The weather outside might be frightful, but your home doesn’t have to be. There are many ways to make your home toasty and snug besides turning up the heat. Thick blankets and roaring fires can quickly transform any room into the perfect place to wait out the chilly winter days, while playing with lighting and texture might help make your home feel like an even cozier place to spend time.

Throw Blankets

Throw blankets are both decorative and practical for making a room feel warmer. Consider earthy tones like dark brown or muted shades of orange to add a pop of color to your sofa and serve as a sharp contrast to winter’s pale blues and whites. There’s also nothing quite as comforting as grabbing a blanket and wrapping it around your body to create a warm, snug cocoon.

Soft Lighting

Bright lights can feel stressful and sterile. Swap out fluorescent bulbs for softer and warmer tones, often denoted by a Kelvin rating lower than 4,000. If changing your bulbs isn’t possible, consider light-diffusing lamp shades to help spread light around the room and prevent harsh, direct lighting. 

Heavy Drapes

As temperatures drop, change out thinner drapes that let in light during the summertime for thicker drapes. Not only are they decorative, but thick drapes also retain heat and help prevent cold air from coming in through the windows.

Area Rugs

It doesn’t matter if your floor is made of wood, marble, or any other material — it will feel freezing against your bare feet in the winter. Heated floors are luxuriously expensive, so a plush area rug is the next best way to combat a cold floor. Scatter rugs around the house to make those cold mornings more bearable.

Roaring Flames

Nothing beats the cold like a roaring fireplace, but not everyone has that luxury. For tinier spaces, consider a small tabletop fire pit for both indoor and outdoor spaces. Candles are a great alternative and have the bonus of adding fragrance to your home — including winter favorites like spice and pine.

Wall Tapestries

Bare walls are just blank canvases for adding some warmth to any room, and one of the best ways to do so is by hanging tapestries. Online markets like Etsy offer various tapestries depicting warm images ranging from sunrises to lush forests and can help you visualize those warm summer days ahead.

Baked Goods

Nothing warms up a home quite like fresh-baked goods, from the heat of the oven to the smell of fresh cookies. Whether you’re baking them by yourself or enlisting the help of a local bakery, setting out treats on the counter is a delightful — and delicious — way to warm both the heart and hearth.

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