Brightening Up The Winter Blues

January 20, 2015

The grass is brown, the sky frequently turns to a shade of gray, and the temperatures steady out near freezing almost daily here in Virginia (hallelujah for temps near 60° today!). I'm a firm believer when it's going to be this cold and dreary then there should be heaps and heaps of white, fluffy snow. But, often that's not the case, and that just leaves me with some winter blues. Especially when the sun rises later and sets sooner, leaving us in the dark of night in the early evening. 

This year I'm taking a different tactic though and turning the inside of my home into a bright and fresh space to counteract the characteristics of winter. It's working too, and I'm loving the pop of colors around to contrast the outdoors. 


I have a favorite hanging from the doors in my dining room. Boxwood wreaths are the prettiest shade of green and easily bring life to any space. I found mine at Target, and I've been grateful to have them, making my space feel like spring in the dead of winter.



Succulents are friends with all seasons. They thrive on minimal water, which is good for this gal who seems to forget to water plants on a regular basis. My husband built me this box for the center of our table, and I immediately knew what would be filling it. Because I have smaller succulents in another husband-made-box in the family room, I wanted bigger succulents for this space. Home Depot did not disappoint and I love these subtly bright pretties adorning my table centerpiece.


Look how much more vibrant my space looks with little pops of color. Putting simple pieces in a space to brighten it up is the best way to rid of winter dullness. The table runner and pillows help bring a little extra contrast, but I made sure my color palette wasn't too overwhelming for this season. I want to complement winter, not clash with it. And I must admit, winter light is all kinds of beautiful. 


Another trick to brightening up space is with fruit in a bowl. You could go with fake fruit, or you could go with the real thing and eat it up, my particular favorite. You're being healthy and home décor savvy. Win, win.


One of my favorite spaces is our family room. I've gushed over the console table husband and I made, but really, it's the best piece to decorate in our entire house. After it was cleared of seasonal and holiday décor, I knew I wanted to put accents on it that I could leave always. So I picked classic items, which ultimately brought a ton of color into the room without being too much, and will work perfectly all year long. 


The vases are my absolute favorite and really make the table I think. Then this basket that I found on clearance at Michael's back in the fall is perfect for filling with seasonal items. For now it's pine cones, and come spring it will be something different. 


And here are the little succulents I was telling you about. They really are the best plant to keep year round, and they supply plenty of color. I can't get enough. 


I'm slightly obsessed with apothecary jars. They're good for everything, especially decorating. You can find at least six of these beauties (all in different shapes and sizes) throughout my house. I use them for filling with décor and for storage. In this case I went with some fuzzy green, moss-like, balls that I found for a steal at TJ Maxx. They were perfect for bringing in spring while winter is blustering away outside.


For even more color, and a variation of height on the console table, I put books under the apothecary jar. Pick books that have beautiful and bright spines. I also recommend picking books of different sizes to bring in more color (by showing more cover surface), and to break of up the rectangular look. No symmetry needed here.


A really simple way to make a room colorful is by displaying just a couple, or three, magazines with pretty covers. These two just happened to show up in my mailbox recently and they certainly bring a lot of vibrance to any room. 


Photos and candles are another way to give a room some color. You can go subtle on color as I did here, or as bright as you like. The key is making all of your items work well with one another. 


And like I mentioned earlier, books are great ways to bring in some color. If you have coffee table books or photo book keepsakes, it's a great way to add a pop of pretty to a space. This is a stack of my Chatbooks that I ordered back in the fall. When ordering them, I made sure the some books had seasonal covers (like my Christmas tree on one and pumpkins on another). And I also made sure to have lots of color present. Even the book currently on top, although not full of color, still offers a pop of turquoise and lime, perfect for winter and for brightening it up. 


Now who's ready for spring?! There are only 59 days until springtime and it will be glorious! For now, I hope you got some ideas for turning your home in a subtle spring oasis, complementing winter shades, all while ridding of the winter blues! Happy Tuesday, friends!!