5 Simple But Surefire Steps to Work More Warmth Into Your Decor

Of all the compliments your home can be given by friends and family that walk through your rooms and halls, perhaps the most lovely and meaningful is calling your home “warm.” And no — we’re not referring to the temperature of a space (though on a particularly cold winter day that’s a nice compliment to get, too). We’re talking about capturing and creating a welcoming feel in your home.

Yep, we’re starting with this tip, because it’s the most vital. Warmth naturally comes from filling a home with things you love — things that mean something to you. Objects with stories and memories from your past. Art you’ve made yourself or found thrifting. Design ideas you wanted to try that might be a little crazy to others. The kind of bold moves that show off your own particular tastes. So the first trick to adding more warmth into your home is making sure there’s more of you in it — whether that’s spending more energy customizing the space you have or following your own instincts.

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Homes that need a little extra warmth will benefit heavily from increasing the kinds of elements that also add actual physical comfort; being comfortable in a space goes hand and hand with it feeling warm and welcoming. From plenty of throw pillows and throw blankets to soft rugs underfoot to chairs you actually want to spend time in, just making a room more comfortable to be in will help infuse it with warmth.

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You can use color — warm colors like reds, yellows and oranges in particular — to wrap rooms in visual warmth, which will add to making the whole home feel warm and cozy. This is an especially helpful tip when you have a more minimally designed home; you can make color work for you without having to add a ton of extra “stuff.”

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Along with including plenty of your personality in a space, you want to make sure your rooms are filled with the little things — bouquets of your favorite flowers, a cute plant in a corner, a stack of of fun design books. It’s candles in scents you love that you actually use. It’s treating yourself! Others in your home will feel treated, too, and that will lend itself to a warm feeling home.

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When in doubt, add wood or other elements that are obviously found in nature, which often bring peacefulness into a space. But you don’t have to live in a wood cabin or dramatically renovate your space; just bring in furniture pieces and accessories that feature natural, rough woods or experiment with other natural materials like baskets or natural fiber rugs.

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