Cozy Winter Mantel Refresh

Now that we are finally past COVID in our house, I figured it was time to finally getting around to taking our Christmas decorations down and giving the space a refresh for winter. My main focus was our living room.

Fall and winter are my two favorite seasons to decorate for here in the cottage because it just comes so naturally to add those cozy touches. I love keeping the color palette neutral (lots of creams, browns, and blacks) and sprinkle in lots of texture with simple, clean lines.

Before I started, I had to decide what to do with the greenery that featured so prominently at Christmas. Because most of it is still green (albeit, a smidge crispy), I felt like I could still work it in to add some of that wonderful texture to the space.

And white lights because, duh, white lights are amazing.

Making its official blog debut is this incredible Wisconsin cheese tin sign. I snagged it so many years ago that I honestly can’t remember where or for how much. It’s so large that it spends much of the year up in the storage loft because it’s just so big. While cheese doesn’t exactly say “winter,” that black and white color scheme sure does.

To build the rest of the mantel out, I sprinkled in items from around my home that fit the color scheme. The fun John Edward & Co ironstone dish (circa 1880s) needed a seat at the table. It’s still one of my absolute favorite thrift store finds. As a hoarder old books, I had plenty of brown ones on hand to add to the display. A neat set of antique cobbler shoe forms. And of course, brass and silver trinkets along with some brown glass pieces beautifully reflect those white lights and add a bit of warmth in the process.

I have a few other areas I’m going to give a quick little winter refresh to this weekend as I pack up Christmas. I can’t wait to share them with you!