Every home needs a bit of cozy, no matter the design style. And yes, even modern. I could talk forever about cozy. Cozy makes me want to be a homebody. In fact, that is why I AM a homebody. Create such beautiful surroundings that you don’t want to leave your home.
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HERE IS A SNAPSHOT of Secrets I will be Sharing:
Décor vs. Architecture
To Trend or Not to Trend: Let Your Home be a Reflection of You
Assessing Your Home: What is missing? What needs to change? What do I like and dislike?
Ways to Make Your Bedroom a Retreat
Adding the Right Accessories
Add Living Things
Celebrate What You Love
Use Good Lighting and the Right Lighting
DÉCOR VERSUS ARCHITECTURE
Since I am going to show you easy ways to create a universal cozy feel, no matter your design style, I will not be discussing architectural elements that truly define DIFFERENT design styles. For example, a barn door creates cozy, but it doesn’t go in a modern space. So, although I love ceiling beams (my favorite), shiplap, and barn doors, I will save those for another blog post. My goal here is to show you simple ways to bring cozy to any design style.
Much of creating cozy has to do with your accessories and how you decorate. It also involves keeping a clean and organized space. But, most importantly, it needs to be a reflection of you; because that is what is going to make you feel the most cozy and comfortable.
LET YOUR HOME BE A REFLECTION OF YOU
There is nothing wrong with following the latest design and décor trends, but I always tell my clients, “Don’t worry so much about being on trend. Let your home be a reflection of you, because that is what will make you happiest and feel most comfortable.”
Have you ever walked into someone’s home and been struck by the fact that it was a true reflection of who they are? Ever wonder how they pulled that off? More than likely it started with assessing their home and if their surroundings reflect who they are.
The one décor secret ALL cozy homes share is that they reflect the people who live there. These homes are simply more inviting and make you want to sit and stay awhile. Does your home reflect what you love? Does your home feel cohesive and inviting? You simply need to reflect on what you love and make sure to fill your home with only those things.
Styles and color palettes come and go, and there’s nothing wrong with changing things up and going on trend. As long the style speaks to who you are, go for it! Have fun expressing yourself, and don’t be afraid to switch things up.
ASSESSING YOUR HOME IS THE FIRST STEP TO CREATING COZY
Everyone wants a cozy home. If your own home isn’t making you feel comfy and relaxed, there’s a decent chance you can resolve this simply by assessing what’s going on and making a few changes. Getting to the root cause of what’s keeping you from feeling “at home” in your own home can make all the difference.
Assess your home, one room at a time. Be honest with yourself about what works and doesn’t work. Likely, there are one or more functionality issues at play:
Lack of space to store your things
Cluttered or messy areas that need cleaning
Too much stuff crammed into too little space
Maintenance issues – there are items that are broken or neglected and need attention
Outdated spaces – décor and furnishings you no longer (or never did!) love
The following steps serve as a guide to help you assess your home. Once you’ve done this, you can create a plan. It is good to start with your kitchen or living room, as these are often the rooms your family likely spends the most time in. You’ll see the biggest impact if you tackle those first.
STEP 1 – Review the Room
What do you like about the room?
What don’t you like about the room?
STEP 2 – Assess Functionality
Is there enough storage?
Are there any storage solutions you can think of that would make the room more functional?
STEP 3 – Is Everything in Working Order?
Is there anything you need to replace or repair?
STEP 4 – Does it Need to be Cleaned?
Does the room need a deep clean or decluttering?
Is there anything in the room that you’re not using that you can remove?
STEP 5 – Is it Aesthetically Pleasing?
Do you like the décor?
Does the room need to be updated?
What would you change about the room if you could?
STEP 6 – Create a Plan
The last step is to develop an action plan based on your assessment. It costs nothing, so start cleaning, purging, and organizing to give your room a fresh slate to work with; and then make your lists of what you’d like to purchase now, and in the future, as well as any repairs that are needed.
WAYS TO MAKE YOUR BEDROOM A RETREAT
Many years ago I actually hung a candlelier (a chandelier made for real candle sticks) hanging in the corner of my master bedroom above a small octagon table with two high chairs. This may seem strange but it worked and was quite romantic. This alone made the bedroom a retreat. Get creative!
The bedroom is the room in the home that speaks relaxation and romance. It should be your quiet place and sanctuary. This can be achieved by creating cozy. Simple steps to at least start on creating a bedroom retreat:
Focus on beautiful material for the drapery, bedding, and upholstery, if you have any chairs in the room. Aside from the walls, the fabric is what you will see the most. Layer your bedding with pillows and a throw on top and toss a throw over the back corner of your chair.
Put a rug under your bed and/or your designated reading and lounge space to define those areas.
Hang a chandelier. There are all types of chandeliers to meet any design style.
If you like to read and relax in bed, mount reading lights on the wall above the bed.
Declutter the top of your dresser, bookshelf, nightstand – anything that has a counter. This includes putting away books you aren’t reading and gathering your jewelry you have strung out.
This is a no-brainer, but throw away garbage and put your dirty clothes in the hamper.
MAKE YOUR BED AND SET THE MOOD!
Make your bed in 5 minutes. If it takes longer than 5 minutes, take some pillows off. It shouldn’t take longer than 5 minutes.
Create a reading nook, even if it just means having a club chair and reading light. Create that separate space to relax, unwind, and curl up with a blanket.
Use FAKE candles on a timer. They are safe and smart; you don’t have to do anything; and if you are wanting romance, you don’t need to interrupt things to light the candle. ;)
Disperse essential oils. They are healthy to breathe and smell wonderful.
You'll notice all three bedrooms below have different design styles but similar decor features for all to accomplish a cozy bedroom. The first room is contemporary boho, the second room is farmhouse, and the third room is shabby chic. The plants, rugs, bedding, lights, and yes, the wall treatments, help define these room as cozy. Sorry, but I had to mention the wall treatments. Even the very small bedroom to the right. They had little space to work with but pulled off cozy quite easily!
Contemporary Boho Farmhouse Shabby Chic
THE BEST CORE ACCESSORIES THAT ADD COZY TO ANY ROOM
Area rugs. THIS IS A MUST, in my opinion, even if you have a carpeted floor. Adding an area rug is essential to bring together and anchor your furniture in any given space. Otherwise, your room looks incomplete and your furniture looks like it’s floating. Be sure to have at least the legs of your furniture touching the rug.
NOTE: If you have kids or pets, you may want to invest in washable rugs from Ruggable.
Soft rugs. The softer the rug, the cozier it gets.
Books: You can never go wrong decorating with books. Books for a bookcase to either read or for decoration, for display on your coffee table, or on your end table to read later. AND, don’t forget design magazines as another great reading décor element for the coffee table.
Plants: Plants are so wonderful I assigned them their own section (see below).
Throw pillows (accent pillows): This is where you can really dress up a sofa, highlight your accent colors in the room, and create a certain mood just by the style of the pillows.
Soft throws: One that makes you want to curl up and read a good book.
Anything faux fur or a cowhide rug: This is ONLY if you love faux fur or cowhide rugs! I happen to love cowhide rugs!
Warm metals or gold accents. Metal is beautiful and gold accents and hardware are all the buzz right now. There is an elegant look and feel with gold accents.
Anything made from natural elements: Think wood, material in your drapery and rugs, a beautiful water fountain, or outdoor elements such as plants (as mentioned earlier), twisted branches, rocks, sand, and seashells.
ADD LIVING THINGS … PLANTS OR FLOWERS
You can’t go wrong with plants or flowers. I am especially a big fan of plants, myself. No matter your design style—from rustic to modern—add some plants to liven up any space. It adds an instant organic and outdoor feel to your space. You can still stay true to the design style you love by choosing vases or containers that represent you. For example, if your style is modern, focus on clean-lined, clear glass, and monotone-colored vases or containers. Or, if you’re into farmhouse, get creative and add plants to an antique jug or tin pitcher.
I LOVE plants, real AND fake. In fact, I have more fake plants than real. They are in every room in my home, and you don’t even need to spend any money on plants, if you have a yard. Just clip off a few small branches with leaves and put them in a vase filled with water. BOTTOM LINE: There are no design fail with plants … no matter your style!
CELEBRATE WHAT YOU LOVE – FAMILY, TRAVEL, COLLECTIONS
Photos of Family and Vacation Spots
Display happy memories through photos of your family and places you’ve traveled or love, like the beach. You may even want a beach-themed room. Family photos are an essential part of a cozy home and hanging kids’ special art projects in the living room or home office are more ways to make a space feel cozy and lived in.
Put Your Collections on Center Stage
Is there anything you’ve been collecting for a long time? Highlight your collection by beautifully displaying it. Just don’t get carried away by cluttering your space with too much of your collection.
GOOD LIGHTING
People use different types of lighting for different purposes. For the purpose of this blog post, if you’re trying to create a cozy feel in your home or a particular room, you do not want to use bright light bulbs, which casts a stark, cold white light. People don’t look good in that lighting, either. Same thing with fluorescent lighting. Focus on soft white or warm white LED lighting.
Make sure your home has plenty of warm lighting. Pick out floor lamps or table lamps that reflect your personal style, and then add them to any areas of your home that feel too dark.
Adding string lights is a great way to add an extra warm glow to a space. Think about how the mood turns to cozy as soon as you add string lights outdoors, like the picture below. Do the same indoors!
Don’t forget to let in natural light. If you’re not getting enough, it might be time to update your window treatments.
CREATE INSTANT COZY BY ADDING STRING LIGHTS ... Indoors OR Outdoors
CHOOSING THE RIGHT LIGHT BULB: Warm White, Bright White, and Daylight
IN CONCLUSION
A cozy home ALWAYS has these 3 things in common—a clean space, an organized space, and a space that represents your personality—and when you use decor that speaks to your style and showcases the things that matter most to you, you’ll automatically create intimate spaces that feel cozier. Not only will your guests enjoy coming over for a visit, but they are not going to want to leave … and neither are you!
Design Realign Blog ... a Blog About All Things Home
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