Decorating Guides
11 Ways to Cozy Up at Home in Chilly Weather
Feather your nest with extra layers and seasonal arrangements for coziness, comfort and entertainment
When temperatures drop and it starts to get dark at 4:30 p.m., things can seem bleak. Take advantage of these conditions by making your home so cozy that you never want to leave it. This does not mean cranking up the thermostat to a temperature just below "sauna," but rather adding warmth with textiles, accessories and roaring fires, and doing hunkered-down activities. These tips will help you get ready for a little hibernation.
Layer up your dining room table. Add a tablecloth or two, or a runner, plus a bowl of apples, pheasant feathers, candlesticks, candelabras, branches, berries and other autumnal and wintry accoutrements.
Vintage Knit Knacks: 25 Creative Knitting Projects to Enhance Your Home
Get stitching. Find a fun project you can enjoy when you're hunkered down in the house. If you don't know how to knit, it's a great time of year to sign up for a class to get yourself out of the house.
Speaking of knitting, pull out cozy cable-knit accessories. This means anything from fisherman's sweaters to plant snugglies.
Get ready for family movie nights. Organize your DVDs, make your download wish list or reup that Netflix subscription. If you've been putting off setting up your TV for Internet streaming, now's the time.
Get it Done: Organize Your Media Cabinet
Get it Done: Organize Your Media Cabinet
Make sure all of your fire needs are handy. Find that long lighter for a gas-burning fireplace or a pile of dry logs, kindling, newspaper and long matches for a wood-burning fireplace or woodstove.
Adorn your mantel for the season. Add warm colors, branches, berries, brass candlesticks, pinecones and other items. I like to keep my mantel rather sparse in spring and summer, and let it clutter up with more meaningful items as it gets colder out.
Add a small rug next to your bed. There's nothing worse than dragging yourself from underneath your warm covers and having to step onto a cold floor. Add a soft area rug, like this sheepskin throw, so that you'll look forward to that first fuzzy step out of bed.
Make sure books are handy. Because you'll be spending so much more time indoors during this time of year, you'll want plenty of good books to read. Pull down those coffee table books, load up your Kindle and have book swaps with friends to make sure you've got plenty of fresh pages to read. Leave everything out in your favorite reading nooks.
See a slew of stylish ways to leave throws out in the open