23 Ideas to Decorate with Winter Decorations (Not Christmas)
Just because Christmas is over does not mean you need to pack all your winter decorations away! Embrace the beauty of the season with these 23 creative ideas to decorate your home in a way that feels cozy, fresh, and perfect for winter.
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23 Cozy Ideas for Winter Decorations Not Christmas Related
Ready to cozy up your home for winter without saying goodbye to all the holiday twinkle lights and textures?
It’s easier than you think!
Don’t pack away the twinkle lights and cozy throw blankets just yet, because I’m sharing how to refresh your home for the season with winter decorations that are not Christmas.
So grab a cup of something warm, pull up a warm blanket, and dive into the magic of Christmas-free winter decorating.
Easy Ways to Transition from Christmas to Winter Decor
Winter the perfect time of the year to transition your home into a cozy and welcoming space with the help of some simple decor.
I’m sharing 23 of my favorite quick (and easy!) ways to make the switch to winter decorations that are not Christmas related.
So tuck away your stockings and jingle bells, and get ready to turn your home into a haven of wintery bliss with these winter decor ideas.
1. Put Away The Red
Once December is over, pack away the traditional red Christmas decorations and transition to a neutral color scheme with winter whites and natural tones for a warm, cozy home.
Thoughtfully store your holiday decor like Santas and snowmen to create space for a fresh, serene atmosphere that embraces the simplicity of the post-holiday season.
Instead, replace these Christmas specific decorations with greens, dried pine cones, sparkling lights, and other earthy elements like branches and winter florals.
2. De-Clutter Your House
January is the perfect time to de-clutter your home! As you pack away holiday-specific items like ornaments and festive decorations, take the opportunity to purge and organize. Get rid of or sell decor you no longer use, making space for pieces that truly align with your style.
Besides organizing your holiday decor, it’s also a great time to assess each room in your home, keeping only the decor that aligns with your desired aesthetic and serves a purpose.
Instead of buying new decor, rearrange furniture, swap items between rooms, or repurpose pieces you already have. Rotating decor can also help your space feel fresh and updated without spending extra money.
3. Use a Neutral Color Palette
Using a neutral color palette for winter decorations that are not Christmas involves embracing soft and muted tones like whites, creams, grays, greens, and warm wood tones.
This approach exudes a calm, serene atmosphere, transitioning from vibrant holiday colors to more understated elegance. The neutral winter decor not only brings a sense of simplicity but also allows for a timeless and versatile aesthetic that seamlessly blends with the serene ambiance of the post-holiday season
4. Use Winter White
Create a serene winter wonderland at home with wintry white decorations that are not just for Christmas! Don’t be afraid to add lots of cozy layers, tuck in frosted branches, sprinkle in some silver accents, and bring a little winter white to every corner of your home. Let simplicity reign, creating a cozy haven where you can bask in the snowy magic.
5. Leave the Evergreen Branches Out
Winter decorating with evergreen branches adds natural elegance to your home. Create a cozy ambiance by arranging lush branches with pinecones and twinkling lights on mantles or tabletops. Fresh evergreen wreaths hung on doors or walls infuse your space with a rustic charm and the invigorating scent of the outdoors.
Whether in vases, garlands, or wreaths, evergreen branches bring a timeless and festive touch to your winter decor, symbolizing the enduring beauty of nature in the frosty season.
6. Use Evergreen Trees
Even if your Christmas tree is already packed away, you can still incorporate bare trees into your winter decor for a touch of timeless elegance and natural charm. These simple yet classic trees are incredibly versatile.
Whether displayed in rustic pots, strung with twinkle lights, or left bare to showcase their natural beauty, they bring a fresh and lively feel to your home.
7. Add Dried Orange Slices and Spices
Dress up your front door with a wreath featuring dried orange slices, or decorate your kitchen with charming apothecary jars filled with anise stars, pinecones, and dried oranges. These are great ways to decorate for winter with non Christmas specific items.
8. Fill Dough Bowls with Natural Elements
Style your dining table with a charming centerpiece using pine cones, birch branches, and winter greens in a dough bowl. This rustic arrangement blends earthy textures and hues, creating a visually stunning display that captures the beauty of a winter woodland. It’s one of the many winter decorations for home that brings a warm and inviting touch to your dining experience.
9. Use Lots of Pine Cones
Update your winter decor with pinecones by filling bowls and baskets or adding them into winter floral arrangements. For added charm, place pinecones on top of a stack of vintage books, bringing a touch of rustic elegance and natural warmth to your home.
10. Add Birch Logs
Add a winter touch to your home by arranging birch logs in a basket or vintage galvanized bucket near your fireplace hearth.
For winter mantel decor that is not Christmas themed, you can also incorporate the logs into a floral arrangement. You can even make your own DIY candle holder using birch tree branches for some extra coziness and ambiance.
11. Make Moss Cone Trees
I adore moss cone trees and incorporate them throughout the year, either leaving them plain or adding decorations for versatility. I love how simple they are. They effortlessly bring a natural touch into the home.
12. Create a Cozy Fireplace Mantel Using Non Christmas Winter Decor
Begin your winter mantel’s transformation with a simple green garland and curly willow branches. Enhance it by incorporating pinecones, twinkling lights, and soft velvet ribbon for a cozy and festive atmosphere during the winter months.
13. Update Your Indoor Planters
Bring a cozy winter feel to your living space with plants in a stylish planter basket. Line the basket with Spanish moss, add nutrient-rich soil, and top it off with birch logs, lotus pods, and fresh plants. It’s an easy way to create a natural look with non Christmas decorations that fit the season perfectly.
14. Add Soft Blankets
As winter sets in, adding soft throw blankets is a simple way to make your home cozy and warm. Drape them over sofas, chairs, or beds for a touch of comfort and style. Choose neutral colors and textures like faux fur or knits for a look that works perfectly with non Christmas winter decorations.
Whether you’re relaxing with a book or enjoying a movie night, these blankets are both practical and stylish, making your space feel warm and inviting.
15. Lots of Throw Pillows
I love throw pillows, and I believe the more, the merrier. Mixing patterns and textures is a simple way to refresh your decor. Alternatively, you can opt for a cohesive look by using pillows of the same color but with different textures.
Whether you love mixing bold patterns or keeping things simple and coordinated, throw pillows are an easy and affordable way to refresh your family room or living room.
16. Vintage Books
Enhance the texture and appeal of your home vignettes by incorporating old books. Their beauty and affordability make them a fantastic choice, easily found at your local thrift store.
Whether stacked on a coffee table, opened on the dining room table, or standing upright, these books can become a captivating focal point in your winter decor.
17. Display a Simple Collection of White Decor
Displaying my collection of white ironstone is one of my favorite post-Christmas traditions. The clean, crisp look of these pieces feels so refreshing after all the bright holiday colors.
I love arranging them around my home in thoughtful ways. Their timeless elegance adds a calm and sophisticated touch that fits perfectly with my winter decorations not Christmas.
18. Decorate with Vintage Clocks and Clock Faces
Embrace the symbolism of a “Happy New Year” and fresh beginnings by decorating with small vintage clocks, clock faces, and keys. (You can even make your own DIY clock ornaments to hang on a special New Year’s tree.)
Picking up these unique pieces at estate sales, vintage shops, or yard sales for just a few dollars is a budget-friendly way to add charm to your decor. Arrange them on your table to create a fun and nostalgic display that sparks conversations and tells a story.
19. Use Small Chests of Drawers on Tabletops
Enhance winter tabletop decor with small chests of drawers. Open the drawers to reveal charming greenery displays, vintage clocks, and bottles. This creative arrangement adds depth and interest, turning the tabletop into a focal point of seasonal charm.
20. Create Winter Floral Arrangements for Your Coffee Table
Add a touch of charm to your home with a few simple winter floral arrangements. Create a stunning centerpiece for your coffee table by mixing winter greenery, dried hydrangeas, pinecones, and faux green amaranthus for a cozy and stylish look.
21. Add Candles
Create a warm and cozy ambiance in your home with the glow of candles, not to mention their delightful scent. Place them on your dining table, coffee table, or a small side table to add warmth to any space.
22. Use Glass Cloches to Display Your Decor
Gathering my collection of glass cloches on the dining room table creates a stunning display. Beneath the glass, I arranged small white ironstone pieces, clock faces, a postage scale, and keys. The versatility of these cloches offers endless options to craft a captivating winter look.
23. Add White Birds or Ducks
Embrace a classic look in your winter decorations that are not Christmas by adding white geese. Throughout the year, I use these beloved geese, signaling the arrival of spring. Their textures and simplicity make them the easiest way to bring a touch of nature into your home.
More Winter Decorating Ideas from WM Design House
If you love these winter decor ideas, you might also enjoy these other winter crafts and decor inspiration.
Winter Decor: How to Make a Warm and Cozy Home
DIY Snowflake Pine Cone Wreath
DIY Winter Wreath with Wood Flowers
Wrapping It Up
I know that was a lot to take in, so take a deep breath.
Show kindness to yourself during the undecorating process after Christmas, I know it is not always fun.
Take your time, savor the moments, and before you realize it, we will be back in the garden growing flowers.
And for more winter decorating ideas that are not Christmas related, don’t forget to join me over on Pinterest.
Until next time,
More about me!
Hello, I’m Wendy – a dedicated “So Cal Gal” with a deep passion for decorating, gardening, cooking, and crafting in California. I find joy in harmonizing beautiful elements to create a space that is both comfortable and inspiring. I will help you create a beautiful home and garden, one project at a time.
While I have put a Valentine wreathe on my front door, Christmas is still in full bloom at my house. Yes, I know it’s time, but I got a new slim tree this year and have enjoyed it immensely! I dread the cleaning I will need to do afterwards! My winter white consists of milk glass; I think I may get some out. Winter in Maine is TOO long, and the drab of dead grass, gray skies, and dirty snow is NOT in my color pallette! I have some lovely “frosted” apple blossoms that I might rush the season with!
That is wonderful, Kathy. There is certainly no rush, that is for sure. I, too, always dread
Take Christmas down and clean up the mess, so enjoy that tree as long as possible.
Heck, you can always throw a few hearts on the tree. I can’t imagine the long winters you must
have in Maine. If I had that kind of weather, I would most likely put bright
colors up after the holidays. I tend to forget I live in CA, without snow.
I love all your suggestions. Last year was the first time I decorated for winter after Christmas. I got so many compliments from friends when they saw my wintry decor! I’d just never thought of it. I usually went from Christmas to valentines keeping some red out. I absolutely love the frosty winter decorating. Most of what I have put into my winder decor can transition right into spring and even summer with a few tweaks… I leave out all the silver and most of the white all year long. I just exchange the pine boughs and pine cones for ferns and orchids! Thank you for the beautiful inspiration! I’m off to put my dough bowl out full of (copying your) wintry baubles! Happy New Year!
Hi Marcella, Happy New Year. I am so glad to hear that you love to decorate for winter, too. It really does create a cozy home. I love your idea of leaving the
silver and white out and just replacing the greenery; so smart. Happy dough bowl decorating.
So many great tips, Wendy. Thank you for sharing all of your ideas. It will be winter here in the Midwest for several months yet, so these ideas are perfect for helping our home feel cozy!
Yes, I believe you have a few more months of winter white. Embrace it and enjoy its beauty from the inside 🙂
Amazing ideas, Wendy!! I too love to decorate with ironstone as well as milk glass during Winter. It’s not always fun to take down the holiday decor but it always feels so fresh and clean, like a blank slate and your tips here help to achieve that. Pinned! Hope you are well!
Thank you, Rachel. I am so glad you enjoyed the post so much.
Thanks so much for all the great ideas. It will be fun putting some of these together for my home decor. Have a great week.
Lynne
Thank you Lynne! Happy decorating.