Hi friends! I hope you all enjoyed the holidays, as well as some extra family time! With your Christmas decor likely back in storage, I’m sure many of you are feeling as though your house feels cold and stark without the warm glow of the Christmas tree and all of the cheery decorations. So I thought there would be no better time than to provide you with ten cozy winter decor ideas to help you bring some of that warmth back to your home.
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Ten Cozy Winter Decor Ideas
First, before we jump into these cozy winter decor ideas, I want to deliver some good news. Not every last piece of holiday decor needs to get tucked away! I’m a big proponent of leaving up evergreens and twinkle lights if you so desire. Not only is greenery a winter staple, but it’s a great way to add texture to a space. Adding additional texture to your home is key to achieving that cozy winter feel, so you’ll notice in many of my tips I talk about adding pieces with warmer, softer textures.
1. Chunky Knit or Faux Fur Throw Blankets
These type of throw blankets are big on texture, are soft, and the sight of them evoke feelings of warmth. These can be added throughout your home – on a couch, armchair, at the end of a bed, or even placed in an oversized textured basket for easy access.
I’m pretty sure I couldn’t live without my faux fur ruched throw. While it was a bit of a splurge, I snuggle up in it every single night while watching TV and have had it for over three years now. It’s incredibly soft and luxurious, and has a nice heavier weight to it.
2. Layer Rugs
In the summer months, we’re all about removing layers to let rooms “breath,” and to make them feel cooler and airier. But just like we layer clothes in the winter to keep warm, I like to add layers to a room with rugs.
While I love our hardwood floors, they can be chilly in the wintertime so adding a second area rug on top of another is a great way to add coziness to a room without adding more “stuff” that could make a room feel more cluttered.
My favorite way to do this is to use a jute or sisal rug as your base, which will add some great texture to your room. From there, select a smaller rug to place on top of your natural fiber rug. To ensure a coastal look, you’ll want to stay away from super busy patterns and opt for a more neutral rug that also has some texture to it like the examples shown below.
If you have carpet, you can achieve this layered look as well. Since your carpet is more than likely a neutral color, you can add a textured area rug with some color over your carpet. I especially love this look in bedrooms, with an area rug placed under 3/4 of the bed. The rug should essentially stop in front of your nightstands.
3. Plaid or Knit Throw Pillows
Add warmth and coziness to your living room or bedroom with several soft, neutral colored plaid or knit throw pillows.
4. Create a Winter Vignette
Grab an oversized wood bowl or tray and create a simple winter vignette using a combination of white candles, twinkle lights, wood beads and/or decorative balls. With large trays, you can add a book or two and place a candle and beads on top. If you desire, you can also add a few evergreens which will add a light touch of winter to your home.
I love placing a cozy vignette on my coffee table to enjoy while I’m watching TV at night (with my cozy faux fur throw!), but these also look pretty placed on a dining room table, kitchen island, entryway table or even a dresser.
5. Lanterns & Candles
I think the reason many of us enjoy Christmas decor is the warmth that lights add to a room. So while our Christmas tree may no longer be up and our long strings of lights packed away until next year, we can substitute with other light sources.
Lanterns with flameless candles are one of my favorite ways to to add warmth to a room, as are regular candles with winter scents such as vanilla, orange, clove, etc.
While flameless candles can be a little bit more of an investment up front, they last forever as long as you switch out the batteries when they run out. Plus, I love that many come with built in timers so you can set them to automatically come on as the sun sets.
Add lanterns to your fireplace hearth, or on an entryway or console table. I even like to use lanterns as part of a dining room tablescape.
6. Textured Poufs
OK, we’re now halfway through my list of cozy winter decor ideas! Ready for more? While it’s undoubtedly a great way to add extra seating to a room, poufs can also be used as an ottoman or a decorative accent (I especially love them tucked under a console table or next to a fireplace). To add coziness to a room, look for textured poufs or those with soft knitting.
7. Soft, Warm Bedding
My bed could not be cozier when I crawl into it on a cold winter night. Want to know my number one tip for a cozy bed? Do yourself a favor and buy an electric blanket! Then layer it on top of your mattress, underneath your fitted bottom sheet. Turn it on 15-20 minutes before bed and getting into bed will be the most heavenly part of your day! The warmth instantly relaxes me and I drift off to sleep in no time! I actually compare it to that feeling you get when you hop on a heated massage table at a spa. It’s THAT good!!
Flannel sheets are another way to remove the chill from your bed and they couldn’t be any more soft and cozy.
Down comforters or duvet inserts are also a must in my book. Have you ever noticed how ridiculously cozy the display beds look in a Pottery Barn store or in their catalogue? They actually use two down inserts to achieve that look. While I’d be too hot sleeping with two on my bed, there’s just something about the look of fluffy down bedding that makes you want to dive under the covers! Down comforters are definitely an investment so always look for a sale – Macy’s often offers 50% off which will save you hundreds!
I always recommend buying a down comforter/insert with box stitching, which will keep the feathers from shifting out of place and bunching up on one end. Also, I always look for down inserts that have looped corners to pair with a duvet cover that includes ties inside so that it keeps the insert in place.
8. Update Your Mantel
The evergreen garland with twinkle lights that you had on your mantel? It’s perfectly acceptable to keep that in place if it helps make your home feel less stark! Just make sure to remove any ornaments, bows, etc, that give off Christmas vibes.
However, if you’re looking to change up the look of your living room or great room, one recommendation for a cozy winter mantel is to add a mirror. Mirrors reflect light (which many of us are deprived of in the winter due to fewer hours of daylight), and an oversized mirror will serve as a great focal point. It will also help to bounce light around a room, making it appear brighter and warmer.
Candles are also a must on any winter mantel. I love how Kelly from The Lily Pad Cottage decorated her mantel with a simple print and an abundance of candles. It truly doesn’t get any cozier!
I love adding any light source to a mantel including lanterns, hurricanes or candlesticks. You’ll want to look for an item that comes in multiple sizes – then select two or three of the sizes. That way you have some varied height which creates visual interest.
9. Add a Bundle of Birch Logs to Your Fireplace
I’m all about keeping my rooms looking bright in the winter, and I love the coziness of a fire. Whether you have a real working fireplace, a gas or an electric fireplace, I love the look of a bundle of birch logs. If you’re lucky enough to have access to (free) birch wood on your property, that’s the way to go. Don’t worry though – you can also buy them from many home decor retailers as well and I’ve included some of these options below.
I love how Jeana from The Styled Home incorporated them into her decor during the Christmas season. With the holidays behind us, you can still place birch logs inside of a water hyacinth basket and add some evergreens and twinkle lights for a clean, natural look.
10. Create a Spot for a Hot Drink Station
Nothing takes the chill out of me like a hot cup of coffee, tea or cocoa. And believe me, I’ll be reaching for these daily over the course of the next few months! New England winters have a way of chilling my bones! First, clear some space for a hot drink station in your home – whether it’s on your counter, the top of a buffet table, or on a bar cart.
If you’re using counter space or a tabletop, start with a tray to define the space, and place it next to your coffee maker or Keurig. Then add any combination of the following to the tray:
- Mugs
- Pretty napkins
- Coffee, tea bags or hot chocolate packets (you can place these in a glass jar, a small bowl, or a basket within the tray)
- Glass jars filled with marshmallows, hard peppermint candy, and cookies (I personally love Biscoff cookies paired with an afternoon cup of coffee!)
Make sure to leave a spot for any coffee creamer, whipped cream or Bailey’s Irish Cream that you set out when the hot drink station is in use.
I just love this hot cocoa station that Linda from The Home I Create made in her home. Just looking at it makes me want to fix myself a mug of cocoa and settle on the couch with a blanket and a good book!
I hope you found these cozy winter decor ideas helpful, and if you have any other tips, drop them into a comment below! Stay warm everyone!
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