7 Simple Updates That Will Make Your Home the Coziest

When the temperatures drop and snow starts falling, most people start to crave a warm and cozy environment. There’s even a Danish word for this feeling – hygge (hoo-gah), which means the feeling of contentment that accompanies coziness. 

Here are seven ways you can borrow from cold Scandinavia and update your home to be cozier than ever this winter. 

• Contrasting Textiles

Adding a thick rug to your space warms up the floors and can do wonders for creating a sense of coziness. Some homeowners keep rugs solely for winter use and store them away during the warmer summer months. Another trick is to layer your rugs to cover more square feet and increase the cozy feel in the space. 

In addition to rugs, other textiles like pillows, blankets, and drapes are all opportunities to add texture and color to your home. Laying different textures and choosing warm colors adds comfort and interest to a space. Having a lot of fabric and soft material in a room also helps prevent echoes, which are the opposite of cozy. 

• Working Fireplace

There is nothing cozier than a fireplace. If your house has a working fireplace, consider getting it serviced so you can use it this winter. Most American households aren’t used to having a fire inside, so ensure you follow safety protocols and communicate with family members to keep everyone safe. 

If you don’t have a working fireplace or live flame makes you nervous, consider investing in an electric fireplace. You can install some models into a fireplace structure in your wall, while other models can be moved around your home like a space heater. Of course, there’s also the option to play a virtual fire display on your television or laptop. 

• Wooden Features

Wood furniture and home decor details bring warmth and a touch of nature inside your home. Incorporating wooden elements with a darker stain into your space is another simple way to increase the sense of warmth and coziness in your home. 

Consider installing wooden beams along your ceiling, or frame doorways and windows with dark wood. Some homeowners choose reclaimed wood for their mantelpiece. For a less hands-on approach, bring in furniture or decorative pieces with wood elements. 

• Cozy Lighting

Lighting is another important element for creating a cozy ambiance in your home. Indoor electric light is often harsh and tends toward the blue side of the spectrum. Consider replacing your indoor lighting with Human Centric Lighting, which mimics natural outdoor light and can be adjusted easily for optimal coziness in the evening. 

Other lighting options include candles, lanterns, sconces, and lamps. Lighting your space in layers creates comfort and a sense of security. Multiple sources of light also make it easy to adjust the intensity and color of light in a space. Bringing lights down from over your head to waist height can also increase the coziness of a space.

• Smart Thermostat

Keeping your space warm is another must for creating a cozy atmosphere. However, most people try to toe the line between true warmth and frozen fingertips in an effort to keep their electric bill down in the winter. You can avoid all of that by installing a smart thermostat. 

These thermostats can be programmed on your phone to automatically lower the temperature of yoru home at night and then warm everything up in the morning. Installing a smart thermostat can lower your electric bill, prevent your pipes from freezing, and keep you warm and toasty. 

• Warm Decor

You don’t have to go overboard with decor to create a cozy feel, but these smaller design elements do help. Bare walls create a feeling of coldness, so hanging art, pictures, and other memorable objects can really help to warm up a space. Wall color and the overall palette of your space will also impact the coziness of a room – dark, earthy tones tend to feel warmer.

Dried flowers and indoor plants also lend warmth to a space. Especially in the winter, indoor greenery is a reminder that spring will come soon. Faux plants and especially dried plants often work just as well as real ones to create this sense of comfort. 

• Sleeping Cat

After a fireplace, nothing is as cozy as a sleeping cat curled up next to you. Tabbies and long-haired cats especially increase the warmth of winter spaces by adding to the mix of textures in a room. In addition, the noise they make purring is one of the most soothing and warming sounds in the world. 

While it may seem strange to put cats on a list of design elements, nothing else creates coziness in a space so effectively. You definitely shouldn’t buy a cat purely to decorate your home. However, with so many other good reasons to own one, a cat may be the perfect home upgrade to add coziness to your space.  

Try to Stay Awake

Follow these seven steps to create a cozy space that welcomes and relaxes you when you’re home. Just be careful not to fall asleep – dim lighting, blankets, and a purring cat are the perfect recipe for a winter nap!