This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase through one of these links, Cozy Minimal Home may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
January decor after Christmas is mostly a problem of subtraction. The tree goes, the red goes, the candles go, and the living room looks like someone moved out.
A room feels bare in January because several things left at once: light, height, color and scent.
Decorating after Christmas doesn’t mean buying a second set of decorations. It means putting each of those four back on purpose, with something that isn’t Christmas.
So this is the changeover itself, in the order I’d do it in the first week of the month.
I’ve written it for small apartments and rentals. Nothing here needs a drill, a paint brush or new furniture, and seven of the twelve ways cost nothing at all.
If you’d like the bigger picture first, these calm, pared-back ideas for a small apartment cover the whole home. This list is about one slightly flat week and how to get through it.
1. Take the Decorations Down but Leave the Lights
Do the whole take-down in one afternoon, so the house isn’t half Christmas for a fortnight.
Then take one string of warm white lights off the tree and run it along a shelf or around the window frame.
The tree was the room’s biggest lamp, and that low glow is most of what you miss.
Off the tree, a plain string is just lighting. Unplug it when you go out or go to bed.
Shop this tip: Hopolon Warm White Plug-In Mini Lights, 2 Pack on Amazon.
2. Fill the Corner Where the Tree Stood
That corner is now the emptiest spot in the apartment.
Move an armchair and a lamp in the same afternoon, so it keeps its height and its own light.
A chair, a lamp and something leafy reads as a reading corner you meant to have all along.
A 5 foot faux olive tree with a natural wood trunk adds the leaves. It arrives in a small plain starter pot, so stand it in a basket or planter you already own.
Shop this tip: Faux Olive Tree with Natural Wood Trunk, 5 ft on Amazon.
3. Keep the Greenery and Lose the Red
Green was never the Christmas part. Red was.
Pull the ribbons, berries and ornaments out of whatever greenery you have, and keep plain stems in a jug.
Without red beside it, green just reads as winter.
Real evergreen cuttings are fine while they last. After that, faux silver dollar eucalyptus takes over: six bunches of 24 inch stems in a mid green, with wire stems you can bend or cut shorter to suit the jug.
Shop this tip: Faux Silver Dollar Eucalyptus Stems, 24 Inch, 6 Bunches on Amazon and hjn White Ceramic Pitcher Vase on Amazon.
Check Faux Silver Dollar EucalyptusCheck hjn White Ceramic Pitcher
4. Swap Red and Tartan for Cream, Oat and Grey
Go round with a laundry basket and collect everything red, green or plaid: the tartan throw, the holiday cushion covers, the reindeer tea towel.
Put back the plain ones in cream, oat and grey.
Textiles carry most of a small room’s color, so this one lap changes the palette faster than anything else here.
Keep the same number of cushions, so the sofa stays as soft as it was.
5. Edit Every Surface Back to Three Things
December piles things onto every flat surface. Clear each one completely and wipe it.
Then put back three things at most: something tall, something low and something with a little life in it. A lamp, a bowl and a small plant will do.
Three objects at different heights give the eye a start, a middle and a stop.
The bare wood around them is what makes the shelf look calm instead of empty.
6. Bring Back What You Put Away in December
Somewhere there is a box of what you moved to make room for the decorations: the stack of books, the usual tray, the framed photo, the plant from the shelf.
Unpack it the same day the Christmas boxes go away.
The room didn’t look empty in November.
Much of what feels missing is your own things, not the decorations. Putting them back in their old places costs nothing and takes about ten minutes.
7. Put Something That Grows on the Windowsill
Once the decorations go, nothing in the room changes until spring. Flowers do.
Put them on the shopping list like milk: a bunch of supermarket tulips or a pot of paperwhites each week.
To grow your own, three clear glass forcing vases, 5.3 inches tall with twine at the neck, hold one hyacinth bulb each.
Bulbs aren’t included. Hyacinth bulbs can irritate skin, so wear gloves, and keep all bulbs away from pets.
Shop this tip: Glass Hyacinth Bulb Forcing Vases, 5.3 Inch, Set of 3 on Amazon.
8. Wash the Throws and Move Them Around
After a month of guests, candles and cooking, every throw and cushion cover goes through the wash, a load at a time.
When they come back, put them somewhere new: the bedroom throw on the sofa, the sofa cushions on the reading chair.
Fresh laundry is the cheapest new thing you can bring into a room.
The sofa gets a different texture and color without a purchase, which suits the one month nobody wants to spend money.
9. Pull the Furniture Closer for Winter
With the tree gone you have the whole floor back, and the instinct is to spread everything out again. Do the opposite.
Pull the sofa a foot off the wall, turn the armchair in to face it and move the side table to where both seats can reach it.
Seats close enough to share one lamp feel warmer than the same furniture pushed against four walls.
Leave a clear path round the outside of the group.
10. Clean the Windows and Open the Curtains Wide
The window that held lights or a paper star gets a wipe on the inside, and the sill gets cleared.
Then push the curtains back every morning as far as the rod allows, so the whole pane is glass.
January has little daylight to spare, and a clean, uncovered window lets in visibly more of it.
Daylight on a pale wall does the job by day that the string of lights does at night.
11. Pack the Decorations So Next December Is Easy
Pack by room, not by type: one bin for the living room, one for the table, one for the door.
Ten extra minutes now is the only part of Christmas you can do eleven months early.
Ornaments want dividers. A grey fabric storage box with three trays holds 75 of them, with a lift-off lid, carry handles and a clear tag pocket for your own label.
Wind each string of lights around cardboard, and put the bin you’ll want first on top.
Shop this tip: Ornament Storage Box with 3 Trays and Dividers, Holds 75, Grey on Amazon.
12. Give January Its Own Scent
Finish or put away the pine, cinnamon and gingerbread candles along with the decorations.
A house that still smells of December while looking like January feels unfinished.
Choose something sharper and greener, for one room only. A 3-wick sage and citrus candle, 14.5 oz, is aromatic sage and zesty lemon over a dried lavender base.
Never leave it lit in an empty room, trim the wicks, and keep it clear of stems and curtains.
Shop this tip: Yankee Candle Sage & Citrus 3-Wick Candle, 14.5 oz on Amazon.
6 January Decor Mistakes That Leave the House Feeling Stripped After Christmas
Tick each one off before you call the room done.
☐ Taking the decorations down a few at a time. Pick one afternoon and do the whole apartment in one go. A room that is half Christmas for two weeks looks more tired than one that is finished.
☐ Packing every string of lights with the tree. Keep one plain string of warm white lights and run it along a shelf or around one window. Unplug it when you go out or go to bed.
☐ Leaving the tree corner empty. Fill it the same afternoon with a chair and a lamp, or one plant about 5 feet tall. The corner needs height and its own light.
☐ Throwing out the greenery with the ornaments. Strip out the ribbons, berries and anything red, then stand the plain stems in one jug. Green on its own reads as winter.
☐ Putting everything back on every surface. Clear each shelf and table fully, then return three things at most: one tall, one low and one with a little life in it.
☐ Spreading the furniture out to fill the floor. Pull the sofa about a foot off the wall and turn the armchair in to face it. Both seats should share one lamp and reach one side table.
You don’t need all twelve in one weekend. Start with way 1: decorations down in one afternoon, one string of warm white lights back up.
Then fill the tree corner, and let the rest follow over the week.
For winter decor that costs very little, these low-cost ways to make a living room feel warmer carry on from here.
And if the take-down showed how little cupboard space you have, these small living room storage ideas are the next read.
Frequently Asked Questions
When should I take my Christmas decorations down?
There’s no date I’d insist on. I pick one free afternoon in the first week of January and do everything at once, so the house isn’t half decorated for weeks.
Can I leave fairy lights up after Christmas?
Yes. Off the tree, a plain string of warm white lights is just lighting. I keep one string on a shelf or around a window through January and unplug it when I go out or go to bed.
What do I put where the Christmas tree was?
Something with height and its own light. An armchair and a lamp moved from elsewhere in the room work, and so does one tall plant of about 5 feet.
How do I make a small apartment cozy after Christmas without buying anything?
Seven of these twelve ways are free. Keep one string of lights, swap the red textiles for the plain ones you own, bring back your everyday things, wash and rotate the throws, pull the seating closer and clean the windows.
What colors work for decorating after Christmas?
Cream, oat and grey, with plain green as the one accent. Red is the part that reads as Christmas, so that is the color to pack away.
Save This For Later
Loved january decor after christmas? Save this pin to your Pinterest board now so you can find it again anytime you need the inspiration.
