Using Decor to Artificially Add Warmth to Your Home

It’s cold outside. So how can you warm up without ever leaving home? Easy! With the right touches of color, space, sights and smells your whole house can begin to feel warmer, using your own stuff.

Here’s a few ideas on how to turn your dark and wintery home into a bright and cheerful space:

1. Use accents. Picking a strong accent color like red or yellow will punch up the darkest of rooms. Orange is a perfect warming tone that evokes tropical or autumn sun. Pillows, blankets, pictures can all incorporate this color without overpowering a room.

2. Maybe you don’t want to add any more “stuff” into your house. You can revamp a room while adding warmth by using natural materials. Use nature as your accent. Decorate with plants, a vase of flowers, or well placed candles in recycled wine bottles. Incorporate the natural light of your house as an accent. Plants like Amaryllis or Christmas Cacti bring vibrant shades of reds and pinks into the house from December into late February, just at the time your home really needs a pick up from all the drab grey days.

3. Add texture. Don’t be afraid of using shades of the same color, texture can add visual interest while allowing color accents to really stand out. A wool area rug, beeswax candles, beaten metal, or a recycled wood table add interest without overpowering a room with too many other colors.

4. Of course, a tried and true method to add warmth to any room is with a fresh coat of paint. If a room is particularly dark, white walls can brighten the space, but if you want a more intimate or cozy feel shades of cream and yellow will do just fine.

5. Create intimate areas in large rooms where guests can sit close to each other in the middle of the room instead of pushed back against the wall.

6. Use an aromatherapy diffuser to spread enticing smells like peppermint and lavender which can help to calm the mind.

7. If you have a fireplace, use it. Fireplaces often become “just a part of the wall” and grow to be a forgotten source of heat and comfort. Nothing makes a space feel warm emotionally and physically like a fireplace.

Just incorporating one or two of these ideas can make a huge difference in a short amount of time. Thankfully, making a room seem warm is not as difficult as replacing a sink or fixing a toilet, but it’s very important. It makes a house a home.

About the Author: Aubrey Lane is a freelance writer from Portland, OR. If you’re looking for more substantial methods to bring real warmth to your home and prepare to cool it down before summer, see these guides to gas furnace prices and air conditioner prices.