Warm Winter Scenes from Inside Our Home

 

                I’m not one to decorate the entire house for every holiday or season – not because I’m opposed to it, but because I am too lazy to redo the whole space multiple times every year. And to be fair, we don’t have enough storage space to keep that much décor when it’s not in use. Christmas decorations take up well over 50% of our home décor storage, because Christmas is my favorite, and, as you know, I drape the house in it!

                But winter in Indiana is long and cold and dark – and after all the soft-light beauty of Christmas, I simply can’t bring myself to take down every decoration and put it away and leave the house equally cold and dark. So after Christmas, I take down everything that says “Hello, I’m Christmassy!” but I leave up the cozy winter-looking things, just to help ease the house back to normal.

                Today I wanted to take you on a Winter in Shafferland tour! (And I also want to pause to say that as I offer this trivial tour, I am reminded in the heaviest of ways of how quickly life can change. SO many over the course of the last year - and the many events that have happened across our country -don't have homes to trivially decorate. I can't wrap my mind around the enormity of it all. I'm reminded to see this little house of ours with extra gratitude today.)

                I bought these snowflakes several years ago (at Big Lots, I think!) and last year, I discovered they fit perfectly here on our coat rack in the dining room. Just a subtle winter touch. You might not be able to see them clearly (because of the frosted glass) but I also put some Styrofoam snowballs in the lantern on the bench.

                Since we are trying to do a better job of eating our meals at the dining room table, I’m also trying to do a better job of making the table pretty! This tablescape was inspired by a blog post I read back in December. I used a neutral-colored blanket scarf I already owned and repurposed it as a table runner. I found this little tree on clearance at Aldi (after Christmas) for about $3.00 and stuck it inside a silver candle ring I already owned. The pinecones were in my winter tub, and the two vases were consignment store finds earlier this month. (I already had the little sprigs I put inside them.) I really love how this turned out. It has character and presence, but it doesn’t take over the entire table. We still have plenty of room for our dishes when we eat!

                I almost put away my little Bed-and-Breakfast village piece I “inherited” from Mom and Dad in their downsizing, but it felt more wintry than Christmassy, so I kept it out for the foreseeable future. I love seeing it all lit up at night!

                Next to that, I put a few snow-related decorations I already owned. The dining room quickly became one of my favorite winter spaces in our home this year.

                Another thing I received from Mom when she downsized was this little serving dish, which felt wintry, and I found these two candles at a thrift store for a dollar each. I don’t know if I will burn them, but I like how they round out this little kitchen-island vignette.

                Most of what I tucked into the corner of the kitchen after Christmas was really just regular house décor, but I added a few snowballs to make it feel seasonal.

                These little snowmen were Nita’s, and she gave them to me several years ago when she cleaned out some of her own decorations. I thought they fit perfectly here in Ryan’s bathroom – and now they’re accented by the colorful canvas we found at the consignment store!

                I left our tree farm up over our bed, but I took down the Christmassy sign that had been in the middle of it. In its place, I added a snowman and my Narnia lamp. This really does feel like Narnia to me!

                The rest of the bedroom winter décor came in the form of flowers in vases.

                The same is true for my office. I just added some sparkly, new-year-feelin’ sprigs to brighten up the room.

                The shelf in the stairwell is a mix of another tree farm and some regular home décor. It felt like it worked well together and didn’t overpower me.

                Ryan and I left a couple of smaller flocked trees up in the living room – just to keep the lights in there. We really love seeing the soft lights at night while we watch TV. I also kept out my little glittery snow globe!

                Our little fireplace area is so cozy in the winter, because the fireplace is actually in use! I tried to bring extra cheer to this corner with tiny disco ball ornaments in the lantern and some silver and gold sprigs beside them. I’m reusing my hymn lyric cards in this frame again this year. (My sister found this set at a garage sale a few years ago. They’re Magnolia brand and were in perfect condition. There are twelve cards, so I change them every month.

                Also like last year, I made a little basket of faux birch wood, snowballs, and pinecones. This whole corner makes me smile.

                I also made a little snowball/book/new year vignette on the cabinet that sits under the mirror. It was absolutely crafted from the leftovers, but I still liked it.

                I was happy with the mix of winter/new year in our little house. The house feels cheery and bright – but all the extra-extraness of trees and ornaments has gone back into storage for another year!