Winter Decorating And Small Changes In The Living Room

Winter decorating in the living room should be cozy and personal. No matter where you live, a winter decor reset is a wonderful way to decorate after Christmas.

Every year, I get the same feeling after the last bits and pieces of Christmas decor are taken down and put away. It’s a feeling of a starting over. Our home feels more open, cleaner, and free. Free from so much stuff. Although I love Christmas decor, I’m a creature of change. I LOVE the start of a new season and all the decorating possibilities it brings. And winter does bring beautiful decorating possibilities.

For now, I’m embracing a bit of color in our living spaces. Albeit, the color is brown. Brown, like all colors, comes in many shades and tints, and there are many undertones lurking under it all. Brown is a very popular color right now, and for good reason! Colors like caramel, tan, and burnt sienna are all considered brown. Even beige is brown. Brown, The New Hot Color Trend is a must-read. This post will give you lots of insight about brown and ideas on how to use this warm and inviting color in your home.

Winter has shown its frosty face and blown lots of snow our way! And tonight and tomorrow, we are getting more. I must admit I LOVE snow. As long as I don’t have to drive in it. Not only is it snowy but cold. In some of the images, you can see the snow on the ground through the windows.

Here are a few changes I made in the living room this winter.

New Color And New Curtains

I’ve had an itch to make some changes to our decor. These changes started in the dining room. You can see what I did and why by reading Winter Changes In The Dining Room.

Here’s how the winter dining room looks…

The winter changes in our living room actually started in the dining room. Since I hung brown and white Buffalo Check curtains in the dining room, I also got two panels for the living room. In our open-concept home, these areas are next to each other, so keeping the curtains the same made sense.

I was unsure if I would like them in the living room for fear because Buffalo Check would look too casual, farmhouse, or cottagecore. However, as soon as I hung them, I knew they would work. I’m a huge fan of cottagecore, so a little bit of its distinct charm would be a welcomed change.

The Tanglewood house has been through several changes in the four years we have lived here. It’s been hard to take the style and look I have in my mind’s eye and bring it to life in the rooms of our home. But with every change, I get closer.

I want our home to have a casual, approachable, yet upscale feel. Left to my own devices, I tend to decorate more formally. However, for me, formality reads a bit stiff. So, over decades of decorating, I learned some tricks to help tone down my formal side and embrace a casual, warm elegance.

The windows flanking the fireplace are too close to it to hang curtain panels, so I hung Buffalo Check panels on one side of the window.

This added quite a bit of warmth and depth to the living room.

Adding A Chunky Throw

Winter decorating always includes chunky throws. You will find them in almost every room in our home. They add a nice layer of texture, color, and visual warmth and are great to curl up with on a cold day.

I like to toss a throw over the back of our sofa so it looks casual and welcoming. Coming into the main part of our home from our foyer, the back of the sofa is the first thing you see. So, a decorative throw is a must.

I folded a favorite caramel-colored cashmere throw over a small white linen slipcovered chair so the fringe fell free below the back of the chair.

Scrunch them, fold them, layer them, drape them. Throw blankets are an important part of winter decorating.

Winter Pillows

I added a bit more depth to the living room with pillows.

Pillows are a room’s jewelry. They can change the whole look of a room.

I’ve had these spindle chairs for over a decade. Lately, I’ve been thinking about having them reupholstered. However, I’ll keep them white for now and add pillows for interest and depth. No furniture or accent piece is safe! I love to change things!

I’m thinking about painting the glass lamp on the buffet right now. Maybe a gunmetal gray? What color would you suggest?

It’s important to keep decor fresh and exciting. Even if it’s as simple as adding a thrifted vase or painting a picture frame. Our style is always evolving because our style is a reflection of who we are. I have hundreds of ideas, big and small, I just wish I had the time to do them.

Baskets

I use baskets year-round and display them prominently in the winter. Baskets are so textural, and they add depth and color to any space you put them in.

The nesting baskets on the white buffet were a splurge. I’m not afraid of spending a little more for beautifully made, unique baskets. I know I will use them for years and years.

Make baskets part of your winter decor.

Winter Coffee Table

There is really nothing too wintery about our coffee table. This is the 8th coffee table in our Tanglewood living room. This one is a keeper; however, I am tweaking it a bit. It’s a bit too high. So Bobby will be making the legs shorter. Yes, he will cut them so the coffee table will be a bit lower.

Decorating With Books

There are so many things I love about books! And you might be surprised to know that I am somewhat of a book collector. My biggest book collections are shelter books and cookbooks. The coffee table has a nice shelf to hold a few decor books. Ideas For Decorating With Books You Have And Love is a post with creative ways to use books as decor in your home.

Most of the time, I take the dust jackets off my books when I display them. I like that the covers of books are usually less fussy.

Orchids On The Coffee Table

You will find orchids in my winter home. I love orchids any time of the year. I always buy a bundle of orchids right after Christmas. I love putting orchids in interesting pots and containers, and I would have grouped three or four orchids in a big shallow bowl, but the little pots the orchids came in were really nice. So, for now, I’m leaving them in their original pots. You can see more orchids on our winter dining room table HERE.

Adding Something Personal To The Coffee Table

Keeping to the book theme on the coffee table, I added a stack of my favorite books chatbooks. I have a four-year collection of these precious books. Every year, our daughter Jacqueline gifts us chapbooks at Christmas for the coming year. Each month I get beautifully bound books with pictures of our family.

Our grandchildren love pouring over these books, as you can see. They are never put back in order by month. Instead of rearranging them in order, I keep them in the order my grandchildren leave them. I just straighten them up a bit.

Along with the orchid and chatbooks, I added a white acrylic bookstand with a book. It was serendipity that I turned to a black and white page that kept the coffee table decor the same colors. A candle in a gold mercury glass container was added for a bit of color and a different texture.

There may not be anything overtly wintery about this coffee table, but it works with the rest of our winter home.

Adding A Little Life In Winter

No matter the time of year, a room needs a bit of life.

In the image above, you can see three plants. Two live and one faux. Organics of any kind make a room look better and feel more alive.

I planted an interesting peppermint plant in a small pot and, at first, put it on the island in the kitchen. But moved it to the little drink table beside the sofa in the living room. Now I have to remember to water it.

The blooms on the orchid will last about 6 weeks, just enough time to enjoy until I decorate for spring.

On the white buffet, my favorite urn is filled with my favorite greenery. I wish I would have bought twice as many greenery stems because the shop I found them in sold out, and there is no longer a source for them.

About Buying Accent Decor

Let me digress from winter decorating for a minute. Decor we buy online or in stores are usually only available for a while. It may be a year, but it will most likely be a season. And when things sell out, they are gone.

Knowing that. I like to over-buy a bit. And I’m usually not sorry at all. Instead of one pillow, I’ll buy two. A set of pillows can often be used in so many ways: on a pair of chairs, a sofa, or a bed. One pillow is nice, but a couple are much more versatile. I like to buy three candlesticks instead of two or two lamps instead of one.

I purchased 10 stems of the greens in the urn above but should have gotten more. I cut several of the stems apart for other projects.

So the moral of this story is to think about buying more of the same kind of accent decor. Like pillows, frames, candlesticks, faux flowers, and plants. You will be glad you did!

More Winter Organics

The curlacue chest is decorated very simply. I believe that not all surfaces in a room need to be heavily decorated. A white vase with faux dried pods fills up one side of the Curlacue chest. I found These faux pods in a local shop a couple of years ago. A small round tortoise shell vase sits next to the white vase of pods. I LOVE tortoise shells! Look for more accents in this interesting finish.

Decorating for winter does not need to be Christmas leftover decor or look like you live in the Arctic. Subtle changes and curated decor should be what winter decorating is all about. Make it personal and cozy!

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