Embrace Winter Decorating: Seamlessly Transitioning Your Holiday Decor

When it comes time to pack away the Christmas ornaments, the house can suddenly feel cold and bare. However, you can seamlessly transition your holiday decor into a beautiful winter look. This year, I decided to leave most of my greenery in place to keep that cozy, warm feeling. By layering in brass candlesticks, soft candlelight, and natural textures, the result is just as charming—minus the Christmas glitz.

Come along for a quick tour of my winter decorating ideas! These tips will help you refresh your home for the season without spending a fortune.

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How To Style Greenery Beyond December

One of the biggest challenges in removing the Christmas decor is determining what should be stored and what will remain on display for winter. I decided that greenery would remain a major part of my Winter decor this year. Styling with evergreens keep the your home feeling warm and cozy.

I shared how to bleach pinecones just before Christmas, and loved how they turned out so much that I made two batches. I wanted to keep them out for winter, so you will see them throughout the farmhouse. I’m a fan of the softer color, and they will look stunning in your decor year-round. All remaining home decor is neutral, in shades of beige, brown, and soft green. I think you’ll agree the rooms now feel soothing and relaxing.

What Decor Works for Winter Mantel Decorating

One of my favorite spaces to decorate is the fireplace mantel. I loved how the mantel garland came together for Christmas, and I wasn’t ready to lose that cozy feel. So here are the changes I made to keep the greenery in place for winter.

What Holiday Decor To Remove From the Mantel

• Nativity Scenes or other obvious Christmas decorations.
• Bottle Brush Trees and/or Christmas trees.
• Dried Orange slice garland or any obvious holiday garlands.

What To Leave on The Mantel for Winter

• Evergreen greenery, either real or faux.
• Pinecones (bleached or snow-filled)
• Neutral Ribbons

What I added

• I moved the updated snowmen from the kitchen to the mantel.
• I added several thrifted brass candlesticks
• To replace the nativity scene, I added a small dough bowl and filled it with gold fruit, greenery stems, and dried magnolia seed pods.

Ways To Use Evergreens In Your Home For Winter

I wanted to keep the evergreens scattered throughout the farmhouse to create a natural flow as your eye travels around the open space. Here are a few areas where the greenery still works for winter decorating.

Dining Room Winter Decor

The dining room is another area I didn’t want to strip of all the greenery, so here’s what I removed, saved, and added.

What to remove From Dinning Room

• Gold Leaf stems from greenery table runner & gathering wall basket
• Reindeer plates from the gallery wall
• DIY Felt Christmas trees
• Christmas tree candles
• Glitzy candle rings
• Small ceramic trees on each plate
• Small greenery wreaths from dinner plates.

What To Keep in the Dining Room

• Greenery table garland
• Pinecones & Greenery Centerpiece
• White Dishes
• Gold Charger Plates & Silverware

You may remember when I made this long-lasting table centerpiece mixing real magnolia leaves, faux greenery, and bleached pinecones. Well, what do you think about it now? It’s been two months since I created my holiday centerpiece, and it has dried for the perfect winter accessory. The magnolia leaves are now a silvery green, curled to reveal the warm brown underside, casting a warm glow on the winter table.

What I added To Dining Room for Winter Decorating

• I replaced the Christmas plates with all-white ironstone plates and platters on the gallery wall.
• I moved the old book page paper stars from the kitchen and added a few over the plates.
• The brass candlestick holders are now filled with flicker candles.

Living Room For Winter

To balance the greenery choices in the dining room, I also left a few neutral holiday decorations and added a few oldies but goodies. I knew I wanted to leave the vintage wooden bowl filled with greenery and bleached pinecones on the sofa table. It was so simple but still a favorite idea.

I couldn’t resist leaving the greenery and pinecones at the end of the banister for a few more weeks.

I also left the brass candleholder and leaf tray on the living room coffee table, but removed the reindeer. I replaced them with scaled-down versions of the paperwhite arrangement I used last winter.

Add Warmth With Thrifted Brass and Candlelight

Winter is a great time to pull out your vintage brass pieces and candles. The warm glow from the candles will reflect off the brass, creating a charming, cozy winter setting.

A purchase I’ve not regretted is these pinecone-shaped flicker candles, and I’ve scattered them around the living room for winter. Combining them with the pottery vase filled with greenery and the earthenware lamp on the entry table helps create a soft, subtle glow in the evenings. Another pinecone candle found a home under a glass cloche on the sofa table.

Mismatched vintage brass candlesticks with flickering tapers add warmth and romance to the dining table.

The mantel was completed with flicker pillar candles that help to balance the repurposed thrift-store snowmen at the end of the winter mantel.

The other end of the mantel boasts more mix-and-match thrifted brass candleholders, but instead of candles, I added a bleached pinecone and tucked in a few sprigs of greenery.

Budget-Friendly DIY Winter Decor

Here are a few other updates to create a cozy winter home. First, I pulled out these block print beige and soft-green pillow covers from Cotton Print Club and arranged them on the sofa and side chairs. I also kept the DIY greenery and nut candleholder, and updated the shade on the LED lamp with a soft green scrapbook paper cover. See the LED Lamp makeover tutorial for details.

Yesterday, I shared How To Make A Felt Ball Garland, which is key to really warming up the mantel for winter. The warm shades of beige and brown soften the evergreen garland for a cozier feel.

How To Transition Porches from Holiday to Winter

Let’s not forget about the porches. Both the front porch and the screen porch remain similar to the holiday version. I used a very neutral color palette on the front porch and only needed to remove the garland above the doors and the small Christmas trees to create the winter style.

I decided to leave the front door greenery wreaths with cream and caramel velvet ribbon, the planters filled with magnolia leaves, and the two deer. Scattered around the porch are some snowmen and plaid throw blankets to keep it cozy.

The screen porch also undergoes very little change from holiday to winter. I kept the porch decorations minimal this year, so here is what remains for winter.

The screen porch coffee table arrangement features last year’s DIY Pinecone Christmas Tree Centerpiece, a grapevine candle ring, and a flicker candle accent. Although I called this centerpiece a pinecone Christmas tree, I feel it’s rustic enough to work for winter as well.

I also left the vintage needlepoint-covered bridge art on the screen porch bakers’ rack. I love the colors and hard work that went into this design. I purchased it for a steal at a thrift store years ago.

The Shiplap Tree For Winter

I went all natural when decorating the shiplap tree this past Christmas.

I did add some twinkle lights and clip-on candles. Instead of red birds, I filled the branches with fresh nandina stems and popcorn garland. The tree is topped with a vintage bird house. I think it’s perfect for winter and evokes seeing trees draped with popcorn garlands to feed the winter birds in years past.

So that’s it! I hope you enjoyed seeing how I transitioned my home from holiday to winter while maintaining the evergreen garlands and greenery. Please let me know if you use any of these ideas for your home.