Tips for Making Your Home Cozy in Winter
The chilly winter season has arrived, meaning many of us will be spending a lot more of our time indoors. Why not turn your home into an ultra-cozy retreat this year, somewhere where you can ensure you’ll find warmth and relaxation.
Being confined to your home during winter is made so much easier when you feel comfortable, and transforming your home into a cozy paradise is rather easy. Here are just a few of the top ways you can snuggle into your home this winter season.
Think About the Decor
One of the best ways to make your house an ultra-cozy home is with decorations. How you decorate your home should showcase your personality and make you feel comfortable. That means using the internet to shop rugs online and research other objects that complement one another for each room. They should be items that bring you joy and comfort while also conforming to style guidelines to create calming spaces that are pleasing to the eye.
The goal is to create a minimalistic arrangement throughout your home that is easy to clean. It’s about removing clutter which can otherwise create stress and anxiety. Free up space to create cozy zones within your home that make it enticing to snuggle up with a book or take a daytime nap.
Although you want to be simplistic, you don’t want to leave any wall bare or create cold barren places within your home. Add plants and fresh flowers to bring some life into your home. Bring your sofas to life with colorful throw pillows, add table runners and placemats to dress up your kitchen, and add festive holiday decorations to help get you in the mood for upcoming celebrations with friends and family.
Get Cooking
Nothing gets you in the mood for staying at home more than cooking up some of your favorite winter time comfort food. Not only does whipping up your favorite recipes using the oven and stove make your home warmer, it also fills it with delectable aromas that just have a way of making you feel at home.
Winter is the best time of year to bake your favorite guilty pleasure sweets whether it be gingerbread cookies or apple pie. Pair this with your favorite hot tea or cocoa and you’ll find it easy to get cozy on the couch.
Crack out those favorite family recipes for dinner to bring back fond winter childhood memories and pair them with your favorite glass of wine or spirits. Being well fed and maybe slightly intoxicated will have you sinking into a cozy siesta in no time.
Of course, having cozy kitchen furniture is just as important as comfort food itself. Being comfortable around a dining table during meal times is essential not only for feeling calm while you eat but also to entice family bonding. So, whether you wish to buy dining set furniture or simply coffee tables for your lounge room, make sure your furniture creates an eating space that offers tranquility and encourages everyone to sit down together to enjoy your favorite homemade meals.
Wear Comfortable Clothing
They say feeling comfortable in your own skin is very important but so too is feeling comfortable in your clothes. The winter season gives us an excuse to crack out those big bulky hoodies and sweaters to feel snug as a bug.
Cozy winter lounge wear should be loose-fitting, soft, and low maintenance. The idea is to wear stress-free clothing that doesn’t wrinkle easy, make you feel constricted, or make you itchy and uncomfortable. Remember, you’re in your own home and need not worry what others may think. The only one you have to please is yourself.
Games, Books, and Movies for Pleasant Evenings
It’s hard to get cozy when you’re bored, so it’s vital to think about how you’ll spend your extra time indoors now that the winter chill is making it less appealing to spend time outdoors or heading out places.
Thanks to the wonderful online world, you now have endless entertainment quite literally at your fingertips. No need to head to the theatre when you have streaming services that allow you to watch pretty much every movie and TV series ever made. Avoid the crazy holiday shopping crowds by simply shopping online. And there’s no need to rug up and head to your local casino when there are online casinos offering ever card and table game under the sun straight from the comfort of your couch.
Or you could always go old-school and put together a collection of books to read this winter. Nothing seems to have the ability to spark your imagination or transport you to another world more than a great author.
And if you’ll be holed up with family this winter, remember that god old fashioned board games are a great way for your family to bond and interact with each other. Winter often gives us the extra time to focus on each other and reconnect since we’re forced to spend time together indoors, so make the most of that time.
Blankets, Blankets, Blankets
Blankets have a magic way of cuing our brain to rest and relax. They tend to trigger a sleep response thanks to them aiding our body to release the natural sleep hormone melatonin which prepares us for sleep.
Wearing a blanket around the house also activates our nervous system to produce serotonin which can help you feel relaxed. You can go one step further by having a few weighted blankets around the house, as scientific research has shown they have been able to reduce anxiety and insomnia for many people.
It’s of course important to choose blankets that are comfortable to you. There are so many different types of blankets these days, that it pays to do a bit of testing out at stores to see which feels the best to you. So whether it’s a simple throw blanket, a family quilt, or a bulky Sherpa blanket, be sure to stock up on blankets this winter to help create a microclimate around your body that will make it even warmer and cozier than your already cozy home.
Start a Fire
Nothing creates a cozier atmosphere in a winter home quite like a relaxing fire. Humans have always had a fascinating with flames and they have a way of putting us in calming trance. Nothing beats the feel, sound, and smell of a real log fireplace, but you can still benefit from a more modern and easier-to-use instant gas fireplace.
If you’re lacking both, you can always resort to simple candles to allow yourself to be calmed by flickering flames. Whichever route you choose to enjoy a bit of warmth and natural light in your home this winter, be sure to practice fire safety and have your fireplace checked to make sure it’s functioning properly.
Consider Your Lighting
When it comes to creating calming, cozy lighting in your home, it’s all about utilizing soft warm lighting. It’s about creating a warm glow and it can be achieved by purchasing new lamps and overhead lighting or by simply replacing the bulbs you’re currently using to achieve a more subdued interior lighting.
Make the most of the shortened winter sunlight hours by opening the curtains and letting the natural light into your home during the day and come nightfall, make sure you arrange lamps in a way that brightens up dark nooks and corners in your home that may otherwise be uninviting.
Other ways you can improve your home’s lighting is to invest in dimmer switches, play with different lampshades to get a glow that is most appealing to you, and ditch all cold temperature lights that can have you feeling like you’re in a hospital or interrogation room.
Lastly, because it’s the holiday season, it’s the perfect time to string up those fairy lights. String lights aren’t just for hanging up on your home’s exterior to impress the neighbors. Bring them indoors to give yourself some of the enjoyment. Most people tend to find that using plain bulbs as opposed to flashing colored bulbs helps to create calm and cozy lighting inside your home during the holidays.
Aromatherapy
In addition to cooking up some pleasing scents to make your house feel cozy, you can also make use of essential oil diffusers to create aromas that not only make your home smell great but also may even offer healing qualities. You can also make use of scented candles if you’re looking for something even more simple and easy.
Using diffusers for essential oils is an easy, mess-free way to get your home smelling delightful and various scents can help promote different feelings whether you’re using a nebulizing, ultrasonic, or evaporative diffuser.
Nothing says winter holidays like diffusing peppermint oil, which is said to reduce stress, improve mental function, and treat those unpleasant winter coughs and colds. Other relaxing, stress-relieving scents include lavender and chamomile, while eucalyptus if often the go-to for relieving nasal congestion brought on by the cold.
These are just a few ways you can find relaxation in your home this winter. Come spring, you may just not want to leave your home.
