how to brighten your home during the WINTER months

Winter starts off as the funnest season with all the glitz and glam of the holidays, but once the sparkle is put away and the calendar turns, the new year brings long, dark days. Do you suffer from the winter blues during the gloomy days of winter? Here are some ways to brighten your home to create a warm space and help your mood during those long, dark and cold winter days.

Welcome to the next installment of Celebrate the Season. Thank you to our host Carol from Bluesky at Home for bringing us together and sharing all things Winter for our home. Today I am joined by some blogging friends, which you can find listed at the bottom of this post. If you’re coming here from visiting Susan @ Hen and Horse Design, welcome. Doesn’t Susan’s challah bread pudding recipe look delicious?

As I mentioned, today I am sharing how you can brighten your home during the Winter months. There are many ways to add warmth and brightness into your home, creating a peaceful and welcoming ambience. Although you can certainly use all these ideas during the holiday festivities, these subtle brightening touches are targeted in helping your mood and disposition after the holiday aftermath during the long winter months.

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candles brighten your home

tapers

I love to collect silver plate candlesticks from thrift store, estate sale, garage sale and flea market shopping excursions. Other folks do the same with brass candlesticks, which always look lovely. I absolutely love mercury class taper candlesticks as well. There’s a plethora of styles and you don’t have to spend a whole lot of money with taper candlesticks.

You can find similar candlesticks here, here and here.

pillars

Pillar candles are versatile because they can stand on their own or on pillar candle holders or in hurricanes or in lanterns. Like I said, super versatile! Here are some great basic pillars.

votives

Votive candle holders always set such a wonderful ambience. They tend to be super sparkly, and I love to display them in mass since they sparkle off of each other. I own votive holders in a few different styles and colors since they are great for tablescapes, mantels and more. These are great gold option or in silver here.

I love to use candles in all shapes and sizes. They create great warmth and ambience in any space. I use both real burning candles as well as faux candles, intermingling them all around our home. I like these faux candles.

lanterns also brighten your home

table top

Lanterns also come in all sorts of styles and designs as well. I love placing them on the mantel or side boards or the entry chest to create a special feeling.

floor

Oversized lanterns can be placed strategically throughout the home to also evoke magical feels. It’s nice to create a glowing feeling from the ground up.

outdoors

Although it’s pretty cold outdoors for most of us to sit outside, it’s still nice and welcoming to have some lanterns on the front porch.

By placing lanterns in unexpected places, it not only creates a glow but adds interest to your space. This brightens your home in more than one way.

Here are some lanterns with a similar look.

fireplaces for the win

wood burning

Nothing is cozier than a crackling fire in the fireplace during the long days of winter. It goes without saying.

faux

If you simply have a mantel facing without a firebox, you can always create a similar feeling by using candles. It sets a wonderful mood.

gas

Gas fireplaces have replaced the older wood burning fireplaces, which are much easier to maintain and can evoke the same type of ambiance.

I love a roaring fire and we burn one almost every evening in our home during the winter months. It creates the perfect ambience during this time of year.

artificial lighting details

sconce lights

Wall sconces are a great way to light up a space without the harshness of overhead lighting.

fairy lights

Fairy lights are the perfect accent to keep the magic going after all the glitz and glamor from the holidays is put away.

bulb types

Soft and | or warm light bulbs create a cozier atmosphere in your home rather than bright | daylight bulbs.

night lights

I like to have strategic night lights throughout our home so even when you wake up in the middle of the night, there’s a guiding light, literally.

Sometimes it’s easy to forget about the lighting in our homes. Yet simple details can make a huge difference on the light they cast and the mood they create.

brighter days are ahead

There are so many options to chase away the winter blues and brighten the gloomy days of winter time. I hope one of these or maybe all of these ideas resonate with you, helping to prepare to chase the gloom doom of winter away. It’s amazing how it affects our moods and spirits.

more Winter inspiration

Next on the blog hop is Kim from Perfecting Places. Make sure to stop by since she has more cozy Winter inspiration. Listed below are all the blogger participants full of Winter ideas and inspiration.

Winter edition of Celebrate the Season

Please visit all the participating bloggers with winter inspired posts.

“There are two ways of spreading light; to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it.”

Edith Wharton

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sharing @ between naps on the porch