Happy Winter, sweet friends! That may not actually be a greeting, but it is today!

Today you are in for a winter treat in the form of wonderful winter decorating ideas for your home. 

Not only will you hopefully find inspiration from our family room, but from the other talented bloggers on the tour. Huge thanks to Amber from Follow the Yellow Brick Home for organizing the entire event. 

You will find a little something for all tastes in this amazing eclectic tour of homes. I love this tour each and every season because I always find inspiring ways to incorporate them into our home. 

If you are visiting from Marty over at A Stroll Thru Life, welcome! Don't you just love Marty's home. Her kitchen remodel is a favorite of mine. 

Let's get started! Go grab a cup of hot tea and cozy up…….

I always feel a bit of sadness when it is time to pack away the holiday decor. It has always meant that it was time to send the kids back to school. I've never been a mom that was ready for vacations including summer break to be over. I loved my kids being home. Things were less stressful and there was more family time. Now we are at a different time in our lives. They are no longer just gone for the day. Now they head back to college. 

It's like this cruel joke. You have them home for a wonderful month then the rug is pulled out from under you and they are gone again. We are by no means a perfect family, but have always tried our best to make their childhood and time at home full of memories. We will be back into our empty nest groove in no time!

After all the holiday decor is packed away, I am left with a clean slate. I use this opportunity as a time to refresh and redecorate our home with things that we already have. Nothing new was purchased for this tour. It's just moving things about rooms and using what you have in a new way. 

This is a real wood burning fireplace so we always keep wood at the ready in the olive bucket. 

This go around, I totally went different with the mantel and a rather sparse…..sparse for me that is! I also went symmetrical when I typically go asymmetrical in front of the oil painting. It feels light and fresh.

I get so many comments on the brickwork around the fireplace that I thought I'd share the herringbone detail up close. I still love it to this day. I remember the brick mason trying to talk me out of this one when we were building. So glad that I didn't budge. 

Decorating Tip…..Stack wood by the fireplace even if you don't have a wood burning unit. It gives the illusion of the real thing and gives a cozy nod to winter.

Our tree was here for the holidays. You may have noticed that we moved the secretary by the fireplace for Christmas. I am liking it back over here for now. I love that I now have a couple of options for this piece in our family room. 

I have several blue pieces in the cabinet so I added the blue pitcher for the season on top along with a mirror and rabbit oil painting. 

Decorating Tip.…..Layer smaller mirrors and art pieces on the flat surfaces of furniture. They do not always need to be hung. 

This chair has been with us for about 25 years. Yes, I'm quite tired of the dark leather, but it is just so cozy. I hope to one day have it reupholstered or slipcovered. 

One of my goals in the new year is to take time during the day to read. A great way to do this was by creating a little reading nook. I simply moved this chair away from the couch area and gave it its own space. I moved this thrift store plant stand makeover here as well and brought a lamp down from upstairs. Voila! Instant reading nook with zero dollars spent! 

Decorating Tip……..Lighten up darker furniture with slipcovers, throws and lighter pillows!

Keep a book on the table for spontaneous reading. Yes, I'm jumping on the Marie Kondo journey and you can read all about it HERE.

This chair has been in the guest room for years! I simply switched chairs here for a new look. 

I am really hoping to paint this small nightstand this year. I actually have a lot of painting projects planned. A quick way to give you a new look is by updating your lamp shades. There are so many options at affordable prices these days. This shade was black. I replaced it with a light gray one. I really love the look of gray and golds together. 

Decorating Tip…….Refresh your lamp shades with new, lighter ones to totally change-up your space!

Pillow covers have been my jam the last year! Who has room to store loads of pillows. I love to change our look with pillows, but my husband grew tired of opening closets to them just falling out. (why I need to Marie Kondo our home) Etsy and Amazon are great places to find pillow covers. 

I did sew the toile pillow covers here myself. The blue ones are from Amazon and the striped ones came with the couch. I'll share sources at the end of the post. 

I gave up a while ago removing Bentley from my decor photos. He follows me all over when I photograph. He likes to be in a room with someone. At least he sleep peacefully and stays out-of-the-way!

Jack…..not so much! He's under my feet constantly. I took this with my cell phone, but he was fighting with my tripod. He is Mr. Personality at 7 months!!!

I'm keeping less on the coffee table this winter. It's a very large coffee table and perfect for the occasional cozy dinner by the fire while watching Netflix. It's also a great spot to work on the blog. I'm keeping the entire area in front of the couch free of anything so it is ready to use. 

I use this tray basket all the time here on the coffee table. It was a thrift store makeover. Baskets are so easy to paint and this color combo is my favorite. 

I kept a few of my evergreen sprigs out from Christmas. I just used the ones with no color or sparkle to them and tucked a few faux sprigs of eucalyptus in the urn with them. 

I love using mercury glass in the winter. I find it to be warm and cozy while adding just a touch of shine. When used with more casual items like the weathered basket, it creates a nice vintage feel. 

It all pairs nicely with one of my favorite photos of the kids!

This is one of those times when saving junk paid off! When Ashlyn was little, she had a small disco ball that plugged into the wall. She'd play band with her keyboard and electronic drums. One day, that disco ball quit working. I didn't just throw it away! How could I? That junk might come in handy one day. (another reason why I need Marie Kondo) I was able to remove that mirrored ball from the mechanics of it knowing that perhaps 10 years down the road, I'd find a use for it. Today my friends, I found a purpose for it and LOVE it here!!!

I went a bit sparse as well with the console table behind the couch. 

Boxes are a passion of mine! They hold and hide more stuff! Ha, ha! The top box is a hand painted box that holds all of the photos Christmas cards that we've received in probably the last 5 years. I love looking through those to see how families have grown and changed. The distressed white box which was also a thrift store makeover holds my chalkboard supplies and menu cards that I used a lot when the kids were still home. Now we wing it! The bottom box is an antique storage box of a ship captain. It's really cool with several shelves and compartments for more storage!

Decorating Tip……Look for boxes at thrift stores. They are great candidates for a paint makeover. They are wonderful for housing things such as cards, remotes, cards, bills, coupons and more!

Another touch of my winter mercury glass candlesticks. Don't be afraid to mix up a pair of candlesticks. Its match is on the coffee table.

Do you notice that bare wall over the stairs? It does have one large oil painting hung a bit higher. I plan to work on now creating a vintage look gallery wall here with oil, oil look and vintage art. I also plan to make some sort of antique sign for it as well. 

Most of my updates for 2019 include painting walls. After having the living spaces painted Agreeable Gray last spring, I can't wait to lighten up other rooms in our home. I did get my son's room started in November. The wall color there is a really pretty gray as well. I'll be sharing more soon.

I hope you've found a few inspiring touches from my home tour. Below you will find similar and like items from our home to get a similar look. 

Make sure you head on over to Decor to Adore for even more winter decorating ideas!

Also follow along to the end for the links to the other blogs!

MORE WINTER DECORATING IDEAS

Follow The Yellow Brick Home |  A Stroll Thru Life | Our Southern Home| Decor To Adore  

 

My  Art and Sand| My Thrift Store Addiction | The Red Painted Cottage |Rosemary and Thyme|

 

BlueSky at Home | Belle Bleu Interiors | Virginia Sweet Pea | County Road 407

 

Lora Bloomquist |  White Arrows Home | Thistle Key Lane | Decorate and More with Tip  

Happy winter decorating!

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