For years I've been striving, in my decor, for a certain aesthetic perfection. I've collected many images of rooms that are grand and lovely. But lately something different is happening - I find myself drawn more and more to spaces that are small, and warm, and comfortable. The thing is, houses are not just for looking at; they're for living in. And a truly cozy house - one that meets your needs well, and invites visitors in - will be beautiful as well.
So my goals have changed a little: from beautification to cozy-fication. If you, too, crave something warm and homey, here are a few ideas for getting the look that says: "Come in. Stay a while."
1. Look for furniture that is 'curl-upabble'.
There's often a bit of a gap between furniture that is lovely to look upon, and furniture that is lovely to sit upon. Ideally, the perfect sofa would strike a balance between the two. But if you're truly dedicated to coziness, before purchasing anything designed for sitting, you must consider its curl-uppability. "Can I see myself curled up on this sofa of a Sunday afternoon, feet sunk deep in the cushions, reading a book and drinking tea?" If the answer is no - keep looking.
2. Mix it up a little.
"Don't buy all your furniture from one store," the old adage goes, "unless you want your house to look like a furniture store." Furniture stores are lovely, but they are not inviting. To get away from the show-house look, mix together pieces from different styles. When considering things together, think less about what "matches" and more about what "goes". Mixing dissimilar pieces creates visual texture, which will make any space more inviting and more cozy.
3. Fill your house with things you would want to touch.
An old leather chair, a worn wood table, a fluffy throw, a patterned rug - items with lots of texture, that are interesting to touch and hold, add warmth to a room.
4. Use warm colors.
Until I started serious home improvements and became a student of the paint chips at Lowe's, it did not occur to me that every color has a "mood". Cooler colors make a space feel larger and airier. Warm colors do the oppsite - they make a space feel smaller and cozier. Every color, even whites and blacks, can have cool or warm undertones.
5. Lighting, lighting, lighting.
One of the most important factors in how a room looks is something most people usually don't even think about: light. Sometimes I find myself drooling over a beautiful image in a magazine, only to realize - "I don't like the stuff in this room. I like the light." It's especially important in a living room to have multiple light sources - brighter ones for larger gatherings, smaller ones for more intimate gatherings or a night in. Table lamps bring lighting down to a human level and give big rooms a sense of scale.
6. Switch 'cool' light bulbs for 'warm' ones.
Tiny investment, minimal work, nearly instant cozification.
7. Live with the things you love.
My collection of cocktail books. The old rotary phone from my grandmother's house. The license plate from my first car. All these things make my house feel like home because they remind me of people and things I love. When I'm at home, I feel that it is a place where I truly belong. And that's the whole idea of coziness - that rooms are made for people.
(Images: 1. Sarah Hogan/Heart Home pg. 85 2. Oliver Gordon/Heart Home pg. 108 3. Alex's apartment on Apartment Therapy)
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Great rooms, and great advice. Thanks!
Cozy is my personal aesthetic, due in part to the original red cement floors in my house. My alter ego has a cool, minimalist house with rigorously edited stuff; my real life is more like above.
Small and cozy is so much better than grand and cold.
I love the child-size wicker chair in the second picture. So sweet :) I always like it when kids and their needs and size are taken in consideration too.
When I think about what I hope people say about my house it is always warm, welcoming, and cosy. I want people to want to come in and put their feet up on my couch and not want to leave.
Any advice on finding "warm" eco-friendly light bulbs? I want to use the better ones, but they all cast the harshest, greenest light ... ugh.
This is a nice list. One cozy tip I would add is to include textiles in the space. Curtains, rugs, throws, pillows, table linens all add to the cozy factor.
what about plants?? i think a place instantly looks cozier when there's some green :D
not saying you need a jungle, but either a few small pots or 1 large corner plant goes a long way....
agree with all these. I find brown and red cozier than whites and blues, though.
I love this post because I live to be cozy. One thing I do is I have pillows everywhere: on kitchen chairs for sitting and putting my feet up, on the living room floor for sitting, extras on the bed for propping myself up just right. Another thing I love for comfort is a faux fur throw. I move it with me from bed to sofa and back again.
Coconutzinger, I HATE cfl bulbs, but the Phillips LED warm 12 watt (60-watt equivalent) bulb is really pretty acceptable, especially if you use it in a lamp with a warm-colored shade (e.g., amber glass or cream-colored cloth or paper). And they're coming out with an even more efficient version in a few weeks. The bulbs are on the expensive side, but Home Depot has them for a good price.
http://reviews.homedepot.com/1999/202530170/12-watt-60w-ambient-led-a19-light-bulb-e-reviews/reviews.htm
Very timely post for me, as I'm JUST about to bite the bullet and paint out the knotty pine panelling in my living room. Some prior owner stained it reddish brown which I really don't like, plus it's become splotchy over the years. Stripping it all is way beyond my means, but gosh I hate the idea of painting over it. And, everyone likes the lodge-like coziness of the darker wood (there are plenty of windows and skylights; it doesn't feel too dark.
I've seen encouraging pictures of similar spaces before/after, painted white or off-white and they look great. But when I stand in there and try to "feel" it as a white room, WOW, all coziness leaves. YIKES! Please pray for me, everybody!
Another thought this article brings up is about carpet. For cleanliness, as well as EASE of cleaning, it sure seems that the more bare floor space, the better.
But I just can't get comfy with bare, hard, cold, noisy floors! I want wall-to-wall thick carpet! I know many of you greatly prefer bare floors and that's great, but I need to find a compromise! Any ideas?
Comfort ALWAYS trumps "style" for me. But you can have both. (I don't think anyone on this blog would adore my sofa, but it is very comfortable and I like the moss green microfiber upholstery, so for me that was a place where the "perfect" design lost to what worked for my life.) My mid-century upholstered chairs aren't madly comfortable to me, but men who sit in them love them, and some even ask for us to let them know if we are getting rid of them.
Lots of wood or wood tones help with "cozy". (Well, they are warm colors after all.)
My cozy, cottage-y self is constantly at war with my OCD self that must. clear. off. everything. I drool over pictures of inexpertly arranged bird nests, needlepoints and fluffy blankets, and then turn around and purge like it's my religion. There's a fine line between cozy and cluttered, and my brain can't handle it. Throw pillows are my only vice!
To Annie-O: What's wrong with a persian/oriental rug on your hardwood floors? I don't like wall-to-wall carpet because it's something I grew up with and seems very limiting and just not aesthetically appealing. I love hardwood floors. But I also like to keep things cozy with lots of area rugs. It's the best of both worlds. Cleaner than carpet (easy to pick up the area rugs and beat them when necessary) but still cozy and warm underfoot. Plus, you get to enjoy the beauty of your hardwoods, too!
The ultimate in cozy decor? Add a feline, of course!
Thank you! I hate rooms full of furniture that says "N
Back off, peasant."
The one thing that I have always wanted and never had is a fireplace. I've always dreamed of snuggling up on a comfy sofa on a cold winter evening in front of a fireplace. To me that is the ultimate in cozy decor.
I think a cool palette can be cozy-- refer to the rules about curl-up-able furniture (including intimate furniture placement), and cozy textures. My room is white walls, ivory and gray with cool pastels and some navy blue accents, but with my velvet gray L-shaped couch and lambskin rug layered over a sisal area rug, I'd definitely call it cozy.
I'm always hot, and I'm always flipping over to the cool side of the bed. I can't stand to be around warm colors for long-- the typical warm woods, reds and beiges are oppressively warm to me. I remember a friend saying "I hate light blue walls, they're so cold and uninviting"-- I feel the opposite-- they're soothing, and that's what coziness is to me.
Great article! I especially like the advice about lighting. Lighting can make or break how a room feels. Recessed ceiling lights and their equivalents make a room feel like a hotel lobby.
Polly S - thanks for information about the warm LED's at Home Depot.
Annie-O - I painted the panelling in my former kitchen a soft, warm, creamy white and I was thrilled with the results. Everyone who knew the "before" raved about the "after." It turned out to be very cozy and cottage-y.
I knew there was a reason I lived in my back room more than any other room in my house! It's cozy! It has a very comfortable futon; nice, long, full curtains; a lush green plant; my flatscreen tv, and lots of movies and books. Now all I need is an area rug that ties it all together. Oh, and it is tucked in the back of my apartment away from everything.
I agree with everything except the warm light bulbs. They make all colors look just wrong to me because they add that yellow tone to everything. I always use cool bulbs, same color as daylight and everything looks so clean and beautiful... I mean, when do you see a beautiful cozy room photographed in yellow light? Hardly ever. And when you do, it just doesn't look good, not to me at least.. If I want some cozy warm light, I use candles. But this is just my opinion :)
Cannot stand overhead lights. Floor lamps, table lamps are the only way to go. Different styles placed around the room ... each with a slightly different type of light, adding "light texture" to different places in the room or living space. That is the best.