10 Winter Vintage Booth Displays That Will Change How You Decorate After Christmas

There’s something about vintage booths in winter that always gets me. Here in New England, the Christmas decorations may be coming down, but the old wooden skis, sleds, ice skates, snowshoes, evergreens, and wonderfully worn winter pieces are just getting started. I’ve photographed so many winter vintage booth displays while out antiquing over the years, and I’m gathering some of my favorites here—simple, creative ideas you can borrow for your own booth or bring home when you’re wondering how to decorate after Christmas. Because really, January deserves a little more attention.

10 Vintage Booth Displays That Make Winter the Main Event

The best booth displays usually have one small idea that makes you stop—a surprising way to hang a pair of skates, an old sled used where you wouldn’t expect it, or a collection pulled together in a way that suddenly makes everything look different. These are ten winter displays that caught my eye, with a decorating takeaway from each one that’s easy to borrow, whether you’re styling a booth or your own home.

1. Après-Ski: Celebrate Winter Instead of Waiting for Spring

Après-ski style is everywhere right now, and vintage booths are made for it. Old downhill or cross-country skis, fondue sets, bar carts, cocktail glasses, Swiss-inspired pillows, and flags can turn a corner into something that feels more like a winter party than an after-Christmas display. I especially love this après-ski “fondue rescue” setup with the crossed skis, old fondue pot, Swiss details, and curtains—it’s playful and makes you want to invite everyone over after a day outside. And don’t overlook those old fondue sets when you see them while antiquing; grouped together or added to a bar cart, they’re such an easy way to bring this look indoors or out.

The decorating takeaway: Don’t pack away everything that feels festive just because Christmas is over. Keep the party going by swapping the holiday pieces for vintage skis, fondue pots, cocktail glasses, Swiss-inspired textiles, and a stocked bar cart—indoors or out—and suddenly January has a whole personality of its own.

Love the après-ski look? Explore more of my favorite ways to bring vintage ski lodge style into your winter decorating:

→ Après Ski Decor: What To Look For at Antique Stores And Thrift Shops This Winter
→ Après Ski Themed Party Ideas You’ll Love to Host This Winter
→ Après-Ski Table Setting Ideas for a Cozy Winter Gathering
→ Vintage Bar Cart Ideas That Go Beyond Cocktails: Hot Cocoa, Tea, and Seasonal Styling

2. Vintage Ski Lodge Decor, New England Style

Vintage ski lodge decor is one of those looks I never really put away—I decorate with many of these pieces year-round—but winter is when they truly come into their own. Antique booths are especially good at showing how easily old sporting pieces can become part of a room rather than simply something hung on a wall. Look through these displays for the layering: skis mixed with old signs, sleds tucked behind furniture, plaid blankets tossed over chairs, skates hanging from hooks, and scarves adding just enough color. These are the kinds of pieces that make winter decorating feel distinctly New England without looking like Christmas simply hung around too long.

The decorating takeaway: Winter is the perfect excuse to pull those old snowshoes, wooden skis, sleds, toboggans, ice skates, plaid blankets, and wool scarves out of storage and actually decorate with them. You don’t need to create an entire ski lodge—one pair of crossed skis on a wall, a sled leaning by the door, or snowshoes layered into a display can bring that collected New England winter feeling into a room.

Want more vintage ski lodge inspiration? I’ve gathered some of my favorite ways to decorate with these old winter sporting pieces throughout my ski lodge decor series:

→ Antique Snowshoes for Decoration: Seasonal Vintage Styling Ideas for Your Home
→ Vintage Skis for Decoration: How to Style Old Skis Indoors & Out
→ How to Decorate a Vintage Sled: A Simple Styling Tip with New England Charm
→ Ski Lodge Christmas Decor: How to Style with Vintage Ski Boots

3. Winter Window Displays with Vintage Mannequins

This was the window of my own vintage booth here in our Vermont ski town, and it’s a good example of how simple a winter display can be. I styled the mannequin with nothing more than a Vermont ski hat and bright plaid scarf, tucked a pair of tall winter boots underneath, and surrounded her with architectural salvage and an old wooden cobbler rack. Snowflakes on the glass and plenty of warm lighting made the entire window glow at night. If you sell vintage mannequins, I especially love displaying them this way; they become part of the winter scene while still being completely visible as something a shopper could take home.

The decorating takeaway: Let a vintage mannequin do the heavy lifting in a winter booth or shop window. You don’t need to fully dress one; a great winter hat, a plaid scarf, or even a pair of boots placed underneath can give it personality while still allowing the mannequin itself to remain part of what you’re selling.

Want to see more from my own vintage booth? I’ve shared lots of displays, decorating ideas, and behind-the-scenes stories from my years as a vintage seller here:

→ How to Start a Vintage Booth: Pricing, Display Ideas, and Lessons Learned
→ 9 Vintage Booth Displays That Made Me Stop (And What You Can Learn From Them)
→ 8 Vintage Booth Essentials Every New Seller Needs Before Opening Day
→ Antique Booth Photo Tour: A Walk Through Beautiful Vintage Displays
→ What I Discovered Inside the High-End Antique Booths at a New York Fall Fair
→ Christmas Vintage Booth Display Ideas That Feel Like an Old-Fashioned Holiday

4. A Winter Kitchen Filled with Old-Fashioned Finds

This booth has everything I want to look through on a cold January day. Old Better Homes & Gardens cookbooks sit in a wooden rack alongside vintage bowls, Pyrex, glassware, serving pieces, and that fabulous old yellow mixer. Even the big strawberry cake in the middle adds to the old-fashioned baking mood. This is also a good reminder that winter booth displays don’t all have to be skis, snowshoes, and evergreens. January is when we’re spending more time in our kitchens, making soups, baking, and cooking those Sunday dinners, so why not give all those vintage kitchen pieces their moment too?

The decorating takeaway: January is a great time to bring kitchen antiques front and center. Build a display around the things people are actually using this time of year: cookbooks, mixing bowls, baking pans, crocks, breadboards, old utensils and small appliances, and don’t be afraid to mix colors, woods, and patterns. A winter kitchen display doesn’t need a theme as much as it needs lots of good kitchen finds gathered together.

If old-fashioned winter kitchens are your thing too, here are a few more vintage kitchen finds and decorating ideas to explore:

→ Winter Home Decor Ideas from Goodwill Northern New England: My Thrifted $30 KitchenAid Mixer
→ Vintage Rolling Pins: DIY Kitchen Cabinet Door Knobs
→ Country Kitchen Decor Styling Tip: 6 Cozy Counter Ideas I Use Every Day
→ Ever Seen a Vintage Paper Roll Cutter at an Antique Store? Here’s How I Styled One in My Kitchen

5. Create Cozy Winter Vignettes Throughout Your Booth

January is when I’d bring out all those pieces that look especially beautiful in warm light: brass and copper, pewter, candlesticks, little lamps, old books, doilies, and dried bouquets tucked into vintage vessels. Style a few together on a desk, side table, dresser, or tucked into the corner of a shelf rather than spreading everything around individually. Even something as simple as an open book beside a lamp and a pair of candlesticks can make someone stop and look a little longer. And those dried fall hydrangeas? Keep them going. If you dry them in the fall, they can move right into these winter displays and stay with you for months.

The decorating takeaway: Instead of treating the booth as one large display, create smaller winter moments throughout it. Turn on a little desk lamp, light battery-operated candles in old brass candlesticks, open a beautiful coffee table book or vintage magazine to a snowy page, and add dried hydrangeas or flowers you saved from fall. These small scenes give shoppers ideas they can easily picture recreating at home.

For more ideas for creating these warm little winter moments at home, explore a few of my favorite vintage decorating posts:

→ 9 Small Vintage Decor Ideas That Create a Sunday Home Feel
→ My Love of Scandinavian Homes & How Hygge Inspires Our Mountain Home
→ 10 Cozy Winter White Decor Ideas You’ll Love for a Peaceful Home
→ Cozy Nostalgia Winter Decor: 9 Vintage New England Ideas For Snowy Days

6. Stack the Shelves with Vintage Winter Dishes

Johnson Brothers Friendly Village is practically made for January with its snowy New England-looking scenes, and there are plenty of other vintage patterns that have that same winter appeal. Johnson Brothers The Old Mill and Historic America, Currier & Ives blue-and-white dishes by Royal China, and transferware patterns with pastoral landscapes all work beautifully this time of year. Look for snowy scenes, old houses, mills, trees, deep blues and browns, and those traditional patterns that just seem to belong on a winter table. When you find a good collection, don’t be shy with it; there’s something about seeing all those matching dishes stacked together that makes you want to start a collection on the spot.

The decorating takeaway: When you have a beautiful winter dish pattern, show it in abundance. Stack the dinner plates high, pile up the bowls, line up the cups and saucers, and fill an entire shelf or tabletop if you have enough. Seeing a complete collection together makes a much bigger impression than scattering individual pieces around the booth, and it lets shoppers imagine an entire winter table at home.

If you love decorating with vintage dishes as much as I do, here are a few more ideas for putting those old patterns to work at home:

→ How to Layer Vintage Dishes for Patriotic Place Settings
→ Johnson Brothers Autumn’s Delight: A Thrifted Dishware Set Perfect for Fall?
→ The Rare Blue and White Johnson Brothers Tea and Toast Set I found—and How I Styled It
→ Johnson Brothers China: Vintage Patterns, Value, and How to Decorate With It

7. Warm Up Your Winter Vintage Booth Displays with Vintage Quilts

Vintage and heirloom quilts are wonderful winter wall decor because they add so much warmth and color without needing much else around them. Hang a single quilt as the backdrop for a chair or layer several across a larger wall if you have the inventory. I especially love quilts in a booth during January, when spaces can start looking a little bare after all the Christmas greenery and decorations come down. And from a selling standpoint, hanging a quilt lets shoppers really see the pattern, stitching, and size; it becomes part of the booth display while showing off exactly what you’re hoping to sell.

The decorating takeaway: Don’t save vintage quilts for folded stacks. Hang one—or several—on the walls of your booth where the colors and patterns can completely change the space. Then pull an upholstered chair, small table, basket, or lamp underneath and turn an otherwise empty wall into a winter corner that draws people in.

Love decorating with old quilts? Here are a few more ways I’ve used vintage and heirloom quilts throughout my own home:

→ How to Fold and Display Quilts: Vintage & Heirloom Styling Ideas
→ A Blue and White Amish Quilt for My Mother’s Maine Home
→ Handmade Vintage Quilt Jacket: Cozy, Stylish & One-of-a-Kind
→ Thrifted Bedroom Ideas: Unexpected Vintage Finds That Add Character

8. Load Up Your Winter Booth with Pillows

Of all the winter vintage booth displays I’ve photographed, I love the ones that aren’t afraid to pile things up, and pillows are perfect for this. This display of handmade ticking pillows stuffed into a big bin immediately made me want to redo every bed in my house. There’s no elaborate styling here; the abundance is the display. If you make pillows from old textiles, bring them in. If you find great vintage ones, stack them up. Winter is the time when a big, overflowing pile of soft pillows just looks irresistible.

The decorating takeaway: Go plentiful with pillows in winter. Fill a basket, wooden bin, old trunk, or even an entire corner with them rather than placing one or two around the booth. Handmade ticking pillows, down pillows, old grain-sack pillows, checks, plaids, and faded florals are exactly the kinds of things people start noticing when they’re spending more time indoors.

Looking for more ways to bring vintage textiles, ticking, and winter layers into your home? Here are a few more ideas to explore:

→ The Antique Warehouse Hudson, NY: Northeast’s Largest Vintage Decor Destination, And Yes, It’s Worth the Trip
→ 10 Cozy Winter White Decor Ideas You’ll Love for a Peaceful Home

9. Bring Out the Vintage Fur for Winter

Vintage fur can add so much texture and character to winter vintage booth displays, particularly when it’s mixed with old mannequins, wooden skis, sleds, boots, and other cold-weather finds. I love seeing a mannequin wearing nothing more than a beautiful vintage fur hat or a stole draped over the shoulders; it shows off the piece without overdoing it. Vintage fur wraps, stoles, and capelets have also found a whole new audience with winter brides looking for something special to wear over a wedding dress. And those wonderful old muffs are almost displays all by themselves. These pieces have already been around for decades, and styling them beautifully gives shoppers a chance to see how they might be worn and enjoyed again.

The decorating takeaway: If you sell vintage fur, winter is the time to bring it out where people can really see it. Style a fur hat or stole on a mannequin, hang vintage coats and jackets together on an old coat rack, or group smaller pieces like muffs, collars, and mittens in a basket. Rather than simply putting them on a rack with everything else, make them part of the winter display.

Want to see more of my favorite ways to use mannequins, vintage clothing, and unexpected finds in winter decorating?

→ Antiquing in Saratoga Springs: 10 Vintage Styles You Rarely See in New England
→ R.S. Butler’s Trading Company: A Colorful, Retro-Cool Antique Shop for All Ages in New Hampshire
→ Thrifted Bougie Decor: What to Look for in Thrift Stores (Inspired by Lara Spencer)
→ 15 Sheepskin Decor Ideas: These Photos Say Yes to Cozy

10. Light Up Those Dark Winter Days with Vintage Lamps

Winter gets dark early around here, which makes vintage lighting especially fun to use in winter vintage booth displays. Bring out the old oil lamps, hurricane lamps, brass table lamps, lanterns, candlesticks, and those quirky little desk lamps you might normally scatter around the booth. Try grouping a few together, turning them on, and letting the light bounce off brass, copper, pewter, glass, and old wood. I’m always drawn to a booth that’s glowing from within, especially on a gray January afternoon. Sometimes the best way to sell an old lamp is simply to let people see how wonderful it looks turned on.

The decorating takeaway: Turn on the lamps you’re trying to sell! Group several vintage lamps, lanterns, or oil lamps together and let that warm light become part of the display. In the middle of a New England winter, a glowing lamp tucked onto an old desk, dresser, or side table can make an entire booth feel different—and help shoppers picture exactly where they’d put it at home.

Love the look of vintage lighting in winter? Here are a few more ways I decorate with antique lamps, lanterns, and candlelight at home:

→ Antique Oil Lamps Are Back on Display: Nostalgic Ways to Style an Old Favorite
→ Antique Oil Lamps: How to Repurpose Them Into Unique Flower Vases

Keep Your Winter Vintage Booth Going Through the Little Holidays

Vintage Booth Tip: Don’t dismantle your winter displays every time another holiday rolls around. Let skis, quilts, winter dishes, lamps, pillows, and other cold-weather pieces stay in place, then layer in a few vintage finds for Valentine’s Day or St. Patrick’s Day. Add old red and pink transferware, vintage valentines, heart-shaped baking tins, red glassware, or romantic linens in February; then work in green transferware, old bottles, brass, baskets, and touches of Irish-inspired color for March. A few small changes can carry your winter booth right through to spring without starting over.

→ Vintage Valentine’s Day Decor: What to Look for in Antique Stores This Winter
→ St. Patrick’s Day Decor: What to Look for in Antique Stores This Season

Winter Vintage Booth Displays That Make January Worth Decorating

Christmas may get most of the decorating attention, but I think January has a style all its own—especially here in New England. It’s the month for old skis and sleds, stacks of winter dishes, glowing lamps, quilts on the walls, and all those vintage pieces that somehow look even better when there’s snow outside. Whether you’re styling a booth or simply borrowing an idea or two for home, I hope these winter vintage booth displays inspire you to leave a little room for the season that comes after Christmas. January deserves better, don’t you think?

Looking for more vintage booth display ideas? Explore a couple of these reader favorites:

I’d love to hear what vintage winter touches you’re adding to your own booth! Share your ideas, favorite finds, or decorating tips in the comments. I always love hearing from you!

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