Last week we offered 10 winter decorating tips for your exterior. Now, it’s time to discuss interior decorating for the winter holidays! Although the exterior is what every guest will view first, it does not have to be what they remember most. In the warmth of your own home, without venturing out into the bitter cold, you can give your personal space cozy ambiance that everyone will want to spend time in!

Here are 10 winter decorating tips for the interior:

• In the winter months, daylight disappears earlier than ever. Create a holiday spirit inside by turning your overhead lights on dimmers and lighting an array of candles! Purchase a large candle, tie a bow around it and place it in the middle of a wreath on a table. Or purchase numerous small candles and scatter them around each room. Choose wintery scents, like evergreen, gingerbread or cinnamon spice.

• If you have a Christmas tree, it should be located in the largest or most popular room. If your house displays a large front window, setting the tree in front of it is an ideal way to decorate the inside and out! Place a tree skirt around the bottom, where gifts can be placed, and decorate the tree with your personal approach, whether that be lights, garland, tinsel, ornaments or all of the above!

• Can’t decide whether to display a real or artificial tree? Real trees radiate a natural glow and scent, but they are a chore to chop down and attach to your vehicle. Artificial trees are expensive at first, but they are a cinch to set up each year. To help you decide, read this past article for more helpful advice.

• If your house contains a fireplace, use this highlight to your full advantage! After all, you’ll want Santa Claus to be impressed when he arrives through the chimney! Line the mantel with lights or garland, hang a wreath above or on the mantel, set Hanukkah candles in the middle of the mantel, hang stockings, or create a nature scene made up of poinsettias, pinecones, pine needles and red berries. On cold evenings, keep the fire burning brightly!

• To make every meal this month more special, create a memorable centerpiece for your dining room or kitchen table. Purchase one already made, or fashion one yourself! This could be made with candles, roses, poinsettias, wreaths or homemade creations. For example, set up a sleigh on the table, with or without reindeer, and fill the sleigh with post-dinner treats!

• Afraid of the environmental impact that your decorating will produce? Read this past blog about how to have a green Christmas. Decorate with recyclable items, host a green dinner party, and reuse your decorations after the holidays! Read the article for more great advice.

• Holidays are not the time to skimp on homemade goodies! When hosting guests, showing your home to potential home buyers or just enjoying a Saturday afternoon at home, fill your kitchen with natural scents! Bake sugar cookies with holiday cookie cutters, create a gingerbread house masterpiece to display, brew up some flavored coffee or provide a bowl of marshmallows to accommodate the never-ending mugs of hot cocoa!

• Add little knickknack décor to end tables, coffee tables and windowsills all around your house! In many minds, it’s nearly impossible to overdue it with holiday decorations (unless, of course, you’re in the process of selling your home). Examples could include nativity scenes, sleighs, Santa, reindeer, holiday containers full of candy or mints, scented candles, bowls of pine cones, leaves sprayed in silver or gold, etc. Pretty much, anything goes.

• Use a staircase or balcony railing to your advantage. Wrap it with garland and lights, attach bows, hang holiday stockings from it or hang ornaments in each opening. This is a great space for adding eye-catching vibrancy!

• Don’t celebrate these popular holidays? Still enjoy your cozy, warm interior during the upcoming cold months ahead! Keep a fire in the fireplace, with marshmallows nearby to roast. Bake sugar cookies. Decorate with pine cones, pine needles, etc. Light scented candles. Lots of these holiday decorating ideas can be used by anyone, anytime!