! And the wooden vase and wooden bottle next to it were both made my Trev’s grandpa.

Keep it neutral.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I love soft neutrals! I feel like they make our home feel warm and welcoming. (LOL how many times can I say that in this post?!) Plus, they are super practical! My whole house is painted in light neutrals, so it’s not a shock that I decorate with them too! Some people might feel like it’s all too light, or too much of one color, but for me, it feels cozy, warm and relaxing. Seriously, every time I walk into my home I breathe a sigh of relief because I’m in a space that feels so good to be in. If you’re not into a completely neutral space, don’t be afraid to add in pops of color! I chose to accent with black (like my soul) because I feel like it’s classic and looks good any time of year.

How do you keep your home feeling cozy all year long? I’d love to see your ideas in the comments below! I’d especially love to know how you cozy up your bedrooms… we’re starting to remodel our upstairs and I need all the inspiration I can get!

Alright my loves, I hope you all have a fantastic Tuesday! We’re heading to Home Depot after work to order our new carpet. Eeek! Even more coziness coming our way v. soon!

Have a great day, and I’ll talk to you all tomorrow 🙂

Xx.
Savannah