apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

mentioned above is what I love- putting socks, clothes and blankets in the dryer and then putting them on.

I'm trying not to turn the heat on this winter, so instead of buying an electric blanket, I've started to use my heating pad! I place it under the sheets, go wash my face and brush my teeth and by the time I return to crawl into bed, it's nice and toasty!

That combined with socks and a warm shower or bath help for a great evening of sleep!

I'm born and raised in Chicago and just moved to LA three months ago. I hardly call it 'cold' out here, but temps can drop. When they do I've just been closing my windows and putting on a pair of slippers. I don't plan on turning on the heat a single time this year.

Instead of Microwaving, I use a tea kettle and the oven to make my hot water for tea and warm my leftovers, both of which help warm the apartment.

I also make lots of pot roasts, soups, stews and mulled ciders in the winter - They help warm and humidify the place too.

I like to cook things in the oven (mac and cheese, lasagna, casseroles, roast chicken and veggies, etc.) then after I'm done cooking and the oven is turned off, I leave the oven door slightly ajar. It warms the room nicely!

I have one of those warm up corn bags- I cuddle on the sofa with my bag, blanket, hot chocolate, and 2 kitties!

Also, close your blinds or drapes at night. It keeps the heat inside that otherwise wants to cool next to the windows.

Okay, I have to ask: what do you mean by cold? I got annoyed when my husband wanted to turn on the heat when it was only 50 out, generally I wait until it drops into the forties. I suspect what LA calls cold, I wouldn't even honor with a "crisp." But I do have cold-weather survival tips. Flannel sheets are a must, heavy blankets (allergic to down, and I like a feeling of weight from my covers.) Throws everywhere: you need them. Wool tights. Wool socks. Hot water bottles for warming the bed or sitting on the couch. Slow cooking braises in the oven, draft-blocking snakes along the doors (ugly but effective), and of course, silk long johns, the New Englander's best friend.

Californians! In Montreal, the winter challenge is how to keep groceries from freezing on the way home from the market.

"I got annoyed when my husband wanted to turn on the heat when it was only 50 out, generally I wait until it drops into the forties."

What does it matter how cold it is outside? It's the temperature inside that you're feeling.

An indoor thermometer (not just the one on the thermostat) is a good reality check. If it's 62 inside, I'm turning on the heat. If it's 68, I'll be more inclined to put something on my feet instead.

We haven't yet plugged in our space heaters for our tiny apartment in Boston, but have kept very cozy with the following: copious amounts of tea, snuggling under a hand-knit blanket in progress, lighting lots of candles (and keeping the overheads off!), wearing broken-in LL Bean slippers, and climbing into a bed at night decked out in flannel sheets (with top sheet, natch) and a hot water bottle tucked in by the feet.

When it's really cold, I take a hot shower at night before bed and blow dry my hair (what a luxury!) so that I can go to bed warm.

We have this problem as well, and buying an electric blanket has been the best money we've spent! I turn it on a few minutes before getting into bed to warm up the mattress, and then sigh with pleasure as I snuggle down at night.

I also wear fleece pj bottoms and put on thick clean socks when I get home from work.

There is a blanket within arm's reach of every seating are in our house as well.

I'm from Boston, but moved to LA 3 years ago and I don't think I've ever turned on the heat since living here. It does get cold (it's a relative thing, when it's 70 during the day and then suddenly drops to 50, it feels VERY cold), but never to the point where I can't warm myself up with a couch, blanket, some popcorn and a movie.

I've noticed that living the valley here in LA, it gets very hot, (90-110), so 70-80 is cold to me now and I'm from PA where 50 is sweatshirt weather. I've been here now for 11 yrs, your body does acclimate to your surroundings.

Candles don't make me any warmer.

And a hot bath actually will keep you up. Take a colder shower, and you'll sleep better. I'm not claiming you'll feel better.

I live in a space with no heat, so I'm pretty good at retaining what we do have. Open your shades and curtains during the day, and if it's warm out, open the windows. Then shut everything up as night and temps fall.

Weatherstripping is your friend. Seal up all the heat leak spots.

Hot food--as in spicy--doesn't make you warmer, so tone down on the the Thai.

Carbs keep you warmer than does protein.

I'm a native Chicagoan. My boyfriend is from Atlanta. He's lived here for over 10 years but still isn't used to the cold. He wears long underwear from, like, September through May and wants to crank up the heat to 72 all the time. I just tell him to quit being a pansy and to do some jumping jacks.

And then, during the summer, I get to hear about how it is so inane that _everyone_ does not have central air conditioning. Good times.

For those of you in colder regions, how low do you let the temperature get in the house before turning on the heat?

We live in a culture that doesn't believe we actually have winter - really we do have a very cold and nasty winter and we pretend to ignore it... And absolutely no heating: You learn to wear more layers and you lose warmth through your head and feet particularly well so keeping socks and a hat on really help. The ultimate warmth fabric is polar fleece... really warm and quick drying so easy to wash. An extra fleecy blanket on your bed or anywhere really helps - they are light and snug.

If you want a glimpse at our winter take a look here:

http://www.se7en.org.za/2008/09/01/spring-has-sprung

I'm in Dallas, TX. It is getting pretty cold here.. around 56F at nights. Still, my little motto is only I need to be warm not my furniture, so I wrap up. Plus, I'm being "green". =)

Oh, wow! Considering that the most uncomfortably cold place I've lived (and I grew up in MN, with a mother who keeps the thermostat set at around 60 degrees all winter) was a basement apartment — until a dehumidifier was purchased — I have a really hard time believing that humid air feels warmer!

My 85lb dog curls up aginst my legs at night so that pretty much eliminates the need to turn on the heater.

get over the unexamined aversion to Wool among the Culturally Progressive. Wool is great, it can be light or heavy, nubby, scratchy or even smooth. And You Will Be Warm. (and wear the cotton under... I agree: woolen underwear gets gross FAST)

keep a sweater and a jacket in the car trunk...

consult your Inner Mom

LilyC - It depends. In my old apartment, I had forced hot air heat that could warm the bathroom in five minutes. I would keep the temp in the apartment at about 58 during the night, throw the heat up to 68 to shower and dress, and back down to 60-62 if I was in the house. I get what the person was saying about it being the indoor temp, not the outdoor that matters, but I've never had a reliable thermostat, and I've certainly never had a thermostat in multiple rooms. So if the living room is registering 60, but the kitchen, which is barely insulated, has no thermostat, what's the house temp? Why bother looking? Whereas I look at the outdoor temperature every day, so that's how I think about temperature. The rule growing up was the the heat didn't go on until November, and I used to stick to that. Anyway, my husband doesn't like it cold, and our new apartment is incredibly drafty (old windows, no storms), so it feels far colder that the thermostat registers. That said, I think we starting putting on the heat when it was registering about 62 (October - I was filled with shame).