Sofas Making your living space feel warm and welcoming in the cooler months is more about re-thinking its decorative potential than turning up the heat. Banish the winter blues by filling your room with things that please the eye and soothe the senses. Words Rose-Marie Hillier.
1. Re-arrange the furniture
In summer we tend to focus on the indoor-outdoor connection. Open plan living has freed up and maximised space to do this, but there is often too little warmth and intimacy to chill out when the nights get nippy and you want to sink into a sofa, close the doors and pull down the blinds. While being mindful of traffic flow, bring your furniture further into the room to create a more intimate arrangement. Pull the sofa 30cm out from the wall - enough space to stand a floor lamp.
Cosy up the room (and I don't mean clutter up the room) with a couple of smaller occasional pieces of furniture, like a side table, ottoman or footstool to get things off the floor (including your feet should you doze off in front of the TV). The Ikea Ektorp Bromma footstool is one item that has the advantage of storage space under the seat, perfect for magazines and toys.
2. Alter the perspective
It's a primal thing to want to gather around the fire, so arrange your furniture to take advantage of the fireplace (if you're not blessed with a hearth, a big picture window or simply a big picture will do). And here's where you can get clever. The lay-out of many L-shaped or flexi living/dining rooms can be reversed to accommodate the seasons.
In my own home, I have a fireplace in the dining space, so when the temperature drops, I can transpose the sofa in the living room with the dining table. In winter, your gaze settles on the glowing hearth and in summer, the courtyard. Very cosy, indeed.
3. Lighting is key
Once you've re-worked the furniture, check your lighting. Lighting is the most important element in determining whether you feel contained and comforted in a space. We feel safer, more comfy and cosy in soft pools of light.
These days the compact fluoros required to be installed in new building work have a tendency to create a prison-camp ambiance, so always have several table and floor lamps (with one strategically placed behind a sofa for better illumination while reading) for mood control. And don't forget the dimmers.
4. Tribal colours ooze cosy
The colours we surround ourselves with have a big impact on how we feel in a space. You want colours that make you feel relaxed, confident, and yes, even a little bit sexy. That's cosy in the extreme. We're not suggesting you repaint your room simply because the temperature has dropped, but keep in mind yellow-based colours work a treat to warm up a cold room.
Think tribal or desert colours - a combination of earthy browns with burnt orange and berry shades, plus a touch of bronze. Add accent colours to perk up a jaded scheme by painting a feature wall, adding a painting or some cushions, or craftwork or glass art from another room.
5. Rug up
One of the first things you should consider is adding warmth underfoot with a rug. Rugs are great insulators on timber and tile floors; they give a real snug feel to a room while subduing echoes and most ambient noise. A rug visually pulls a room together as well as defining the conversation grouping. Place your rug square-on to the furniture, not at an angle.
5. Rug up
One of the first things you should consider is adding warmth underfoot with a rug. Rugs are great insulators on timber and tile floors; they give a real snug feel to a room while subduing echoes and most ambient noise. A rug visually pulls a room together as well as defining the conversation grouping. Place your rug square-on to the furniture, not at an angle.
6. Check the windows
Most heat in a room is lost through glass doors and windows, so it makes sense to keep them covered on cool nights. It might be worth re-thinking your window treatment; closing in the room with blinds or drapes is a sure-fire way to create cosy.
7. Got it covered
Leather sofas warm to your body and are all-cocooning on chilly evenings, though you might just need to grab a knitted throw for added comfort. Don't have leather furniture? Slipcovers are wonderful for matching the seasonal changes with your upholstered sofa. Go for something that feels soft and sensuous to the touch, like silky cotton velvet, corduroy, leather or suede-look fabric.
8. Cushy tale
Cushions are the cheapest and quickest way to change the mood and feel of any room. Resist the sparkly and sequinned - many are too precious for the rough and tumble of daily life. Leather, suede, velvet, wool and heavy cotton knits are great. Winter time gives you permission to err on the side of more (cushions) rather than less.
9. Sweater décor
While you can buy cushion covers and throws which are handknitted and they look for all the world like those Arran sweaters of Scotland, the idea is to rescue your own old woollen sweaters (and those of your kids) and sew them into gorgeous cushion covers and throws. This is part of the new trend to upcycle so your old outdated or worn items are re-fashioned into something entirely different.
10. Fragrance adds to the mood
Fragrance is as essential to the mood and style of a room as the furnishings. Cosy means the sweet perfume of vanilla, cinnamon, chocolate, coffee, bergamot and ylang ylang. Save your citrus and white flower perfumes for summer. Ikea sells candles in a variety of warming fragrances from chocolate to berry.