Getting Hygge wIth It: Winter Decorating Ideas for New Yorkers
Winter decorating ideas aren’t just important during the holiday season; thanks to the post-holiday blues, it’s probably MORE important to dress up your home with beautiful, cozy decor once the holidays have passed. The following tips can help.
Winter decorating ideas: believe it or not, they’re never more important than after Christmas. When the most wonderful time of the year comes to an end, there’s something a bit sad about pulling down holiday decorations. As soon as the fairy lights, holiday trees, or glowing menorahs are packed away, it’s not long before the winter blahs settle in.
Well, it doesn’t have to be that way! The reason that the end of the holiday season has such a ripping-off-a-Band-Aid feeling is because people generally don’t even think about filling the void that the removal of those gorgeous lights and pretty decorations has left in their New York homes.
So how do you create an atmosphere that’s cozy and welcoming in spite of the cold, brutal weather outside. The Danish call it “hygge” (pronounced “hooga”). When you incorporate hygge into your home, you’re creating a home or space that is welcoming and cozy no matter what’s going on outside. Creating warm spaces is extremely important to people like the Danish and other Scandinavians who live in parts of the world that are immersed in darkness and cold weather for a good portion of the year. Following are a few of the ways that you can bring hygge into your world.
Do Something Special with Lighting
The sudden elimination of sparkle and glimmer can make your rooms feel dead. Light them up again with ambient lighting. Add some string lights above your kitchen door or across your mantel. Make sure you choose bulbs that emit “warm white” light vs “cool white.” Warm white gives off that golden glow that makes a space feel warmer, while cool white has an icier, colder look. Change out the bulbs in your lamps for ones that give off a soft, ambient light. GE makes a gorgeous incandescent stained glass light bulb that gives off a warm, colorful glow that can cast warm, welcoming streams of rainbow light across your walls. Remember, lighting has an incredibly powerful effect on mood. Beautiful lighting can help lift your spirits until the sun, once again, has a later bedtime than 5 p.m.
Add Winter Plants and Flowers
Just because it’s the middle of winter doesn’t mean you can’t bring your home to life with flowers and plants. Load up your windowsills, dining tables, and credenzas with gorgeous colorful vegetation that thrives during the winter months. Sure, peonies and sunflowers are many folks’ go-to flora choices, but if they are not in season or cost a billion and four dollars for a wilted, anemic bunch, there are gorgeous winter flowers that can fill your home with a rainbow of color. Some awesome winter blooms to consider include fragrant white jasmine flowers and the brilliantly purple (but terribly named!) streptocarpus flowers.
Hang Colorful Prints, or Display a New Piece of Art
Sometimes hanging up a beautiful, fun, or quirky new painting or print is all it takes to instantly increase the level of cheer and vitality in a room. Choose a print from your favorite artist, or buy something new from a local artist. The energy art brings to your space can chase away those moody blues.
Follow any one, or all, of these winter decorating ideas to breathe new life into your NYC home for the new year!
Image Source: Flickr/Cliff
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