5 Ways to Make your Home Cozy After the Holidays are Over

5 Ways to Make your Home Cozy After the Holidays are Over

The holidays are my absolute favorite time of year. Everyone gathers, you get to fill empty spaces in your home with Christmas decor, and best part of all is that we celebrate the birth of our savior! But what about after the holidays are over? Everything comes down and you’re back to the empty spaces. What do you do to make your home feel cozy and inviting again without the holiday decor? Here are 5 different ways to make your home cozy after the holidays are over. Let’s explore some ideas…

1 . Pillows are Your Friend

You can go to Homegoods or Target and find a cheap decent quality pillow for $20 or sometimes less. (I’ve added some options at the bottom of this post for you to shop.) Adding a few pillows to a sofa, sectional or chair can definitely make the room look and feel a whole lot cozier than if a space went without it. Make sure the pillows are different in scale so they don’t look boring, this will add some dimension. Also try to keep texture in mind when decorating. You’ll want to find one or two pillows that will have some sort of texture to add rhythm to the space. 

2. Add a knit or faux fur blanket

Simply toss a blanket on your sofa or sectional, tuck in the center and voila, your room looks and feels 100x cozier than it did before. Adding a blanket can create a warm, inviting and serene feel to the space. Sometimes, that could be all it takes to make the space more inviting. 

3. Lighting

Lighting can play a huge component to the feel of a space. The color of the lighting and the lumens is often times missed when adding the right kind of light fixture. I will go more in details about lighting in a future post but for now, I’ll give you the basics. The bulb of a fixture can either be too blue (cool) or too yellow (warm). When working with a client, I always try and aim for a color temperature that is directly in the middle. 3,500K is typically the color temperature we aim for. Why is this so important when creating a cozy environment? Well, think about most hospital hallways. They are too blue, which creates an eerie feel. Or a school hallway, they are yellow. Having a color temperature in between gives a more inviting feel. 

Don’t be shy to add multiple light fixture sources. For example, your general lighting is a living room fan and recessed cans. Your accent lighting can be a table lamp or a floor lamp. Something other than the general lighting that will illuminate the space for a more inviting feel.  Again, I’ll go more in detail about this in another post, but for now, these are your basics. 

One last suggestion before we move on would be to also use candles and lanterns. Candles and lanterns are a great way to create an serene feel. Not only do they illuminate the space, but they add to the aesthetics of the space. 

4. Photography and Memorabilia

If I showed you photographs of my house before I did all the work on it after 3 years of living here, you would think no one lived here or that we were squatters. Adding photographs or something of sentimental value will make your home 100x more homey. Hang up those photos that mean something to you. Or find a scenic photo that you love and place it on an end table. Add something that tells a story and could become a conversation starter when you have guests visiting. There are so many options for this, but make it fun for you!

5. Add plants

Make your space feel alive! Add some planters and plants. I just threw out 2 succulents last week because, let’s face reality, I’m a working homeschooling mom who barely has time to take a shower. I have 2 kids, a dog, a house to keep up with, mouths to feed, a blog, and a husband to love on, adding anything extra to my plate usually takes a back seat. So yes, I will shamefully admit, I’m a plant killer. If you’re anything like me, get faux succulents/plants and make your life a whole lot easier. If you want to create the inviting and lively feeling, get some plants. 

I have a snake plant in my living room that I’ve managed to keep alive since September as well as a majestic palm tree. Both are super low maintence and add more life to our space. I would highly recommend these two plants for anyone who insists on getting live plants but wants to keep the maintence as low as possible. I learned how to keep up with the majestic palm tree by reading this article when we first got it on costafarms.com . 

Shop

Now that I’ve spilled the beans on ways to make your home feel cozy after the holidays, I’ve also added a few affiliate links for you to shop. These are some of my favorite pieces currently on the market. Have so much fun decorating! Follow me on Instagram and Pinterest, and subscribe to the blog to stay in the know!