Creating a Cozy Home: Essential Winter Comfort Tips
As the first few flurries fall from the sky and you reach for the nearest throw blanket, you might look around your home and realize it’s time to crank up the heat on the coziness factor. We all enjoy the benefits of a cozy home around the holidays. It’s the time of year to enjoy the warmth and comfort of your favorite spots with your favorite people. Here are some winter comfort tips for my people on Long Island to get your cozy home design started.
It’s cold enough outside so using warm neutrals and lush earthy tones to your winter color palette, along with warm home decor will help you to create a welcoming ambiance. Long Island home styling can be very seasonal, so it can be fun to lean into a different look in the wintertime by incorporating deep wine tones, rich jewel tones and warm metal finishes as accent colors.
By layering textures, you can create visual and tactile depth in a space. I like to combine different sized pillows in varying fabrics such as velvet, chenille, faux fur and woven textiles and mix in fleece or knit throw blankets. Pulling in a rug adds instant warmth to any room by having a plush ground underfoot and layering in drapery can help it to feel warm and encapsulated and help insulate your windows against the cold.
Perhaps my favorite place to bring in comfortable textiles would be in bedding. Invest in quality, non-synthetic bedding and layered decor items made of flannel, fleece, down, wool for the best heat retention. Using higher thread counts and putting a thicker comforter in your duvet comforter will not only make your bed look more luxurious but will also ensure warmth on those chilly winter nights.
There’s no better time of year to incorporate personal touches into your decor than the winter holiday season. Now is the time for nesting and connecting with loved ones. As we prepare for celebrating the season, we can reflect on memories from past years with family photos and sentimental decorations. This short season is also perfect for experimenting with new accent colors or maybe a bit of maximalism. A seasonal decor tip is to think how you want the space to feel and lean into it. Do you want light and bright? Try sticking to a pale neutral palette and use lots of chrome, sparkle and white string lights. If you want a sultrier, moodier look, bring in lots of deep jewel tones and darker metallics lit by candlelight. Bonus points if you can tie your new look in with the more permanent color story of your home.
It's important to stay grounded during the dark & hectic winter months and bringing some nature indoors will certainly help. Obviously, the glow and scent of a real fir Christmas tree will lift anyone’s spirit, but other indoor plants for winter are the Christmas cactus, Amaryllis or Norfolk pine You can consider adding other natural home decor by adding pine garland. One of my favorite ways to be Eco-friendly on Long Island with your Christmas decor is to give your used real tree to an organization that will use it to help rebuild the dunes.
It is so important to take care of yourself this winter by making sure to use thoughtful design to enhance your living spaces, to keep warm and to make your space feel warm and inviting to all that come to visit. Try using some of these design tips to help make the season bright.
Photo Credit: Pinterest