There’s nothing better than finishing a long day of work and going back to a cozy and inviting home. This is especially satisfying in the middle of winter when it’s dark and cold outside.
Creating a cozy home is relatively easy to do and it doesn’t need to cost a lot of money. You can easily make your house as comfortable and inviting as possible with a few small touches.
How to Make Your Home Cozy, Welcoming, and Relaxing
From the best 3-wick candles to fluffy throws to plush rugs, you can find the perfect accessories and decorative items to add enhance the ‘cozy factor’ of your home. Whatever your interior design preferences, you can follow these top tips to make your home more welcoming and relaxing.
Add throws to your rooms
Nothing screams ‘cozy’ like fluffy throws and blankets. Throws are highly versatile and can make a great addition to any room.
Not only do throws have practical uses but they also enhance your home’s aesthetic. They look and feel cozy and inviting, and they will make anybody feel comfortable as soon as they enter the room.
You can add throws to your sofas and use them to get cozy in the evenings when you’re watching TV. If you have leather sofas, throws will keep you warmer too.
In your bedroom, you can lay throws and blankets over your duvet or fold them neatly at the end of the bed for aesthetic purposes. During the night time, you can use the throw for some extra warmth before refolding it the next morning.
Place family photos around your home
Family photos enable you to reminisce on fond memories and they remind you about all of the amazing people in your life. They create a sense of belonging in your home that is unmatched by any other kind of decoration or accessory.
Spotting family photos around your property can make you and your family members comfortable as soon as you walk through the door. Consider adding some to the cabinets by your front door or stairway, and on top of the mantelpiece in the living room.
You can also buy some cute photo frames and hang your family photos on the walls of each room. This is a great way to feel less alone if you live on your own and can help you to feel more settled in your home. Plus, photo frames break up large blocks of a plain wall that would otherwise look bland and boring!
Cover your sofas and beds with cushions
Cushions and pillows make your furniture look and feel extra cozy. They can be used to support your neck and lower back when you’re sitting on the sofa or lying in bed, which can reduce the risk of muscle aches and pains.
You can use cushions and pillows to enhance your interior design too. They can make your living room and bedroom(s) appear welcoming and comfortable.
There is an endless variety of cushions available online. Consider buying some unique cushions from small businesses or hand-made cushions that have custom designs to match your home’s aesthetic perfectly.
Light a candle (or two)
When you think of a cozy winter night at home while you’re snuggling up on the sofa with your partner or friends, it’s likely that a candle is present somewhere in your imaginary vision.
Candles are almost synonymous with coziness and relaxation. Not only do they make your home smell amazing but the natural flickering of a candle’s flame can have anxiolytic effects. In other words, simply lighting a candle can reduce your anxiety and stress, and make you feel more relaxed while you’re at home.
There are literally hundreds of different candle brands out there, including large, well-established brands, and smaller, family-owned businesses. Purchase a couple to place around your home so that you can be extra cozy and comfortable all year round.
Add greenery to your home
Plants can immediately make your home more welcoming to you and any guests that you might invite. Even if you’re not somebody who is able to look after plants (such as if you take long trips away from home for work), you can go for fake plants that look just as homely as the real deal.
You can also add vases of flowers to your home to create character and add color to your interior design. If you want to make a significant visual impact, consider getting large free-standing plant pots to place in the corner of your rooms.
For the tops of your cabinets and chest of drawers, you can add small succulents or planters. This will make every corner of your home as welcoming as possible without adding clutter.
Create a feature wall
Accent walls or feature walls are the perfect way to add color, pattern, and texture to your house. They make a nice change to plain walls that otherwise look boring or uninviting.
Generally, the main wall in a room should be the accent wall. You can paper it with patterned wallpaper or paint it a bright color. If you’re feeling extra fancy, you can cover it with a mural that creates a scene or pattern in your room.
Install a fireplace in your living room
Give your house a modern makeover by installing a fireplace in your living room. In the middle of a cold and frosty winter, a crackling fireplace is exactly what you need. It will provide warmth and ambient lighting in the room, so you and your family can feel fully relaxed.
If you don’t already have space for a fire pit, it might be a larger and more complex task to create one in your living room. However, it’s worth the investment to have years of cozy winters.
There’s also the option of getting an electric fireplace, which uses electricity to radiate heat and has a screen that emulates the natural flickering light of flames.
