:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/Screenshot2026-01-10at1.41.46PM-19b5faa9fa784691a77660f4d2f446c8.png "Designers Say These Budget-Friendly Winter Updates Make Homes Feel New Again")
Key Points
- Rearrange your living room furniture to give your space a no-cost upgrade.
- Decorate with foraged elements such as found branches.
- Add ambiance with soft lighting and simple white pillar candles.
Giving your home a new look in January can feel daunting after holiday overspending. Here are some easy, low-cost winter updates that you can do right now to elevate your space.
Meet the Expert
Clare Sullivan is a content creator with an MFA in interior design from Parsons School of Design, and the author of Budget Luxury: Your Guide to Creating a Beautiful Home Without Breaking the Bank, published by Rodale Books (March 2026).
Rearrange the Furniture
Maite Granda
Sullivan suggests using what you have to create a new look for a no-spend solution with a noticeable impact.
“This holiday season, after I took down my Christmas decorations, my living room felt incredibly stark,” she says. “The first thing I did was rearrange my furniture to freshen up the layout and reposition the focus from the sad, empty corner where a Christmas tree once shone bright. With a new floor plan, my living room felt new again.”
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Incorporate Foraged Finds
Jessica Nelson Design / Carina Skrobecki Photography
The lack of major home decorating holidays between Christmas and Easter is an opportunity to go back to basics.
“During these ‘non-festive’ months, I lean into nature,” Sullivan explains. “I’ll collect while I walk—bird’s nests, fallen branches, rocks, and shells. A long, leaning, and spindly oak branch, for example, looks dramatic and artful in a large vase on the island or dining table.”
Tend to Houseplants
Design by Emilie Fournet Interiors / Photo by Kasia Fiszer
During the holiday season, with travel and a focus on holiday greenery, houseplants can end up neglected. Sullivan suggests setting aside time to give your indoor plants some extra attention in January.
She recently spent an afternoon using the PictureThis plant identifier app to diagnose any diseases or conditions. Then she tended to each plant with scissors, fertilizer, and water, moving them around to adapt to the changing winter sunlight hours.
“I also love buying bulbs and planting them in a beautiful bowl with rocks and moss on top of the soil,” she adds. “This gives you something to look forward to and serves as a great centerpiece in lieu of more expensive—and fleeting—fresh flowers.”
Get Lighting Right
Most Lovely Things
Pay special attention to lighting at this time of year, Sullivan suggests.
“We’re indoors the most at this time, and given the lack of sunlight, it’s important that our lighting feels cozy and warm,” she says. “I make sure my lighting is romantic and low.”
She switches on a cozy kitchen lamp instead of overhead lighting. And she chooses a favorite scented candle to use nightly alongside unscented white pillar candles to enhance the ambiance without overwhelming the senses.
Make Small Touch-Ups
Dekay & Tate
Removing Christmas decor can give you a fresh perspective on your interiors. Use the post-holiday calm to take stock of what could be improved.
Sullivan realized after taking down holiday garlands that she never finished painting the living room molding, for example.
“Instead of replacing the Christmas decor with more objects,” Sullivan advises, “take a quiet and unbiased look at your surroundings, then pick a few manageable weekend projects to get your house in beautiful order.”
This might include small touch-ups like painting a door, adding a thrifted shelf to an empty corner, or painting the ceiling in a contrasting color.
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