It’s All a Little Sad
This week, on Tuesday January 6th was Epiphany. For those of you who read my blog post The Winter 2025 Bucket List you will know that my family and I celebrate the Christmas season according to the church calendar. Christmas runs through Epiphany which is twelve days following Christmas. We will talk more about Epiphany here in a bit but once Epiphany has come and gone it’s time in our household to put away the Christmas decorations knowing it’ll be a whole year until we see them again. While I like the feeling of a reset and everything being clean and tidy in the home following Christmas I also feel sad and sort of empty. I’ve heard this is common among many others so here’s how to go about keeping a cozy home after Christmas to avoid too much of the post holiday blues.
We All Feel It
All over social media following Christmas and New Years I have seen people posting their sadness and reluctance to take down their joyful Christmas decorations. The pretty lights, special seasonal additions to our homes, and the coziness that it all brings can be hard to let go of. Especially in the winter months when it gets darker earlier it’s hard to take down the tree and pretty lights not to mention the bare feeling it all leaves behind once it’s all been put away.
Christmas is a time of much anticipation and sometimes I wonder if the anticipation of things is not more exciting or better than the actual event. All the build up to Christmas is fun and exciting and then it’s all suddenly over and taking down the decorations finalizes this.
Despite the solemness of the whole occasion some people take down their Christmas decorations immediately following Christmas Day and look forward to the cleanliness and refresh it brings. It comes with a New Year feeling like a full reset literally and figuratively. Perhaps this is truly how they feel or maybe a coping mechanism to avoid the post holiday blues but I am somewhere in between the two. I enjoy the clean feel my home has once all the Christmas decorations are put away, and it does somehow feel like a fresh start, but I still can’t help but feel a little sad and long for the next Christmas season. As my house looks emptier I feel a little emptier too. The question becomes how can we still keep a home feeling cozy when the reality feels bare and empty post Christmas?
Step One is Mindset
I hate to say it, and you may not like it, but half the battle of how we perceive things is our mindset. Again, in The Winter 2025 Bucket List post I talked a lot about mindset and it’s importance in keeping you from having the winter blues. The same goes for post Christmas blues. There are various things you can work on when it comes to mindset but the one I want to spend the most time talking about is Epiphany. I won’t dwell on this for too long as I know not everyone reading my blog is a Christian and you probably came here for more decor advice than mental and we will get to that soon. My hope here is that maybe by discussing Epiphany a bit more we can become aware and celebrate it accordingly while also improving your mindset as a bonus!
Historically, the Christian Church has followed the church year which essentially follows the life and preaching of Jesus. The beginning of the church year begins with Advent which leads up to Christmas Day and is followed twelve days later by Epiphany. Epiphany feels in a sense to the Christian as Christmas 2.0 of sorts. The classic Christmas story of Jesus’ birth provides an image of the Three Wise Men coming to the stable at the time immediately following Jesus’ birth, but likely the Wise Men or Magi did not come until some time later. Epiphany by definition means appearance or manifestation which occurred when Jesus appeared to the Magi. This was significant because the Magi represent the nations, us, and the revelation for the world that Jesus had come to be our Savior.
Why Does Epiphany Matter for Mindset?
Epiphany for the Christian means that we continue celebrating. While Christmas may be past and the Christmas decorations, Christmas hymns, and excitement may be over we have much to celebrate and be joyous for. After all the entire Christmas season is really about celebrating Jesus’ birth and what follows in Epiphany is the continuation of that good news being reached to everyone outside of that stable where Christ was born. Lack of decorations aside our mindset is still set therefore on hope, joy, and salvation being a greater gift far better than all the gifts that just had laid under the tree.
If you are not a Christian; however, or do not celebrate Epiphany in your household you can still improve your mindset. As I mentioned in past blog posts on the winter blues it is important to find things to look forward to after Christmas. About one month following Christmas I recommend doing something fun that you have anticipation over for the whole month of January to get you through the slump of the season. Now with some mindset shifts in place let’s discuss our physical surroundings and what likely drew you to this post in the first place.
Step Two is All About the Little Things
Once your home is bare and clear of all it’s Christmas dressings it’s time to bring back the cozy factor despite losing the pretty lights and feeling like your home is oddly empty. We will discuss how to fill those spaces that feel empty without losing the clean feel meaning we are going to avoid clutter or replacing the Christmas decor with other decorations. We are going to bring the warmth back and the beauty to the forefront without the Christmas lights or bells and bows.
Lighting
Lighting is key for a cozy home. Warm lighting is always for the win, but outside of warm lights and lamps especially in those early dark evenings you will also want to focus on candlelight. During the Christmas season a lot of people place candles in their home’s windows. There’s no reason you can’t continue this tradition through the winter season or light candles throughout your home whether on the kitchen island, living room mantel, dressers, bookcases, you name it if it’s safe light a candle. There are also a ton of options for candle alternatives and battery operated candles if safety is a concern but you still want the ambience.
If you live somewhere with a cold enough climate then I also recommend lighting a fire in your fireplace. We have a wood burning stove in our dining room that we use as well as a gas fireplace in our living room. If you don’t have an interior fireplace think about creating one outside by making a fire pit. You can also turn on the TV to one of the internet’s various fireplace videos which are surprisingly cozy!
Just because we don’t have the Christmas lighting anymore doesn’t mean we can’t have other twinkling lighting. Getting fairy lights or twinkling lights and placing them on all season garland that can sit atop a mantel or on top of shelves, adding lighting to jars in bookcases, or even adding lights on your deck outside can all bring a feeling of beauty, coziness, and excitement that Christmas lights bring but just toned down a bit and acceptable all winter or even all year long.
Textiles
I find that a lot of people intertwine Christmas and winter. When Christmas is over it seems people are ready to be done with winter too, but winter has only just begun on December 21, 2025. Just because the Christmas decorations were put away doesn’t mean that all red, plaid, fleece, wool, and the warm and cozy winter themed items need to be put away. Layers of cozy blankets, pillows, slippers, pajamas or loungewear can all bring a cozy factor to the home. The reds and plaids can give a subtle feel of the Christmas season without being Christmas-y and being more socially acceptable even if it’s your security blanket of holding onto the final touches of Christmas for the rest of winter. Afterall no one said that Christmas owns the color red.
We have an armchair in our living room that has a fleece blanket draped over the back. During the winter season I also add a lightweight red plaid blanket that I drape over the top of the fleece blanket. It’s subtle but extra cozy and looks festive for winter but works well for Christmas too. I do a lot of that kind of layering in our home. Whether on our bed, couch, or arm chairs I like adding warm and fluffy layers, winter based colors and themes like plaid or red, or dark cool tones, and even our dining table receives an update to a more minimal but still festive table runner.
Filling the Void
After the Christmas decorations are put away we can feel like there are blank empty places in our homes. Those voids make the feeling of Christmas being over all the more prominent and can bring those post holiday blues quickly to the surface. At the same time, it can be nice to have some empty spaces in your home. For instance, opening my living room blinds in the morning without having to contort myself around the Christmas tree is surprisingly pleasant but I still miss the tree and the room feels empty. Instead of filling the void with a total replacement or feeling like you can’t fill it with anything at all there is a solution.
Some people decorate for holidays by putting away their all season decor and replacing it with Christmas decorations, fall, etc. Others may implement the holiday decorations into the existing decor or just add to it. I am somewhat of a mix, but if you replace all season items with Christmas items the void is less noticeable because you’ve replaced the empty space of a Christmas decoration with something else already when you bring back out your all season decor.
If you just add to what you already have out all year then it can feel really full and magical at Christmas time and taking down those decorations can feel like a true void. In this case, do a little rearranging or maybe add in simple things. Those candles we talked about earlier are a great addition, floral arrangements can do a lot for an empty space, or even adding in some minimal decor like simple family photos onto a table can fill the void without adding in too much clutter.
Routine
Don’t knock a good winter routine until you’ve tried it and realize it’s power. In the mornings I open up all the blinds in the house that I can, I make the bed first thing in the morning, and most days I have something cooking on the stove or baking in the oven. The home feels bright, warm, and bustling with activity without feeling too overwhelming.
At night with those early dark skies setting in I close all the blinds right when it starts to get dark out. I turn on lamps in the house with all warm shade light bulbs or adjustable smart bulbs that I can set to a warm white. I recommend using lamps over overhead lighting if you have the option for the ultimate cozy hue. Depending on the night I might light a candle or two and if it’s cold outside a fire in the fireplace. I try and take my shower after dinner so that I am all cozy in my pajamas for the rest of the evening and after getting our toddler to bed I can snuggle up on the couch and either work on my business (like writing this blog post right now) or wind down with my husband and watch a movie.
A Simple Mix
As you can see, creating and keeping a cozy home after Christmas doesn’t have to be difficult, expensive, or even time consuming. A lot of it is mindset and keeping a good routine. Some of it is decor and following simple rules of interior decorating and design to bring layers and warmth to a home. While it would be nice to have a checklist of decorative items that can make your space feel instantly warm and cozy and magical post Christmas and New Years everyone has slightly different needs and thoughts on what makes a home feel truly cozy.
That’s what I like so much about the mindset shifts and creating and following routines. It is not always about the decorations, the lights, or the tree that makes a home cozy during Christmas – instead it’s about the time with friends and family, the bonding, the memories, the nostalgia, the busy activities going on and that can happen any time of the year as long as we create the opportunities.
For More Cozy Ideas
I love creating a cozy home so I talk about it a lot on this blog! If you are looking for more cozy home ideas then check out my blog post on How to Shop for a Cozy Home on a Budget and Give Your Home a Cozy Feel With These Five Easy Tips. I also have several recipes that will fill your kitchen with warm and winter friendly foods for the whole family.
If you are cooped up inside on what feels like day number 500 of snowmageddon then cleaning your home can be a great way to pass the time especially with my free all year long cleaning checklist. Not only will it help you keep a clean home all year long it also has seasonal cleaning suggestions if you want to extend a little Christmas cleaning through another month or two of winter. You can download it by signing up for my email list on the homepage and clicking on the button “Download Your Checklist!”.
