How to create a cosy home

Even on the days when we’re blessed with a bit of sunshine, there’s no avoiding the fact that autumn’s really here now. But making sure that your home’s cosy isn’t hard going. These are our favourite ways to get a snug feel.

Pick colour that warms

Image source: Dunelm Mill

Colour has the power to transform the atmosphere in a room, so use it to your advantage. Berry shades, golden leaf tones and pumpkin oranges all have natural warmth and seasonal appeal, so introduce them to a room that needs a cosier note. There’s no need to change the colour of all four walls when time’s short, but if you’re handy with a brush, try painting the chimneybreast or a feature wall in a rich shade. After a speedier remedy to an interior that’s making you feel like putting on an extra cardie? Add a rug featuring a warm colour, or choose cushions or a throw to add your chosen accent.

Think materials and textures

Image source: House of Fraser

Prefer to stick to pale shades in your rooms? Cosiness can still be yours without straying from the palette that suits. Natural materials have an appealing warmth that the manmade lacks. On your must-have list put wicker, wood with an organic look rather than a polished finish, chunky wool knits, deep pile rugs… Choose accessories that pick up the theme, too. Look out for wooden mirror and picture frames and table and floor lamps with wood bases together with textural ceramics.

Work the layout

Image source: Sofa.com

Turning a fresh eye to the position of your living room furniture can transform the room’s ambience so it’s right for the season. If you have a fireplace, it’s vital to make sure this is the focal point around which your seating is grouped – the TV just doesn’t cut it in the cosiness stakes. A pair of sofas, an armchair and sofa combination or a corner design should all be positioned facing or at a right angle to the stove or fire.

Without a fireplace, it’s still possible to place your seating in a grouping that feels cosy. Use the warm-coloured feature wall you created as the focal point instead, or lay a rug around which the seating can be positioned. Make sure the floorcovering’s not too large, though. The goal is an intimate arrangement not far-away formality.

Light the night

Image source: Nedgis

When cosiness is the vibe you’re after, neither a lonely single pendant or a grid of ceiling spotlights will be your helpers. However, a group of pendants that illuminates just the dining table and surrounding seating after dark will look appealing, as will floor lamps that throw a gentle glow over an armchair, or a pair of table lamps positioned on a sideboard or console.

It’s worth checking the colour temperature of the lights you select as well. There are warmer whites, and bluer colder versions, and it’s definitely the former that will up the cosiness level in living spaces and bedrooms. Stick to the latter for working spaces like kitchens instead.

Layer it up

Image source: Living It Up

‘Wear layers’ isn’t just good advice when you’re out for the day in unpredictable conditions – it’s an equally valid strategy for creating cosiness in the bedroom. For a snug feel, dress the bed with throws and cushions in touchy-feely textures – a lonely cotton duvet cover just doesn’t have the same charm. And even if you have fitted carpet, but especially if you chose hard flooring for your bedroom, layer the floor as well. What could be cosier than stepping on to a soft rug when you get up each day?

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