How to Make Your Home Comfortable
Making Your Home a Place You Want to Be
Your home is where you relax. It is where you watch your children grow, entertain family and friends and unwind after a long workweek. Of all the needs your home meets, comfort is among the most important for both fulltime residents of your home, and loved ones who will visit.
When you are comfortable in an environment, you are more productive and relaxed. Check out the ideas below for making your home, townhouse or apartment, a more pleasant environment for all:
- Mix and Match Textures – Walking into any home goods store, you are greeted with textures of all kinds: soft sheets, fuzzy rugs, patterned curtains and fluffy pillows. Mixing and matching textures creates a welcoming environment. Try these ideas:
- Add a soft blanket to the back of a leather couch.
- Soften verticals and curtains with ribbon (wind the ribbon in between the pole and the fabric).
- Layer your beds with multiple blankets, sheets and comforters.
- Add Personal Accents – After all, it is your house, so it should reflect your family. Scatter photographs throughout your home and surround the common areas with mementos from family trips. Try these ideas:
- Add a collage of family photos going up the staircase, or maybe add a variety of antique iron door stops on the stair treads
- Decorate using your initials.
- Frame a big map and use push pins to mark the places you’ve visited.
- Bring in Nature – Add natural elements to your home. By bringing the outdoors inside you gain health benefits (cleaner air) and help create a tranquil environment. Try these ideas:
- Decorate your dinner table with flowers that are in season.
- Start a herb garden under your kitchen window.
- Dry flowers from a special occasion like a wedding or anniversary and hang them in a common place.
- Control the Smell – The sense of smell has the ability to bring you back to a different time and place. It is a powerful sense that you can take advantage of to bring relaxation to your home. Try these ideas:
- Put a bowl of lemon, rosemary and water in the oven and turn on low to create a soothing scent.
- Boil orange peels for a vibrant and energized scent.
- Expecting guests? Bake cookies to say “welcome.”
- Make Your Bed – Studies have shown that making your bed helps contribute to overall happiness, even if you are the only person who will ever see it. Try these ideas:
- Limit your blankets and throw pillows so you have less to put together in the morning.
- As soon as you wake up – before you do anything else – make the bed.
- Time yourself against a song to get the chore done quickly.
Other things to consider when making your home cozy include limiting technology, playing soft and familiar music in the background, taking advantage of soft colors (light blues and greens) and properly managing the light in common rooms.
Don’t forget the curb appeal of the front of your house, including color, front door accents, wall decorations, use of flowers, landscaping, planters, flower boxes, window shutters and statues add to the comfort and appeal of your home. In addition using the usefulness of the outdoor space makes your home a more pleasant place to be. Consider a pool, patio, spa, fruit or vegetable garden, fountain, fire pit or outdoor kitchen.
All of this both inside and out makes a cozy, comfortable and enjoyable home to return to and live in: a home where friends and family will love to visit.
Additional Resources
- How to Create a Comfortable Home, by freshome.com
- Simple Ways to Make Your Home More Comfortable and Functional, by Jeannette Chasworth
- 9 Unconventional Ways to Improve Your Home, by Richard Taylor
- Making Your Home More Comfortable, by NC Cooperative Extension
- How to Make Outdoor Spaces as Beautiful and Comfortable as Indoors, by tctimes.com
Videos
- Make Your Home Comfortable, by dailymotion.com
- What Makes a Home Comfortable, by HGTV
- Adding Wall Insulation to Keep Your Home Comfortable, by owenscorning
- Comfortable Garden Furniture for Your Outdoor Living Room, by Outdoor Ideas
Education
- Elsevier Store, by interior.rocks
- Learn Interior Design, by nyiad.edu
- Interior Decorator Education Requirements, by study.com
Books
- The Comfortable Home: How to Invest in Your Nest and Live Well for Less, by Mitchell Gold and Bob Williams
- The Comfortable Home, by Jane Burton and Jane Burdon
- The Comfortable Home: Stylish Ideas for Living, by Jessica Elin Hirschman
Apps
- IKEA Catalogue, by Inter IKEA Systems B.V., available on iTunes for free
- Houzz Interior Design Ideas, by houzz.app