I think we’ve lost something in the way we decorate our homes.

We can walk into a store today and buy an entire room of furniture in an afternoon. We can order almost anything we want and have it delivered to our front door. But there’s something different about a home that takes years to become a home. A home that is collected slowly has a story.

And sometimes, those stories are worth far more than anything we could buy new.

The dresser I waited 52 years to see again

My grandparents moved from their family farm in Osage County to Ponca City in 1972. That was the last time I was inside their simple, four-room farmhouse. To me, that little farmhouse was magical.

I remember it not because it was fancy—it certainly wasn’t—but because it was my grandparents’ home. It was filled with familiar things, family memories, and the feeling of being somewhere I belonged.

Twenty-three years later, my uncle told me he was bringing something to me. His wife, my wonderful Aunt Peggy, had passed away a few months earlier. When he opened the back of his truck, I saw something I hadn’t seen in 52 years. I recognized it instantly.

It was the dresser that had been in Peggy’s bedroom in that simple four-room farmhouse. Today, that dresser is one of my favorite treasures. Not because it is valuable. Because I remember it.

Every time I see it, I’m reminded of my grandparents, that farmhouse, and a part of my childhood that I thought was long gone.

That’s what slow decorating means to me.

A home doesn’t have to be filled all at once

We have many treasures in our home that we’ve collected over the years. Some aren’t worth much money. But they are worth something much more important to us—the memories attached to them.

Mike and I, well actually I enjoy going to yard sales to find treasures to love. Mike goes with me to help carry treasures. Yes, I’m that lucky! The table above was a yard sale find even without a top! I made the top using MDF and created the apron under the table edge.

We still have the little cart coffee table that my grandson and I built and painted many years ago. It isn’t perfect. That’s part of what I love about it. It carries the memory of making something together.

Some things are worth keeping

When we sold our home in Payson, Arizona, the buyers wanted our bed, so we included it with the house. We loved that bed so much that when we moved here, we bought the exact same one. It made me realize that sometimes we don’t need something new. Sometimes we simply need something that feels like us.
Mike and I also bought a little drop-leaf table in 1998. That’s where we still eat our meals together. And I’ve painted that little table four or five different colors over the years. It has changed with us. But we’ve never needed to replace it.
That’s another thing I love about decorating slowly. You don’t have to constantly start over. You can change something, paint something, move something to another room—or simply let it remain exactly as it is.

I don’t want to live in a showroom

Our home didn’t come together in one decorating shopping trip. It evolved. The dresser arrived 52 years later.

I’ve never wanted my home to look like a furniture showroom. A showroom can be beautiful. Everything matches. Everything is current. Everything is perfectly arranged.

But I don’t want to live in a showroom. I want to look around my home and see our life. I want to see the little table we’ve had since 1998. I want to see the coffee table my grandson and I made.

I want to see my Aunt Peggy’s dresser.

I want to see things that remind me where I’ve been and the people I’ve loved along the way. Those things may not make sense to someone walking into our home for the first time. But they make perfect sense to me.

Your decorating style can change without changing who you are

I also think it’s interesting how our homes change over the years. We go through decorating trends together. Remember oak cabinets? For years, they were everywhere. Then the paint brushes came out and suddenly everyone was painting those oak cabinets.

Styles change. Colors change. Furniture trends change.

But I don’t think our personal decorating style changes quite as much as we think it does. Instead, I think our homes slowly evolve as our lives evolve. The fireplace mantel below that I created years ago, is still very special to me.

What we needed in our homes at 35 may not be what we need at 60. And what we loved 20 years ago may still be something we love today. We simply see it differently.

This mantel has been in many different rooms in our last two homes.

Maybe that’s the lost art of decorating slowly. Instead of asking, “What should I buy to finish this room?” We might ask: “What do I already have that I love?” 

“What has a story?”

“What would I like to keep for another 20 years?”

And perhaps most importantly:

“Does this belong in my home because I love it—or because I think I’m supposed to have it?”

A beautiful home doesn’t have to be filled with expensive things. It doesn’t have to follow every decorating trend. And it certainly doesn’t have to look like a showroom.

Sometimes the most beautiful homes are the ones that have been allowed to grow slowly. A little table painted several times. A coffee table made with a grandson. A bed that was loved enough to buy twice. And a dresser that traveled through a family and somehow found its way back home 52 years later.

Those are the things that make a house feel like home.

Maybe slow decorating isn’t about taking longer to decorate.

Maybe it’s about taking the time to notice what is already meaningful to us.

• Decluttering is hard if you’re a saver like me. I tend to keep the strangest things! I still have an orange matchbox car in one of my silverware drawers! But, if I ask myself do I use it, do I need it, do I love it and the answer is yes. It stays. Otherwise, I trash it or donate it. 

Declutter for a calm home

• The first step is to declutter. Calm home and clutter do not go will together. I designed declutter cards many years ago. I use them to declutter a drawer, a closet, the kitchen, or even my craft room! But, you can make your own cards using blank paper. Simply decide if the item stays in the room, belongs somewhere else, donate, or trash it. Let’s keep it simple. 

Decorating and using what you already own

• Decorate a room easily and quickly by picking two colors. I’ve redecorated our living room using red and beige. 

Strolling your home and peeking in closets

• First I walked around each room and closet we have to gather anything red. I didn’t necessarily grab anything beige. Our living room has several beige items. Including a beige sofa. 

• Then I had fun playing and placing things around the room. This quick and simple makeover makes the room pop. 

• Have something special to you or your family in each room. Mike gave me this dipped rose many years ago. It’s perfect for a pop of red. The clay beads were made several years ago and are very heavy.

Add something handmade

• Notice I included framed watercolor art in red and beige. I picked fiercely protective animal moms for my watercolor project. 

Please notice the red and beige watercolor animals I created to add in the living room. I’m still learning watercolor. In the meantime, I enjoy the relaxing feelings while watching the water flow on the paper.

Can you guess which is my favorite red and beige animal? We have several red foxes living nearby. They are so fun to watch.

Picking a couple of favorite colors creates an easy update to any room. If you need ideas for color combinations, I suggest peeking in your closet. We pick clothes in colors we love and feel comfortable wearing. So it follows to decorate in those colors.

Make sure to follow me on Pinterest and share your quick room makeover.

Music, Cleaning and Order starts my slow living

1. Listen to music. Our TV comes on for special events only! Briefly, each morning, Mike watches the news. We both watch the OKC Thunder during basketball season and golf during special tours. Mike watches football. In the evenings, we watch a Netflix series. Otherwise, we listen to Pandora on Amazon Alexa. 

2. Clean something. We live in a large home and there’s always something to clean. Our home has no carpet, so cleaning floors is a quick vacuum. Otherwise, I do a weekly clean in an area. I’ve divided the home into 8 areas and rotate each week. If you need to clean mirrors or windows, check out my window cleaning tools I use.

3. Have a place for everything. I admit, this one gives me trouble at times. I will put something down because one of the dogs needs to go out and then can’t remember where it is or what I was doing. Lol.  

Walks, Crafts and Meals

4. Take walks. We walk everyday around the edge of our property. Four times around is a mile walk. Yes, in spring and summer I will walk barefoot! Somedays, we walk our neighborhood and at times even walk to our sweet downtown with cute little shops. Once we walked to the Poncan Theatre which is an historic theatre which open in 1927. It’s on the National Register of Historic Places. There are movies shown and varies plays preformed on the stage.  

5. I have a wonderful craft room upstairs. But, I keep a wood box downstairs filled with watercolor supplies. When I want to get creative during say, football, I have everything to make mixed media cards. 

6. Plan seven days of meals. Then create a shopping list for the weekly meals. Another one that I’m not great at accomplishing! Those weeks that I do a little planning are much more relaxing. 

Sounds, Outside and Rearranging

7. Add a fan. We brought beautiful free standing fans for our den and our bedroom that oscillate. The sound of a fan is so peaceful and calming. 

8. Spend time outside your home each day. Sit on the front porch. Play dominos on a table on the back porch. (Mike and I do this almost everyday)

9. Rearrange small items around your home. It’s an easy and quick way to refresh the look of each room. I use a basket and collect little houses that I’ve made over the years, vases with real or fake flowers, and other collectables. Then redistribute them in other rooms. Then gather items from that room to display in the next room. Pillows and throws are moved around rooms too.

Keep the task slow and thoughtful as you gather and rearrange items.

Let me know what slow living activities you do around your home in comments below.

Cozy things to do in Spring

1. Make a simple floral arrangement. Gather flowers from your garden or even group a collection of greens into a small vase.
2. Slow Stitching.
3. Use old book pages for watercolor paper.
4. Turn on mood lighting.
5. Listen to your favorite tunes on Alexa. Mike and I listen to music all day, only turning on the TV in the evenings.
6. Start a journal.
7. Switch decor objects from one room to another.

Cozy things to do in Summer

1. Enjoy your morning coffee outside.
2. Pick up your phone to call a friend or relative.
3. Play your favorite board games. Mike and I play a round of dominos every morning.
4. Light a candle in your favorite fragrance. I tend to forget things so we use candle warmers with timers.
5. Crochet, knit. sew or do slow stitching.
6. Switch decor objects from one room to another.
7. Listen to your favorite music on Alexa. If you’re alone…sing along as loud as you wish.
8. Teach your pet a new trick. Above are our dogs, Emily and Otis. They seem to be doing the only trick they know, looking for something to eat on the ground. But we love them, dearly!
9. Spend time outside watching nature.

Cozy things to do in Autumn

1. Take a walk outside or down your street.
2. Clean out that cabinet or closet that’s driving you crazy, we all have at least one!
3. Write a handwritten letter to a dear friend or relative.
4. Light a candle in your favorite fragrance. I tend to forget things so we use candle warmers with timers.
5. Make a list of birth dates of everyone you cherish.
6. Meditate.
7. Read a library book.

Cozy things to do in Winter

1. Go through your junk drawer. Not to clear it out but to enjoy the junk that’s special enough to save in a drawer.
2. Flip through your favorite photo albums.
3. Make a cup of tea using a whistling tea kettle.
4. Create homemade cards for your cherish friends and family’s birthdays.
5. Clean out that cabinet or closet that’s driving you crazy, we all have at least one!
6. Write a handwritten letter to a dear friend or relative.
7. Create chunky candles using inexpensive battery candles.

Home should always be your cozy place where you can be yourself. The place where you experiment with decor, activities, and share honest open feelings.

Let me know in comments what activities you enjoy when you put the phone down. 

Charcuterie boards are all the rage on lately. You can find tons of inspiration on Pinterest. I gathered several ideas and changed them up to fit the charm of a little cabin in the woods. Plus something that the kids would find magical.

The base is a square cutting board with a large handle. So the layout was basic. Placing items in the four corners and piling towards the center.

I started with a gram cracker square held together with stiff frosting. I made my frosting using powdered suger, water and a drop or two of vanilla.

I added the frosting into a small zip lock bag. Sealed the bag the snipped a small hole in one bottom corner. This make a pastry bag that’s always been easier for me the handle.

Using a serrate knife, I cut the gram crackers instead of breaking them. Breaking them didn’t always make a straight cut. I made 4 squares and made a box. Then add two longer pieces for the roof.

Next, comes more detail, or snow! Then I cut more gram crackers to make a chimney. Lots of frosting covers the chimney and chopped almonds were placed into the frosting. Great idea for a stone chimney.

The door was simply pretzel sticks, and I added broken rolled cookies as logs.

The thatch roof is all bran type cereal.

Above the fire pit is made using red peanut patties, my favorite candy, broken into small pieces. Then I added a few logs and pretzel sticks using frosting “glue” to hold things in place. I was told the fire was yummy.

I started piling up candy and cookies to make a candy hill.

Next things got whacky! I had made blue jello several days before. I added a small amount to the plastic dish to set up in the fridge. When I was ready for the “pond” I add a little warm water to a bowl and placed the pond in to loosen the jello. It wouldn’t loosen! I tried again. Still no luck! I tried again pushing the smaller bowl of jello into the warm water. I pushed a bit too hard and the water came up over the jello!

Then I poured off the water. Dug my hands into the jello and lifted the pond from the container. The water made the jello very slippery. It almost landed on the floor! A bit more stiff frosting around the pond held it in place.

In Oklahoma, it’s a swimming hole!

The only thing that would make creating this charcuterie board more fun is if I would have created it with the help of a few kids!

But I know a few kids that will enjoy it over Thanksgiving.

This project is a Pinterest inspiration project. Pinterest is my happy, positive, and uplifting place on the internet.

Around 95% of the items in my winter cabinet display came from a thrift store! There’s a crystal bowl give as a gift and the silver dome butter dish came from a home store in Arizona. Everything else was collected from thrift stores and funky antique shops.

This post may contain affiliate links. That means if you visit a site from a link in this post and make a purchase, I may make a small commission at no additional cost to you. Click to see my disclosure policy.

Key Elements of my Winter Luxe Aesthetic

Gather your winter luxe aesthetic items.

Look for your layer of chunky knit, cashmere or wool scarves pieces with textue.

Collect long pearls, gold chains, silver strains. 

Neutral and Earthy Tones

• Stick to a palette of cream, soft beige, and vintage whites.

• Add the pops of gold or metallic details for a luxe feel.

• Inclued touches of glass for sparkle.

• Use silver and gold candlesticks and or a chunky holder.

Add Lighting

• Gather vintage holiday lighting or soft lighting.

• Grab your favorite candles, I used battery candle with a DIY chunkiness added. 

• Add thrifted statement pieces like a brooch or a chunky gold necklace to add sparkle.

• Grab little balloon lights. These are my new favorite.

• Look for vintage glassware to hold candles, lighting, or to weigh down chunky knits in place.

Jewels

• Collect long pearls, gold chains, silver strains to drape over everything. 

• Use shorter necklaces to wrap around candlestick bases and around bowls.

• Textures in Homey Layers (if creating a matching interior vibe)

If your display is larger, think about adding thrifted wool blankets, velvet pillows, or vintage photos. My next luse aesthetic display might be the whole room!

But, I’m not into dusting, so maybe I’ll keep everything contained in the cabinet.

Thank you for reading along with my winter luxe aesthetic in the cabinet! Can you tell I love thrift store shopping?

This cabinet is one of my favorite areas to decorate. Mike and I found it in a rustic shop in Scottsdale about 20 years ago.

JEANETTE CHANEY

Jeanette is a DIY home decor designer, and believer in mindful creativity. Her inspiration is to help women find their creativity. Alzheimer’s is common in her family, mindfulness and living a calm life is paramount. Creativity grows when we gather. 

I don’t know about you, but this time of year gets hectic around our home. Raise your hand if your home is the same chaotic mess during the holidays.

I pickes these wreaths because they are either super easy and quick to make, or perfect to make while watching Hallmark Christmas movies.

So, let’s get started with the easiest and end with the one that requires a bit more time. -Watch two movies while make it!

5 Easy DIY Christmas Wreaths

The Hoop Wreath

The hoop wteaths are so easy to make. The three above took about 2 minutes to make each one. I made them for spring, but replace the greens for Christmas holly and you’re ready to hang.

See the full tutorial on the orginial post here.

The White Dollar Store Wreath

This winter white wreath is perfect for Chirstmas time too. Replace the bow with jingle bells hanging from a red ribbon and it’s ready for Santa.

Check out the dollar store item I used to make the white wreath here.

Wrapped Wire Frame Wreath

Say that three times.

This wreath is easy, but it will take one Hallmark movie to finish. Simple grab a wire wreath frame and start wrapping and weaving cording, rope, chunky yarn and clothesline cord from the dollar store. Perfect movie watching activity.

Learm more about the wire wrapped wreath here.

Classic Green Wreath

This classic green wreath requires hot glue, so watch your movie and your fingers at the same time! The post is about how to make a wreath. But it’s perfect for the holidays, don’t you think?

See the how-to for this wreath here.

My Favorite Wreath

This wreath might take you a day of Hallmark movies, but it’s completely worth the time and the romance. I have never packed this wreath away. It always hangs somewhere in our home. Right now it’s hanging in my studio landing to my office and craft studio.

See how to make this awesome wreath here.

Let me know your favorite wreath in comments below. Thank you for reading and creating along with me.

JEANETTE CHANEY

Jeanette is a blogger, DIY home decor designer, and believer in mindful creativity. Her inspiration is to help women find their creativity. Alzheimer’s is common in her family, mindfulness and living a calm life is paramount. Creativity grows when we gather. 

Are holiday activities span over several days. We finish our shopping several days before Christmas. That way we can relax and enjoy a peaceful holiday. No hussle and bussle around our home. 

Here are some cozy, fun, and creative ideas for spending the holidays at home:

Decorate with homemade items

Decorate with homemade items. My favorite decor one year was little Otis falling fast asleep under the tree. I adore this picture so much it’s my photo on my watch. Plus, I made an ornament with a print of the picture. 

Set up and decorate a holiday tree with homemade ornaments. I have a good mix of handmade, old family ornaments and new. 

Create a rustic wreath

Create a wreath with pinecones, ribbons, and other natural decorations. You can keep it simple by add the elements to a simple green wreath. 

Make DIY decorations, like snowflake cutouts or garlands, for windows and doors. Or try hot gluing dollar store snowflakes on your glass door or windows!

Make handmade cards and gifts

Make handmade cards to send to family and friends. I’m planning to add little pieces of artwork in the cards.

Frame your art to give as gifts. Make handmade ornaments to gift to teachers, neighbers and family.

Holiday-Themed Crafting

Make homemade holiday cards for family, friends, or local nursing homes.

Create DIY ornaments using supplies around the house or from nature.

Try candle-making or soap-making as a fun and easy way to make holiday gifts.

Enjoy the crisp winter air

If possible in your area, make a fire outside or in your fireplace to roast marshmallows. 

Share favorite holiday memories from your family.

Read holiday books aloud or create a round-robin story where everyone adds a new sentence.

More calm holiday activities

Make homemade hot cocoa with toppings like marshmallows, whipped cream, and peppermint bits.

Take a walk around your neighborhood, around your yard or through your downtown shops. Perfect time to find those last minute gifts. 

Pick holiday movies and create a cozy setup on your back porch with blankets and pillows.

Wear you favorite holiday pajamas. Set up a hot cocoa bar with toppings like marshmallows, whipped cream, and peppermint bits.

Host a Holiday Game Night

Play holiday-themed games like holiday charades, trivia, or Pictionary.

Try board games or card games together, with a holiday twist or festive prizes.

Have a “Giving Back” Day

Bake cookies to deliver to neighbers or plan a cookie exchange

Make care packages for local shelters or donate supplies to a food pantry.

Write thank-you notes to community helpers (postal workers, teachers, etc.).

Host a Holiday-Themed Scavenger Hunt

Create a holiday scavenger hunt with clues around the house.

Make it a photo hunt where you need to capture specific holiday items or decorations.

Plan a Virtual Family Get-Together

Host a virtual dinner or dessert with extended family, sharing holiday traditions.

Play virtual games or have a holiday trivia contest over a video call.

Create a Time Capsule

Have everyone write down favorite memories, take photos, or add mementos to a time capsule.

Seal it up and decide when you’ll open it again, like on a future holiday.

Try a New Holiday Tradition

Experiment with a new recipe. Or research and try a holiday tradition from another culture. Learn what other home for the holidays traditions there are from your family heritage.

Plan a family talent show to showcase everyone’s skills in a fun and casual way.

Home for the Holidays

Staying home for the holidays can be festive and meaningful. Especially when you’re together and making memories. Yes, the home in the photo above is our home in Oklahoma.