Joanna Gaines Has The Perfect Tip For Refreshing Your Home After The Holidays

If your home feels a little "meh" once you've taken down your Christmas tree, you're not alone. Joanna Gaines has also felt the effects of that sudden open space. However, she's found the perfect solution. Your Christmas tree might be coming down, but you can replace it by arranging some pretty branches in a vase. 

As Gaines demonstrated in an Instagram post, her approach really is as simple as getting a few branches from the garden and placing them in a vase deep enough to support them. Granted, she took things a little further by screwing them into the wall to keep them standing upright and in place. Doing that was a step she suggested avoiding, though. "That's a little too far," she wrote, sweat-laughing emoji in tow.

So, screwing it into the wall isn't necessary. However, there are some things you can do to keep your branches looking great while providing the refresh your space needs. Luckily, this hack is a simple one. All you'll need are your branches of choice and the right vase. It's easy, affordable, and a perfect way to fill the empty space until next Christmas!

Why wait until December (or November — no judgment!) to add a tree to your living space? With Joanna Gaines' hack, you can bring the joy of every season into your home. If you have a garden, clip whatever is in season and bring it indoors. It's a great way to issue a nod to nature, no matter what time of year it is. And, yes, that includes the winter months post-Christmas. Styled the right way, even dead branches can look beautiful in a vase; and as a bonus, they don't require much maintenance. 

In an apartment or don't have a garden of your own? Follow the lead of interior designer and founder of EyeSwoon, Athena Calderone, and contact your local flower market to ask if they sell branches. Wherever you end up going, remember to ask for the most recently cut branches and for the florist to snip the bottoms to ensure they can drink up as much water as possible and stay fresher, longer. Even then, the branches will decompose, so you will need to swap them out every few weeks. 

Not keen on the constant refreshes? You could also go the fake route. Amazon sells a variety of faux branches for around $20, from cherry blossoms for spring to ficus for summer. Come fall, you may want to use the spot for Halloween decor, and after that, you can go right to your Christmas tree.  

Whether you opt for branches from your garden, a flower market, or artificial ones from a store, one thing you need to keep in mind is the vase you'll be putting them into. Height is important here. As Sofia Bloss of Cézanne Floral explained to Martha Stewart, "A high vessel will structurally hold your branches in the place that you want them, whereas a low vessel will just fall over." 

Bloss also suggested opting for a narrow vase to ensure the branches stay up and don't get too unruly, which is another way to get around Joanna Gaines' screw-in option. However, don't be discouraged if the vase you thought would look great has a wider opening. A vase insert is an easy way to get around that (and the task of filling a massive vessel with water). Amazon sells 12-inch tall inserts for less than $15. Pop one into your vase of choice, or grab a vase off Amazon for $34.99, and you're good to go.

Once you've filled your vase with branches and are happy with how it all looks, place the arrangement on a side table where your Christmas tree would normally go. Think of it as a fun homage to nature, a way to freshen up your home as seasons change throughout the year, or a countdown of sorts to the next time you can pull out the Christmas tree.