Looking for cozy dining room ideas for winter? Wait until you see these winter home decor ideas to make your home feel warm and inviting.
I love my oversized, rustic black hutch – it is a real statement piece in my dining room.
After we renovated our three-bedroom ranch to a center hall colonial, we shopped small and bought this hutch at a local mom and pop store.
Not only is the hutch gorgeous, but it holds so much stuff and has an abundance of space to display home decor.
For years, I stored crystal on the left, Lenox on the right, and only displayed red Spode dishes on the open shelves.
While it looked pretty, it was a little boring and I was never really happy with it. Since I just did a huge clean-out in this room, I spent time refreshing the display shelves using things I already have to make it feel cozier and inviting.
On a bright sunny day, this room feels so warm and cozy.
From the wall color, to the hutch finish to the wood tones, the chair rail, and light fixture, it breathes life into a space we walk by but don’t often use.
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The Dining Room Refresh
We tend to get set in our ways or leave things as they are in our homes, sometimes for many years.
Switching things up every now and again breathes life into a space and changes the feel of our surroundings.
Restyling a space can be as simple as moving furniture around and/or adding touches of home decor.
Or you could even go as far as to paint the entire room to give it a different vibe.
But let’s not go through the trouble of painting just yet.
Today we are focusing on refreshing a space with seasonal decor.
Winter Decor Ideas for the Dining Room
When doing a refresh, I suggest shopping your own home first to find different things to use or repurpose.
Restyling a space doesn’t have to break the bank where we have to buy all new stuff.
Oftentimes, we have a bunch of cool items laying around or in storage that we are not even using!
My hutch’s display shelves were in dire need of a refresh. I mean, it looked OK but it felt a little cold and was ready to make a change. I think it looked the same for about twelve years so it really was time to for a cozy refresh.
Use or Re-purpose What You Have
I still love the Spode dishes and wanted to use them on the display shelves.
To break up the massive dish display, I mixed in some of my grandmother’s silver, Lenox, faux greens and rattan decor items.
I found these silver coin plates that I never knew I had until I started digging around the house for stuff to add to the display shelves.
This is why I say, try shopping your home before heading out to the store. I was surprised to find these.
Use Real and Faux Greens
To add winter interest, I added faux greens and pinecones.
I love to collect faux greens and florals and use them in different ways throughout my home all year round.
Although these greens are grouped and stored here on display shelves, they do double-duty because I also use them in tablescapes as well as other areas around my home.
As an aside, I don’t think you can have too many faux greens and florals. Greens warm up a space like nothing else, particularly in winter, and if you are someone who is not a fan of real greens or houseplants, faux is the way to go. They not only warm up a space, but they also add seasonal interest.
Although I am an avid gardener and have an abundance of real flowers, plants and houseplants both in and outside my home, I incorporate faux greens and florals everywhere.
How I use them outside is a future blog post, but indoors, I mix them in with the real plants in every room, particularly in areas where I can’t or don’t want to water anything.
If you don’t have much in the way of faux greens, it’s a good idea to start collecting some.
The trick is to seek faux greens and florals that look real.
When out shopping, I ask myself all the time – does this look like a real plant?
If the answer is no, I don’t buy it.
To me, faux plants should have some authenticity of what we see in real life.
Where to Buy Faux Greens and Florals
There are some great-looking faux greens and florals out there.
I find them all over but I get most of my faux supply from a local nursery, Morris County Farms, that has the most beautiful stock.
In addition to Morris County Farms, I also shop the bigger stores like Marshall’s, Homegoods, Target, Craft Stores, etc.
Tip: if you shop in the bigger stores, when you see it – buy it, because it will be gone the next time you go back.
Adding Texture
The dishes, silver and Lenox would look pretty stale without a little texture.
What does that mean?
That means layering in the greens (discussed above) and adding rattan, baskets, feather or some sort of material to add warmth and depth.
To achieve this, I added some rattan chargers that I needed to store anyway, a basket and these cool little owls.
The basket and the rattan are neutral in color but add more depth to each shelf with their texture. I played around with the basket, trying to figure out what to display in it.
Ultimately, I settled on pinecones, the silver coin plates and Spode.
The owls are a new addition to my winter decor this year.
I have been eyeing them (or versions of them) for years but wasn’t sure if I would like them or not.
This year, I grabbed one after it went on sale and I love how it looks. In addition to displaying it on my dining room hutch, I have used it in a number of ways throughout my home decor.
For more winter tablescape inspiration, see my blog post, Winter Table Setting Ideas.
Thank you so much for following along.
Thank you so much for following along.
Enjoy a beautiful day! xo
