A TREE SHAPED GAP – HOW TO DECORATE AFTER CHRISTMAS

How To

Before the Christmas decorations came out in full force you were, quite possibly, feeling content with your home. Fast forward to January 7th and low and behold your house feels empty, bare and lifeless. We can hardly be surprised when (if you are like me) as December creeps along the house gradually becomes full of all of the glitz, colour and general festiveness that comes with the time of year. Deep reds, forest greens and twinkly lights engulf your home in a big warm Christmas shaped hug and family and friends fill the house with happy noise. 

So when Christmas is over and the January blues sneak in they bring with them a house that can feel inadequate and quite frankly, a bit boring. Read below for some tips to decorate after Christmas and importantly how to fill the Christmas tree shaped gap that is left in your home (and heart!!).

Switch fairy lights for softy lit lamps

I love that moment when you switch on the Christmas tree lights for the first time, the whole room glows and over the Christmas period it provides quite a large source of soft, warm light. Its no wonder that when they’ve been put away the room is left feeling a bit gloomy. Regardless of the time of year I advocate getting your lighting right. It really is so, so important. As a really quick guide make sure you have light at different levels around the room. You should ideally have around 5-8 sources of soft light (I know this sounds a lot but trust me you’ll notice the difference). These should comprise of both task and ambient lighting. Ambient lighting is a really important one to combat the January blues. You still want your home to feel cosy so make sure you have softly lit lamps to take the place of your twinkly fairy light.

how to decorate after christmas

Keep it green

You can be the biggest advocate of neutrals yet when Christmas comes around it’s likely that you might let a little more colour slip into your home. If not in your choice of furnishings then the tree itself provides a large expanse of deep wintery green then makes your home feel cosy and vibrant. It’s likely that when you begrudgingly take the tree down, you’re left feeling like you’re home is a bit drab and maybe injecting a bit of colour isn’t such a bad thing. Plants are an obvious answer here. There are so many great houseplant variations varying from small succulents to large cheese plants. They add a sense of freshness and vitality to your space and may give you that yearned for connection to nature. If you’re looking for something a little more temporary, a pretty bunch of blooms are a great way to liven up the space. I’m currently getting inspiration from the talented people at Bramble and Wild, you need to check our their Instagram! Eucalyptus is always a firm favourite of mine. It has a slight ode to the Christmas tree and the simplicity of the greeny blue tones adds the perfect touch of classic green to any room (plus is smells amazing).

Bramble and Wild

Embrace the space and hit refresh

January is always the time of year that urges for us to start afresh. So take this opportunity to hit the refresh button on your home. It’s amazing how a few little changes in your home can give you a blank slate and make you love your space again. A spring clean is a bit of an obvious one but we often overlook the amazing feeling of having an organised home. Your house might be feeling empty and bare but embrace this and see it as a chance to strip it all back and think about the changes you want to make in the upcoming year. Ask yourself questions such as; which room did we live in the most this year? How can I make room X more comfortable, or more suitable for hosting?

I also imagine that over the Christmas period your living room endured some serious shuffling to fit in the tree and more guests than normal. So now it’s your chance to really consider your floorplan. Christmas is a great time to consider how your home actually works. Was there enough places for people to put drinks down? Could you do with more flexible seating? Take these learnings forward this year and think about how you could make some changes to make your furniture work harder for you.

home organisation

Keep it cosy

My final tip is to make sure that you don’t get rid of every essence of what made your home so cosy at Christmas. It’s still the winter and you’re still likely to want to spend evenings cosied up. Keep the candles out and as I mentioned above, create an inviting space with warm lighting, knitted throws and plenty of cushions. In the studio we are currently obsessed with the Neptune Amber candle, it smells amazing! 

I hope these tips will help you to love your home regardless of the lack of Christmas baubles and that you see it as an opportunity to change things up and make your space your own for the new year.

 

Source: The Future KeptBramble and Wild Flowers | Humphrey Munson

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