Tips for Cozy Home

5 Tips for Cozy Home

We all want a home that is warm and inviting for ourselves and our guests. When speaking of interior design, we talk a lot about styles like minimalism, mid-century modern, et cetera. However, when we talk about vaguer terms like moods we want to create- calming, airy, or cozy - we’re no longer talking about styles but emotions. This makes it a lot more difficult to define how to achieve them. The good news is that it means we can apply these feelings to any style. So, when we talk about tips and tricks to make a home cozy, it should be universal and can be adapted to any interior design style. These few tips and tricks can be applied to any home and help us to achieve that cozy mood we all want.

1. Warm and Moody Lighting

living room area with many chairs and moody lighting

Photo by Mateo Fernández on Unsplash

There’s perhaps nothing more important than having good lighting to create a cozy atmosphere in a home. If you’re not sure how to design a warm room, you should first have a look at what the state of your lighting is. Observe the number of light sources you have in a particular room. One overhead light or general ambient light is not going to be enough to create the atmosphere you want. They may be important for functional reasons, but they do very little for ambiance. To create moody lighting, it’s better to focus on having clusters of illumination.

You also want to look at what types of lightbulbs you’re actually using. There is a spectrum of light temperature that goes from warm to cool. You want to opt for the warmer types of light bulbs because you want to create a warm feeling. In particular, you want to go for lightbulbs that are around 3,000 Kelvin on the color temperature scale. This type of lighting has a more dramatic effect. Lightbulbs in the 5,000 Kelvin area tend to be quite cool and a bit reminiscent of office lighting, which is not very inviting. Smart light bulbs, which allows you to change the hue of your lights are also a good option because you would be able to control your environment based on your needs for the moment. Candles are also great to set the mood. Although you will probably not have them lit all day and you probably won’t be able to light a very large area with candles, they are still great to help set the mood.

2. Indoor Plants

living room area with a green wall and many indoor plants

Photo by Jane Duursma on Unsplash

Add plants, flowers, and foliage to your home. Plants and flowers have a unique way of breathing life into a space. Take them away from a room, and you’ll notice that something is missing. It helps connect you to nature wherever the location of your home may be. And, where there is nature, there is a feeling of being nurtured as well.

If you can’t maintain plants or if you’re in an environment where they don’t get the amount of sunlight or nutrients they need, you can always go for faux plants. One tip for choosing faux plants is to opt for species that are naturally waxy. Those types of plants are often easier to imitate with plastic because of its shiny finish. If you’re not happy with how realistic your faux plants are, try placing them somewhere high up so the flaws are not that noticeable. Although faux plants don’t have the practical functions of real plants like purifying the air and helping reduce noise, they still can look amazing and give your space that extra dose of life that it needs.

3. Beautiful Area Rugs

seating area with big black and white area rug

Photo by Spacejoy on Unsplash

If your room has tiles, laminate, or hard wood, chances are they feel pretty chilly under your feet (especially during the winter season). Even if you have everything else in your home that makes it look cozy, having cold feet could ruin the whole vibe. Adding rugs can help bring extra warmth and insulation to your room. Rugs do not only feel physically soft, but it’s also soft to the eyes. The best places to concentrate on when it comes to rugs are the living room and the bedroom. It’s also great to have rugs in other spaces like hallways, kitchens, bathrooms, and dining rooms. It gives a good contrast in texture from the hard floors and the straight lines of your furniture.

4. Warmth & Texture

bed with many textured throw pillows and blankets

Photo by Devon Janse van Rensburg on Unsplash

Cozy textures are usually going to be made up of things that are soft and feel good against the skin. Think of things like chunky throw blankets, knitted material, and fluffy throw pillows. They are not only aesthetically pleasing, but you also enjoy touching them. Remember that you should accommodate all of your senses when making your room feel cozier and touch is a major factor. When you have elements in your room that make you think of warmth, safety, and well-being, chances are you probably feel very cozy in that room. The combination of throw pillows and throw blankets create an environment that is restful and comfortable. It makes a room feel like it’s hugging you

5. Cozy Window Treatments

bedroom with a tufted grey couch and long blue drapes

Photo by reisetopia on Unsplash

Blinds can be very beautiful and modern, but they lack an element of coziness. They tend to be very thin and clean. Go for drapes instead. Layering block out curtains on top of sheer curtains can give you extra functionality. Sheer curtains give you a little privacy while still letting the light in when you need it. When you want to create a more private environment with moodier lighting, you can close your block out curtains. Drapes add that extra layer of softness without closing off a room. It can actually make a room feel bigger because they draw the eye up and make your ceiling appear higher. Just make sure to always hang your drapes as close to the ceiling as you can and let them touch the floor so that you’re not visually making your room’s walls shorter than they are.

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