From Christmas to Winter

I took a stab at rearranging the built-in bookshelves in our living room the other night. I removed all of the Christmas decor a couple weeks ago, but hadn't really put any other decor up in its place. So, the shelves looked very blah. I wanted to spruce them up with a winter-ish theme that would last through the remainder of January and most of February (thanks to our loooong Wisconsin winters).

Here is what the bookcase looked like around Christmastime - a mostly red and green color scheme along with some pine boughs for that Christmas feel ...

To give a fresh, non-Christmas look to the shelves, I took all the red color out of the picture. I decided on a mostly green, brown, and white color scheme, which ties in with the colors of the room anyway. I wanted to use some natural elements for a winter-y, outdoors-y feel. I also wanted the space to have a simpler look with less clutter. Here's what I came up with...



I kept the baskets on the shelves since they have the useful purpose of holding blu-rays, video game equipment etc. but then added a few new items around the baskets.

The tall hurricane on the top shelf (seen above) has faux snow and pinecones in the bottom. The snow sparkles like real winter snow.

The white bird figurine also has faux snow on it. I love birds. But most of you know that.




On the 2nd shelf, I have a little Pottery Barn love going on. I stacked several PB magazines together and sat a small glass hurricane (purchased from PB) on top of them for some height variation. Then I placed 2 birch candles (also purchased at PB) on either side. I put more faux snow in the hurricane. The green votive candle in the center coordinates with the green pillar candle in the hurricane on the top shelf.




The 3rd shelf is a tribute to Pottery Barn as well (I guess I'm storing up a nice collection of usable goods from there). The white lantern and little nest I just bought and shared with you in a post last week. The bird candle sitting in the nest was purchased before Christmas.




Notice on most shelves, I have groupings of 3 - this keeps things balanced and interesting without looking too cluttered.

So, what do you think? Successful transition from Christmas to Winter?




This built-in bookcase is always a work in progress. The bottom 2 shelves are not very pretty since we have electronic equipment (receiver, cable box, blu-ray player, X-box, and Wii) sitting on the shelves. So, I try to balance it with some pretty decorations on the top shelves. We'll see how this transforms over time. I learn as I go!

I must admit that I'm pumped for spring and can't wait to bust out those decorations. But for now, winter is all we got!