6 Ways to Add Cozy Warmth for Winter
It’s THAT time of year - winter. And every winter about this time, I find myself looking for ways to add some cozy and warm vibes to our home.
Confession - I am not a winter fan. I hate to be cold and that mixed with the endless gray of winter in New England with intermittent dirty snow piles and slush is depressing.
Sure, fresh snow and ice frosting the evergreens and bare tree branches is gorgeous, as viewed from the window in the comfort and warmth of my home on the rare occasion that occurs, but there is WAAAAAY too much unpleasantness in between.
And one or two days of ice palace beautiful is more than enough to tide me over for the season.
AN early winter snowfall at the Acton Arboretum
About this time every year, I am pretty much done with winter, even though here in the frozen north, winter is just getting rolling.
SO the choices are A.) escape to the tropics until the temperatures return to acceptable levels, or B.) add some warmth and coziness to your rooms!
The older I get, the more I understand the appeal of the “snowbirds” that flee the north to ride out January, February, and March in a more pleasant climate.
Unfortunately, winter here seems to extend into months it has no business in…like April and sometimes even May…
Since most of us can’t really escape for an extended period, here are 6 ways to bring some warmth and coziness into your home and embrace the joys of the cold weather months.
Create Cozy Winter Warmth at Home with:
Color
If you happen to have fallen into the gray abyss of the last 10+ years (thank you HGTV🙄) and have a house with cool gray tones on the walls and floors and possibly even the furniture, then some warm color will help counteract all those cool tones.
Warmer neutrals are blessedly trending so IF you are changing any big surfaces and still want to go neutral, consider some of those.
Fabrics or textiles in prints that mix cool and warm toned neutrals can help tie it all together as you transition to warmer neutrals.
But even small colorful accents can have a big impact.
I have two words: throw pillows. Stop rolling your eyes. Throw pillows are a decorators favorite accessory for a reason! They are like a decorating superpower, offering the ability to add color and pattern to a room in a way that doesn’t require the staggering commitment of a new sofa.
Even storing throw pillows is easy. Some people change the throw pillows on their furniture seasonally. Just keep good quality fillers in the right sizes on hand and simply change out the covers.
Unfilled pillow covers take very little space, so you could have a whole pillow wardrobe! If you sew, you can even make customized pillows yourself. (If you are wondering how many throw pillows you need, read THIS)
And adding warmth with colors is not confined to textiles. Painted pieces in happy colors or gilded metal accents are other ways to add some warm contrast.
Wood
I know brown furniture waxes and wanes in popularity, and a whole suite of it is definitely a no. A whole roomful of matchy-matchy ANYTHING is a no.
But you probably have some of it you could sprinkle around. Winter is a good time to dust it off.
And brown stained furniture is not the only wood choice. There are dozens of other options depending on the style of your home. Rift cut oak can be stunning and reclaimed waxed pine is a great casual farmhouse look.
The natural patina and grain of a dose of wood furniture, cabinetry, or millwork will always add warmth.
Caveat: Millwork should be substantial in scale if it is going to be stained. The anemic 2 1/2” pine colonial casing and hollow core doors stained brown that 60’s and 70’s spec builders used with abandon is not helping anything. For more on painted vs stained millwork check out THIS.
Plant Life
Nothing adds life to a room like greenery. We keep trying to be plant people, but with mixed success. I love plants, but great faux greenery is an excellent option if, like me, plants don’t exactly thrive in your care.
Good fake plants always look better than dead plants - just sayin…
Barring the ability to care for actual plants, you can always default to vases of cut greenery or flowers. Every room is improved with flowers, and grocery store blooms are an easy and inexpensive indulgence.
Pro tip: a generous bouquet of all one kind and color of flower is high impact and requires zero flower arranging skill!
Textures
Use chunky knit, faux fur, or soft mohair throws draped artfully over the back or arm of furniture.
Which you use is determined by your style and mood, but all of them are practical for keeping cozy and warm in addition to fostering the idea of cozy and warm!
Touches of what I call “pet-able” fabrics will totally warm up a room. This is the time to bring in some velvets and chenilles - they are perfect for this.
A recent sample arrival included one of my FAVORITE textured fabrics and I was SOOOOOO happy to see it back in production - I used to keep a sample on my desk just so I could pat it! And it is way lower maintenance than an actual pet 🤣.
The aforementioned throw pillows are another place to amp up the fabulous cozy textures.
Another crunchy texture to add some warmth is wicker baskets - AND they make a great place to stash any extra throws that you don’t want to drape over the furniture.
Scent
We keep a pot on the stove in the winter of water simmering with essential oils or spices. Not only does it add some humidity back to the dry air caused by constantly running the heat, it also gives the house a subtle pleasant scent.
Hot mulled cider or wine or homemade hot chocolate (easy cocoa mix recipe HERE) can provide a warming scent for the house AND warm you up from the inside out!
The Germans are all over this, serving this delicious hot spiced Glühwein wine (Glühwein recipe HERE) at nearly every winter outdoor venue.
Of course baking is an excellent way to add actual warmth AND a delightful aroma - who doesn’t love the smell of bread baking…or cookies??
Our rustic bread recipe is a snap to throw together with 4 ingredients (and two of them are water and salt so that hardly even counts!) and no kneading.
It makes for an easy way to have that tantalizing scent and taste all winter long! And if you need someone to eat it for you, my son is always willing!
Light
Assess your light bulbs to make sure they are not casting an eerie, gloomy glow. If you bought LED “daylight” bulbs thinking they would be a way to add a sunny vibe, you thought wrong.
And if you are still laboring under the evil of fluorescent light bulbs, get rid of those immediately!
Get your light bulbs right (handy light bulb chart HERE). This simple change will make ALL the difference in the mood of your room.
We also leave our holiday window candles up way past the time the rest of the holiday stuff is packed up. I feel like window candles are more “winter” than “seasonal” and can stay up as long as the days are short and the temperatures cold to add a warm ambience to the house in the evening hours.
I’m talking about window candles with incandescent warm light bulbs that are the color of actual candles, not candles lit up in green or blue or neon orange, by the way. Hello? Actual candles do not burn those colors.
Of course if green or blue candles make you happy/nostalgic, that is all that really matters, but they probably should stay with the holiday decorations.
A few of these additions and the cold, gray, winter months can be much cozier and even pleasant - at least indoors. Or there’s always a visit to the Caribbean…