Home & Garden: Creating Warm and Cozy Spaces

The arrival of a new season often gets people thinking about giving their home a little refresh. With a few style exceptions, making your space warm, inviting, and a place to exhale after busy days at work, school, or managing errands is frequently sought after. I love the sense that I can comfortably be enveloped in any number of spaces in my home. The question is how to achieve that cozy environment without spending a fortune. It is, in fact, not too difficult to turn a room into your favorite place in the house. The key things to consider are color, tone, and texture.

Let’s consider color and tone. It is not about light or dark colors, you can choose either depending on the space and lighting. You’ll want a color that brings you a sense of calm, whether a cool green or a warm cocoa color. Warm color tones, those with undertones in the red, orange, or yellow family, evoke a sense of sunshine and energy. Icy, cool colors have undertones of blue, purple, and green as their base and bring a sense of calm and relaxation to mind. There are also neutral colors, gray, beige, and white, which can lean either warm or cool depending on the base colors in each shade. I personally gravitate toward the warm shades, which are typically identified with cozy styles, but cozy is achievable with cool colors as well. Look at different samples to see where you naturally lean. Once you have your room color, with the undertone that speaks to you, you can move on to the rest of the room.

Now let’s consider texture. Cozy styles such as Boho, Farmhouse (or Modern Farmhouse), Rustic, Country, Cottage, and others all focus on lots of natural textures, from wood, stone, and plants (natural and hard surfaces) to pillows, blankets, and window treatments (soft surfaces). Natural and hard surface items may include side tables, shelving, vases, statues, and more. It also includes flooring. If you are already working with wood flooring, you are starting a step ahead. Including plants literally breathes fresh air into your space and provides a natural pop of color. If you do not have a green thumb, fear not. Today’s faux plants are very lifelike and require no water. I placed two side tables in a room that needed a touch of hard, natural surface. The finish looks like stone, adding the desired feel.

Soft textures abound in brick and mortar stores or online. Pillows and throws in plush fabrics create an atmosphere of calm. A monochrome area rug will warm up hardwood floors, along with your toes. Don’t go too large; scale it to cover roughly fifty percent of the floor area. Window treatments in sheer panels or luxurious fabrics will add another layer to the room and control or permit natural light into the space.

Add small extras, books on shelves, pictures on walls, and small decorative pieces to personalize your space. Finally, soften the space with lighting. Choose warm versus bright bulbs, dimmers, small lamps, and candles to diffuse and layer the lighting. The result should be a room that invites and welcomes the visitor. Be embraced in your own space.