Want to escape the stresses of life? What you need is a retreat. But, who can afford that? Surprise: you probably already have the space in your home. You just need to decorate it.
Look For Comfortable Furniture
There’s a huge difference in furniture that looks great vs feels nice. When you walk into a formal living room, you’re basically staring at furniture that’s great to look at but not always comfortable to sit on. Looking at options online, or physically visiting stores to find out what you would want to have in your house, it is you who decide on what is best for your house.
You could go for something classy like wooden furniture, while on the other hand, investing in these Fombag beds will make your space feel cozier, and it will feel great.
When trying to decide on what you should switch out. Think long and hard about whether you could see yourself curled up on a sofa on a Sunday afternoon, drinking tea, or reading a book, or just vegging out watching T.V.
If you can’t, move onto the next sofa, chair, or whatever.
Fill Your Home With Soft, Comfortable Things
Throw pillows, blankets, soft rugs – these are things you want to fill your home with. Whether it’s the living room, bedroom, or the dining room, make your home cozier by filling it with things that you love to touch.
Of course, this doesn’t always mean that those things have to be fuzzy or soft. Maybe you love the feel of an old leather chair. Or, maybe your grandmother had an old wooden rocking chair that always felt unusually comfortable. Think about things you would want to feel in your house, and fill it up with those things.
Mix Up Your Decor
Don’t buy all of your furniture from one store, unless you want your house to look like a showroom.
This is easy to do if you’re shopping vintage stores or antique shops. A 1940s rock maple couch could be nicely paired with a more modern lamp, if that lamp was “modern retro” styled, for example.
Apart from the interior, there are plenty of ways you can redecorate the exterior too. If your house has a garden or a lawn, you can add new plants or bushes to it. You can also call for concrete sidewalk installation services close to you and have them install a walking space on your lawn.
Use Warm Colors
Pick up at least 20 different paint chips at your local hardware store. But, don’t overlook specialty paint stores too.
Many of the big box stores can come close to a paint mixture sold by top-tier paint manufacturers like Benjamin Moore, but they can’t do an exact match. So, compare tints from big box stores with boutique paint stores that sell the higher-end paints.
You might be surprised by the difference a single shade makes.
When painting, use warmer colors. Darker colors might initially seem overbearing, but they also add warmth. Maybe you don’t want to feel like you’re living in a cave.
That’s fine. Use darker colors on accent walls, or for the trim, to add warmth to the room. You can also paint the ceiling a light color to create a more “open” and light feeling when the walls are a darker color.
Using Lighting
Lighting is yet another important consideration. Light sources can make a room look like a cave or like you’re outside.
Recessed lighting, for example, gets a bad rap because it often produces harsh shadows. At the same time, it can create focus in any room or provide accent lighting to emphasize paintings, wall art, a sculpture, or a piece of furniture.
Table lamps can be used to bring lighting down to a more “human” level, creating a sense of intimacy. Overhead lighting will make a room feel very large.
You should experiment to find the right balance of light and shadow.
If you do a lot of entertaining, you might want both intimate lighting and lots of overhead or indirect lighting.
In the bedroom, intimate lighting is almost always preferred over indirect lighting, because you mostly spend time in here sleeping – you just don’t need a lot of light.
In the kitchen, you will want a lot more overhead lighting. In the living room and dining room, use a mix of both.
Switch Out Cold Lighting For Warm Lighting
With everyone switching to energy-saving CFLs, one thing got left out of the equation, and that’s warmth. Most of the CFLs on the market have a bluish tint – it feels cold.
Time to replace them, again.
Seriously, you can find CFLs with a more yellowish hue or tint, or you can move to an LED lightbulb with a yellowish tint.
The yellow warmth of traditional incandescent light bulbs is why so many people loved them. Going back to that feel, without the high cost of ownership, will make a dramatic difference in how you feel in your home.
Larry C. Halliday is a buyer for a home furnishings retailer. He likes to share his insights on home improvement. You can find his posts on many home renovation and design blog sites.
