Five Ways to Make a "New" Room in a New Year!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

When do you take down your Christmas decorations? I know some people want them down and out by noon on December 26th and others like to leave them up through the first part of January to squeeze the last bit of festivity out of the twinkling lights.

I fall somewhere in the middle. I don't like to boot them out of the house the day after Christmas, because I do love the lights and want to enjoy them a little longer. But when New Year's Day arrives, I do like the house to be back in order so I can be ready to fully tackle the demands of the new year. 

My problem is that the whole de-Christmassing process makes me so sad. I work so hard to put it all up, and then to pull it down, put it in piles, and pack it away makes the house feel so bare and, well, mediocre.

So this year I was extra intentional about the changing of the seasons (or at least the décor of the seasons) and came up with some things that have helped me make a smoother transition out of Christmas and into just plain winter. It also made it feel kind of exciting! In case you sometimes get the post-Christmas house blahs, I thought I'd share these with you too! (I'm doing similar things in every room eventually, but I'll talk about the living room, because I finished it first!)

1. Get rid of something.

Most people will tell you this transition time is the perfect time to purge, because everything's a mess anyway, and in this case I think most people are right. When I took down the Christmas décor and got ready to put up my regular decorations, I decided to get rid of a few things.

I think the biggest change was a saying on our wall. When we moved into this house almost two years ago, we hung up this vinyl letter sign we'd purchased quite a while ago and stored until we had a place to use it. I'm not sure if it was just too old by the time we hung it up or if it had a defect, but the letters never fully adhered to the wall like they were supposed to. It was really starting to peel and curl, so we took it down and replaced it with the sign I gave Ryan for our anniversary. Though they don't use the same words, they have similar messages. Getting rid of a curling, tired-looking sign made me feel better!

I also emptied two drawers that had become catch-all drawers. I haven't had a chance to go through the clutter yet to see what needs to be pitched and what needs to be saved, but it's bagged up and ready for me to have an hour to kill while I watch TV. Meanwhile, the drawers close again!

It can be very freeing to get rid of things that no longer fit your style or just clutter your space. You can donate or sell them, but having them out of your house helps you get a great start on the new year!

2. Swap or update something.

What is it the decorators say? Shop your house? It's much cheaper than shopping at the store, right? We have two canvases in our house that are the same size. One hangs in our entry hall and the other hangs in our living room. When I put the house back together, I switched them. It feels like brand new art in two places!

Though I didn't do it on the same day, I also recently swapped out photos in our frames, and sometime during January, I plan to update all our family's photos (provided I can find new options for each). All these changes use the same amount of space in the room, but they give me something new to look at, and that makes the landscape more exciting.

3. Move something.

We have lived here almost two years and I have not changed the furniture in any room yet. I needed a fresh layout in the living room, so I moved a chair across the room. It now sits beside the TV, and some might argue that it wasn't a great move. But we never sat in that chair anyway, so it's not hurting us to have it out of the TV line-of-sight. I've decided to make it my quiet time and journaling chair, since it will allow me a new perspective and hopefully prevent me from becoming distracted by the TV. 

Because I moved the chair into a place formerly occupied by a bookshelf, I had to move that as well. All the new layouts give the room a bigger, more open feel, and that's kind of fun! 

4. Bring in something new.

The new chair placement required an additional lamp in the room, so I brought one in from the bedroom. (Never used that lamp in the bedroom anyway.) I also brought a picture from another room and hung it on the wall above the newly placed chair. (This also gave me an excuse to order a new picture to match that one, and when it arrives, I'll pair it with the one I just added.)

I also brought in a couple of vintage books, some candles (some came from other rooms and some were Christmas gifts) and a new chalkboard I just received for Christmas. 

5. Repair something.

We have two matching end tables that have USBs and regular plugs hidden in the back. The main USB in one no longer works, and while this may not qualify as a repair, we did take this shifting time as an opportunity to switch them around so we have a working USB where we need it!

I also replaced batteries in lights and candles so everything is up and running well for these cold, dark months. (Could be a good time to check remote batteries as well!) And while we're talking about batteries...here's a PSA from Shafferland. Our county has had four house fires in the last week. (I believe all four homes were complete losses.) Two of the fires had fatalities. So here in our corner of the world, we are freshly aware of the importance of checking smoke and carbon monoxide detectors and replacing the batteries and detectors that don't work. Do it!!

Minor repairs are the ones that usually get ignored and then they become major issues, so take this reconfiguring time and repair anything in the room that needs fixed!

Maybe I'm just an overgrown toddler, but for me, the changes made the loss of Christmas lights a little more tolerable. The room is still cozy and feels brand new with just a few easy changes!

Linking up with Tamar!