After Christmas Decor Opportunities to Love Your Home

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If you search Pinterest for after Christmas decor or winter decor, you will find a ton of information, advice, and inspiration for refreshing your home after all the holiday decor is taken down and packed safely away. However, I have found there is often an after Christmas decor opportunity to love your home that is often overlooked. Let me explain.

The more the merrier, right?

Maybe it’s because I start decorating early in the season, generally around November 1st, or maybe it’s because I like a pared back look in my everyday decor style. But at Christmas time, I tend to want all the things. I want the Christmas trees, the reindeer, the village houses, and ornament bowls. I just love the Christmas season and want to celebrate it in my decor in every possible way.

But when January rolls around, I find that overall tolerance for all the decor begins to wane, and I crave the peaceful solitude of a simpler decor style. The more the merrier, isn’t always merrier.

The calm after the storm

Even with all the fun and festive Christmas lights, decor, and ornaments, it can often start to feel a bit cluttered the closer the holidays get. After the bins are packed up and put away, it can often feel like a calm settles over your home. A nice, refreshing, quiet solitude of calm.

For a lot of people, their homes feel empty, void of cheer, or starkly empty. But a change in perspective can also change your attitude toward these newly empty spaces. There was a video put out a few months back by The Minimal Mom, where she takes about the practice of “hushing your house.”

In this practice, one removes literally everything from a room of their house, and leaves it for 24 hours before beginning to replace items. While I don’t have the time, energy, or space to completely empty out a room and wait 24 hours before putting things back, I do find that practicing the theory is beneficial. Leaving spaces blank for a period of time really can change your perspective, and your attitude toward your space.

A blank slate is a clean slate

One after Christmas decor opportunity I find exceptionally valuable is to allow my house room to breathe. After decor is packed away, I find it enjoyable to leave my shelves empty, table tops vacant, and allow nooks and corners room to just be. Remember that ‘first moved in’ feeling? This is your opportunity to regain it, even if it’s just for a few days.

There is a practice in writing that teaches the benefit of white space. Every inch doesn’t need to be filled with words, every column doesn’t have to be full of text. The eye needs blank white space to land and to rest. Otherwise, there is a mental feeling of overwhelm.

Our houses are very similar, especially after the holidays. It is good to give ourselves and our homes a little space to rest, to recover, and to reimagine what we want from our space. When our corners remain empty and our shelves sit vacant, our minds can relax and begin to reimagine what we may want from that area of our home. A blank slate is a clean slate.

Reimagine your space

Once you’ve sat with your space for a period of time – and everyone’s time frame will be different, slowing begin to rethink and reimagine your space. Useful resources like Pinterest, magazines, websites, and books (like the House Rules Book) are amazing references! You never know what might spark your own creativity.

Color Palette, color palette, color palette

One thing I always advise is to pick a color palette first! In fact, I find picking a color palette from items in your own home is the easiest way to start. Shop your home first. Maybe artwork in one room could give a fresh perspective to another. Odds are, you probably already have a color palette to pull from already at your fingertips.

Example: Our living room has a very neutral color scheme. Taupe, black, cream, and brown. But there is one framed canvas on our wall that pulls a lot of gray blue, slate blue, and olive green. At various times of year, specifically in the post Christmas, early winter season, I like to pull these colors into our decor. It weaves color into a post Christmas space that ‘can’ feel a little cold and barren, while maintaining a sense of calm and comfort.

Redefine purpose

Another thing you can consider is how your home flows. Do you have a dining space or breakfast area that is rarely used? Maybe now is the right time to turn it into a reading corner. Bring in a couple of comfy chairs from another room, a small side table, and a lamp. Have a corner in your living room that simply feels overcrowded? Now is the time to consider how you may repurpose the items in another room. It is okay to make your spaces work for you in the way you live. Simply because every other home in America has a sofa and two chairs doesn’t mean YOUR home has to have a sofa and two chairs. It may be your specific space would better suit you if it had four chairs and an ottoman.

That’s the beauty of design. You get to decide what works for you and be creative within your own space. This reimagining of space is one of my favorite post Christmas decor opportunities.

What do they know?

If you’re interested in this theory of hushing your house and want to see what all the hubbub is about, here are a few resources that can give you more insight. In the meantime, remember, it’s okay not to jump right in after the holidays. In fact, I highly recommend allowing your home some space to breathe, and to reimagine what your space wants to be!

xo, Billie

Additional Resources

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