DIY · Home & Garden

Winter Cottage Home Decor

Peruse our cozy home with our latest winter cottage home decor. Natural elements combine with a few hand-selected pieces this season.

Winter cottage decor sitting on a rustic wood table. There are wooden beads, a holiday cactus, a winter green bouquet, and Santa stamps.

This winter I waited to decorate as close to the start of winter as possible.

I hate rushing the seasons, though I did put up a Scandinavian holiday tree at the very end of November. My husband wanted one up for the entire month leading up to Christmas.

I, however, like to keep my decorating in sync with the seasons because it’s just easier and more enjoyable for me. If you’re just now getting around to decorating your home with cozy winter cottage decor this post is for you.

An array of wooden houses sits in front of a menorah, with the reflection of a holiday tree in the tv screen.

I decided that the winter cottage decor would resemble a lot of what I decorated with last year.

This meant sticking with a lot of handmade and natural decor.

I love using natural elements from things I can find outside, and I love crafting one-of-a-kind pieces that no one else has. Decorating holds so much more value when we create things ourselves, with our own vision and pair of hands.

It makes the home feel so much more charming and full of character that way.

So, let’s see how I’ve decorated the cottage with winter home decor this year…

Winter cottage decor is in the kitchen on a vintage style record player. A Shatto milk cow bell lays next to faux frosted pine tree foliage with a pine cone.

Winter Cottage Home Decor 

Winter table centerpiece

I have a favorite porcelain pitcher that I’ve mentioned several times before in previous posts, and it’s because it just looks so good with anything in it.

I wanted to create an inviting and aesthetic winter centerpiece on our rustic dining table this season, so I used this vase as the base for it. I opted for some fresh greenery in the vase, along with some pine cones. I really wanted something minimalist since I made an elaborate Thanksgiving tablescape last month (You can read that post HERE).

On a dinner table is a bouquet of eucalyptus, pine cone, holly berries, olive branches, and different pine tree branches.
Winter cottage decor is complete with a bouquet of fresh winter foliage on a kitchen dining table.

Vintage truck display

Last year I made a little display on my cake stand that everyone seemed to love so much. I basically wanted to create an oversized snow globe for the kitchen.

I picked up a vintage truck with little pine trees in the back of it from Target. Then I added in “snow” using cotton balls that I unraveled and placed around the display. To finish it off, I placed the glass cover over the cake stand, and it ended up looking like a lovely winter wonderland in my kitchen. I knew I had to recreate this again this year!

A vintage truck is a display on a cake stand with a mini holiday tree in back.

Handmade wreath

I also ended up reusing a base wreath I used the previous year. Last year, I had taken a plain wreath and wrapped and secured olive branches and holly berries around the circumference of the wreath. This year I procured some fresh eucalyptus to wrap around the wreath and kept it very simple.

I love the contrast of the dark green base wreath behind the lighter, muted green from the fresh foliage.

A homemade wreath has been wrapped with eucalyptus branches and hanging on a deep purple front door.
A deep purple front door has a homemade wreath hanging on it for the winter season.

Pine cones

Pine cones are an affordable and easy addition to winter cottage decor. I personally love to just place them in little nooks here and there around the house. I placed one in several plants around the house and also incorporated them into the bouquet for the dining table. Place them next to vases or on books, too, for a rustic look in your living space.

A garland of dried citrus oranges is hugging a pot of pine cones on a winter day in a cozy cottage.

Fresh greenery

I have the cutest rustic chipped vase that sits on a side table in my living room. It looks fabulous alone, staged as a centerpiece on a side table. This winter season I bought some fresh pine tree branches, along with some fresh eucalyptus, and placed them in this pitcher. It looks so elegant and put together if you ask me!

Winter cottage decor consists of Santa stamps and fresh winter foliage in a rustic vase.
Wood beaded garland is draped around a vase for the holidays.
A winter cactus plant sits atop a side table in a cottage.

Cozy throws and pillows

I am all about cozy regardless of which season we’re in. I love throw blankets that I can curl up under on the couches in the living room. And I just have to have decorative pillows on the couches, too.

They bring more character to the home and look more organic and less like a staged scene from a furniture store. I just can’t stand matchy-matchy, cookie-cutter print pillows that always come with furniture. I like to mix and match different colors, textures, and patterns to fit my cottage style in our old home. It feels so much more collected this way. 

A cozy Buffalo checkered throw blanket is draped across a white bench in a living room for winter aesthetic.

Mini wooden skis

I picked this up at Target for only $5! It was too good to pass up this year. I couldn’t believe how affordable some of their winter decor was.

This piece fit perfectly in our home because it reminded me of our wedding. (I talk more about our elopement wedding in this Rocky Mountain National Park elopement post right here.) These skis remind me of the cabin we stayed at in Estes Park. I even have a couple of photos of me sitting in front of them in the cabin. Such good memories…

Another piece of winter cottage decor is a pair of miniature skis.

Dried citrus slices

Last year I made dried orange slices by baking sliced oranges in the oven at a really low temperature for a couple of hours. I then punched holes in them, tied string to them, and created a garland to hang. I’m using them this year in the bathroom to provide some festive ambiance.

There is nothing quite like gorgeous strands of citrus in the winter. Citrus pairs well with cinnamon, too, whether you’re baking or decorating with them.

Dried, sliced citrus is placed around an amber vase with a single eucalyptus branch in it for the inter season.
Dried, sliced citrus is placed around an amber vase with a single eucalyptus branch in it for the inter season.

Bells

Bells are a classic addition to winter cottage decor. They don’t have to be elaborate at all and can easily be hung above doorways or on door handles like I’ve done here. I think I picked this one up at a Dollar General store last winter.

The chiming of them reminds me of Santa and Christmas carols around this time of year. These are especially important if you have little ones around the house. They will love to hear the jingle of them as people move in and out of the house throughout the day.

A bell has been placed on a door knob for winter.

Dried holly berry branches

Last, but not least, holly branches are so pretty and offer such a pop of color to any dull room. If you decorate like me you may have lots of pastels and fresh green foliage. Adding in bright red holly berries to the mix can be just the contrast needed for a fresh look in a room. Add them to a wreath or add them to a centerpiece or vase for a collected style.

Holly berries pop with color in a white vase with various winter greenery.

I am very happy with the winter cottage home decor I sprinkled throughout our home this year.

It is enough to remind us of wintertime even when we’re cozied up inside. I can easily be reminded within seconds of looking around the cottage that it’s the jolliest time of year.

Cozy, comfy knitted stockings lay on a vintage antique scale.

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