Now that the days are getting cooler we are all looking inward to our homes to make them cosy and warm as we approach winter. The leaves are turning to coppers and rusts and we want to huddle up with a hot drink in front of the fire. I’ve put together 11 easy ways to cosy up your home for Autumn/Winter. And it doesn’t mean going out and buying lots of new things though. You can just change your accessories out for warmer, cosier colours and fabrics. Also look at your layout to see if you can give it a more intimate feel.
Interestingly when I did my Colour Psychology course with Adele Roche it turned out my personality type was Autumn Fire. I’m really drawn to the colours of this season. Below is the moodboard I put together to showcase the Autumn Fire personality type. See if it resonates with you too.
Take your inspiration from nature and the colours you see outside at this time of the year. Embrace the browns, golds, oranges, rusts and dark greens. Incorporate these colours into your home in accessories to cosy up your spaces.
Before winter hits now is the time to get your home ready. If you’re not ready to skip ahead to Halloween just yet then this list is for you.
Change out your cushions and layer up texture in your rooms
One way to cosy up your home for Autumn/Winter is to make a simple change like swapping out your summer cushions in cotton and linen cushions for velvet or wool to make a difference to your interior spaces.
Also introduce richer and warmer colours like green, cream and rust or mustard to warm up the room. You can buy cushion covers without getting rid of your existing cushions or buying new ones.
Introducing throws, sheepskins and more rugs to your rooms will make it warmer and cosier for the winter months. It is also another way to add texture to the room. Trust me it is lovely to step out of bed onto a rug or sheepskin. It makes the dark, early mornings a little bit more bearable.
Wooden textures are perfect to cosy up your home for Autumn/Winter. You can introduce them by accessorising rooms with wooden chopping boards, freshly chopped wood for your wood burning stove stacked in the corner of a room or wooden coffee or side tables.
Now is the time to start using a table cloth or table runner to dress up your table and add texture to your kitchen or dining room.
Cosy up with Candles
Autumn /Winter is the perfect season for candles and lighting up your home and garden with them. There are lots of Irish candles made from natural resources like soy wax and beeswax to choose from.
Warm up the walls with paint or wallpaper
While it doesn’t actually change the physical conditions in a room, changing the paint or wallpaper on the walls from something like white to a warmer feeling colour can actually make you feel warmer in a room.
Below is a boy’s bedroom that we changed from white to a warm sage green – Lichen from Farrow and Ball. It made a huge difference to the room without changing anything else.
Cosy up your lighting with twinkly lights
Festoon lights draped across a wall or along a shelf in your kitchen can add to that cosy feeling for Autumn/Winter. They are not expensive and don’t look too festive, so if you want you can leave them up all year.
Another way to cosy up your home for Autumn/Winter is to add lamps and lighting to darker corners in your room. It’s always a good design trick to have lighting at varying heights and areas in your room so that you don’t rely on your main central pendant to light the space. You might not have noticed it in the summer but now is the time to check your bulbs and make sure your they are all working.
Update your outdoor area for cooler weather
Just because the summer sun is gone it doesn’t mean that you can’t continue to enjoy your outdoor space for a bit longer. Keep your outdoor rug outside for a bit longer and bring out some of your cushions, throws, dried flowers and use lantern lights and festoon lights to light up your back space.
Embrace the dried flower trend
Dried flowers are so popular at the moment and while you can buy them in various stores or from local florists you can also dry them out yourself. Two of the easiest flowers to dry out are Pampas grass and Gypsophila. You can just leave them in a vase without water and they will dry out nicely over a number of weeks.
Bring in natural materials – branches, leaves, conkers
The most budget friendly and maybe most effective way to cosy up your home for Autumn/Winter is to incorporate natural materials that you can find outside in nature. Dried branches, fallen leaves and conkers look good displayed on wooden chopping boards.
Swap out light sheets for warmer bedding
With Winter approaching you start thinking about swapping your lighter summer duvet for your winter one and maybe putting the electric blanket back on the bed, or is that only in our house? You can also layer up with throws and blankets to make the room cosier.
To change up the look of your bedroom you can add cushions in richer colours and accessories around the bed such as branches, leaves, candles and Autumn decorations. Obviously remember to blow out the candles before you go asleep. It is recommended that your bedroom is kept cool so that you sleep better, but you can still keep your bed nice and warm.
Create an autumnal feel by decorating with fruits and vegetables
Another way to cosy up your home for Autumn/Winter is to decorate with items you might already have in your home. Or next next time you are in your local grocery store stock up on apples and pumpkins and pile them high in a bowl and display them on your kitchen table for an instant update.
Paint some pumpkins
If you want to hasten the advent of Halloween, without adding too much ghoulish decoration, you can start early with some painted pumpkins as decoration around the house.
Reimagine the layout in your rooms
Finally, look at the layout in your rooms, especially your living or sitting rooms. Now is the time to move around your sofas and chairs. Draw your chairs closer together or draw them around the fire. Encourage conversation and sitting around together watching TV or having a drink and a chat.
So how are you going to cosy up your home for Autumn/Winter?
Let me know in the comments below…
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