How To Achieve A Cozy Winter Home Aesthetic After The Holiday Decor Comes Down

The holidays have ended, and the weather is still very cold in many places! What are we supposed to do with our houses? You can keep the Christmas tree up through January. Many do. However, the months of January, February, and March lie ahead, and these colder, less festive months leave many wondering what to do with their spaces. Morning Consult says that winter is voted the least-liked season among Americans, with just over 10% of people voting winter as their preferred time of year. 

Winter home life is defined by comfort and serenity, and reintroducing neutrals, ridding the holiday décor, and softening spaces are some of the initial steps you can take to reset your home for the new year. But that said, there are genuine opportunities and design choices you can take advantage of this winter to optimize your space and make the winter a bit more digestible. 

During the holidays, we often cover our homes in red, green, and gold throw blankets for that festive look. Flannel patterning is a popular pattern of choice to capture that nostalgic magic that defines Christmas. But after the holidays, this palette for winter blankets changes considerably. Mean Creative notes that there are two dominating types of cool tones that people think of when it comes to winter, blue and green. Variations of navy, steel blue, baby blue, and chilly blue are all colors that elicit visions of ice, night skies, and running water. Offshoots of green like sage and pine invoke the resting winter trees, darkened forests, and muted grasses.

These are both excellent palettes to build your winter blankets around. They are relaxing colors to the eye and can round out a fantastically serene and inviting winter aesthetic when accented with off-whites and earth tones. Textures are equally important, with materials like berber fleece, wool, and sherpa all doing a great job creating that restful, cozy, and winter-friendly sensibility.

When we wake up in the winter morning, the heater has not gone on yet, we haven't woken up, and the idea of going down the cold, wooden stairs to reach the kitchen for a cup of coffee becomes increasingly irksome by the minute. A second-floor coffee maker might just be what you need to kick off your morning. This can be done by setting aside a portion of your bedroom dresser or a spare corner within a room on the second floor.

NBC News places coffee making as one of the nine most important things to do when you wake up in the morning. Adding a second-floor coffee maker can be the difference between starting your day on a positive or negative note. If you curate this space, keeping your favorite mug and a mini fridge by the coffee maker can also be helpful. Morning coffee isn't complete without your milk of choice!

Durable house slippers are a fantastic investment that can provide an optimal level of coziness within the home and cater to your winter home aesthetic. Nootkas argues that there are several benefits to wearing durable house slippers versus wearing your day-to-day shoes in the house. For one, outdoor shoes are dirty and contain several different contaminants that are not ideal for a clean house. These include bacteria such as pneumonia and E Coli.

Mentally, there are benefits to putting on house shoes. As house shoes are designed with a sense of comfort, this type of footwear can induce a sense of leisure and relaxation. House slippers also help keep your winter wonderland home in optimal condition. We track things like dust and dirt constantly, leading to an increased sense of upkeep which does not translate to a relaxing home. Especially when a winter home has light and soft palettes, dirty materials show more easily in these spaces.

During the winter, we have shorter days, longer nights, and a cloudier forecast. Thus, the reduction of natural light we experience during the winter affects our homes and sense of well-being. If you rely solely on sunlight and overhead lighting, reconfiguring the lighting in your home will be critical to creating the sense of intimacy and warmth that we crave during the winter months.

Insider reports that reading, knitting, and baking are among the most popular indoor activities in the winter season. Thus, these all warrant a different type of lighting. Options such as sconces, table lamps, and dimmers are all worthy contenders for your winter light installation project to give you options for all aspects of your home life. Another option is recess lighting, which Angi claims can be installed in the ceiling for as cheaply as just over $100. There are even installations that can offer different tones, such as warm and cool-toned lights, to give you every mood and vibe you are looking for.

U.S. News asserts that pine and cedar are some of the best scents utilized to sell a home in the winter months, and it is not hard to understand why. They are inviting and not too strong. If you are looking to rid your home of an overly sweet or holiday smell from December, Homes.com recommends actually utilizing banking soda in order to clear your space of any lingering aromas.

Once you have cleansed the home, a couple of options are available for getting your new scent. Candles are a go-to, especially for the heat they give off, which caters to establishing the cozy winter aesthetic. That said, candles can also cause safety concerns and may not be the best solution for everyone. Oil diffusers and scented sprays are alternatives that are considerably lower maintenance. Aside from pine and cedar, teakwood, bergamot, fresh woods, and sage are among the many viable options when considering winter scents.