Winter has to be one of the most beautiful, yet, somehow, uncomfortable times of the year. While the beauty of snow covering your yard may look impressive, it can make your home extremely cold, not allowing you to wear your regular clothes even at home. With that, you may want to turn up the heat in your abode just to keep you comfortable. Although that may be doable, it can increase your electricity bill, which is never ideal for any household.
If you’re looking for ways to heat your room without having to maximize your heater’s features, you should try to decorate and renovate your home well to keep it warm. While it might mean a few added costs, it can allow your room to look cozy and comfortable, allowing everyone to enjoy the warmth inside your home.
Moreover, listed below are the ways to keep your home cozy while you’re on a budget:
1. Add Bean Bags
While using bean bags is highly popular in the 90s, they’re making their way back into modern times, but with an updated and fresher look. With the right bean bag, you can cuddle in your seat and allow warmth to surround your body. You can just expect to have a relaxing day as you sit on your bead bag while you read your favorite book or drink some delicious hot cocoa.
There are plenty of bean bags you could choose from. While selecting a classic will never go out of style, going for beautiful furry bean bags will help make any space look cozier and feel more comfortable. Plus, you can imagine how soft the fur would be as it touches your skin. It’ll feel like sitting on a huge furry jacket, which can make you drift into sleep.
2. Seal Your Doors And Windows
During the strike of winter, expect that the cold temperature might go inside your home, making you feel extremely uncomfortable, especially if you’re trying to sleep at night. Moreover, even if you turn the heat up inside your room, if there are open gaps inside, it may not heat your room effectively, increasing your electricity bills.
To trap the temperature inside and prevent the cold outside from coming in, you should seal your doors and windows with the help of a sealant strip that you attach to their edges. They’re a cheap alternative that can effectively help keep the cold away from your room.
3. Use Thick Curtains And Drapes
You can allow your home to look cozy by using curtains and drapes as your window treatments. The softer and thicker the fabric that you use, the more relaxing and calming the vibe will be. Apart from providing coziness, they might also help keep the warmth from going out from your home. With that, adding thick curtains and drapes would only be practical.
As you add curtains and drapes inside the room, ensure that their colors match well together for a balanced look. For a cozy environment, it would be best to go for neutral and warm colors, such as beige, gray, brown, or orange.
4. Add Floor Rugs
If your floors are made of hardwood, you might want to incorporate some rugs. While changing to a full carpet can be an option, it’s not cheap and might not be ideal during summer. With a rug, the maintenance and care required would only be minimal.
You can choose to place floor rugs in your living room, ideally by your fireplace, to promote coziness. Moreover, it would be helpful to use rugs that are wide enough to cover the entire area for a maximum effect. Just ensure that you vacuum your carpets regularly and deep clean them at least once a month to prevent dirt buildup as well as keep allergies at bay.
5. Create A Book Nook
If you’re a bookworm and enjoy reading books, you should consider having one in your home. Ideally, you should pick a spot in your home near the window or at one of the corners—basically, any area where reading in peace can be realized.
As you add a book nook, try adopt a minimalist design for your bookshelf using just a single color of paint. Then, you can add a comfortable seating near it, alongside a suitable small table. If you’re planning to have a book date with your partner and friends, you can add a small sofa or two-seater table set wherein you can read together in peace.
If you’re reading alone, you can add a seat that gives you utmost comfort. For one, you can even use a good recliner sofa if you wish. For maximum comfort, you can add a small end table beside your chair, so you’ll have a place wherein you can set down your hot cocoa and snacks if you need to have a short break.
6. Add A Throw Blanket
There’s nothing better than being able to snuggle up on your sofa with a blanket and enjoy the temperature surrounding your body. If you’re a person who wants to cover yourself with the softest blanket, you should consider adding a throw blanket as it can help keep you warm when it’s cold.
As you add a throw blanket, ensure that you place it strategically in your sofa and avoid overcrowding the whole space with throw pillows as it can only make the room look crowded. With this, you should still try to create a perfect balance as to the amount of throw pillows you use and the size of your throw blanket.
To ensure maximum comfort, you can choose to use fleece, wool, or knit as the primary material for your throw blanket. If you have plenty of yarns, you may want to start a knitting project and create your own. This way, you can save money, while, at the same time, allowing your home to have a personal touch.
7. Surround Your Home With Candles
Apart from maximizing the use of fabric in your home, you should also consider adding plenty of candle. The warmth they can emit once you light them up can absolutely help make the house look and feel cozy any time of the day.
For maximum relaxation, you might want to purchase scented candles that release relaxing scents, such as bamboo, lavender, and rosemary. You can even place them on beautiful candle holders to prevent the wax from dripping on surfaces.
However, it’s important to note that when lighting candles, ensure that you never leave the room unattended. If you have kids around, you should ask them to stay away from the candles as it can be hazardous if they play with fire.
8. Decorate With Fairy Lights
Decorating any room or space with fairy lights can help provide a cozy and warm ambiance, especially at night. Ideally, you should use fairy lights with warm colors, and place them in areas such as over your fireplace, bedroom headboard, or book nook.
When purchasing fairy lights, ensure that they’re safe for prolonged use and you’re buying them from authorized sellers to prevent any electrical problems. Moreover, you don’t have to make it extremely organized with fairy lights as you can play with their structure any way you like—there are basically no rules here!
9. Use Soft Furnishings
You can maximize the coziness inside your home by using soft furnishings, such as a fabric sofa or dining chair. While those two examples might sound expensive, there are plenty of soft furnishings you can purchase in thrift stores or affordable shops that can allow you to have a cozy ambiance, even while you’re on a budget.
When shopping for soft furniture, be meticulous with their quality. You don’t want to spend on cheap furniture made out of low-quality materials, which can pose health and safety risks later one. Moreover, you should also ensure that the color matches well with your interior, as well as you ought to choose the right size. Oversized furniture might make any space look crowded and disorganized rather than cozy.
10. Repaint Your Walls
Repainting your walls by yourself would help you save plenty of money, especially that all you need to spend on will be paints and painting materials. You can choose to repaint them with warmer shades, which can help make any space look and feel cozy and homey.
You can choose to paint your walls with off-white, gray, or beige, and, then, use complimenting colors for your sideboards and fireplace. As you paint your walls, ensure that you cover your floors and sideboards to prevent splattering paint all over them.
Conclusion
Making your home cozy will help put you in a good mood, especially during winter. While some home improvement projects can make you spend more, there are plenty of affordable alternatives you could take on, which may help eliminate maximizing your heater use.
As you decorate your home, always try to look for cheaper alternatives by going to thrift stores and asking your family or friends if they have some lying around and waiting to throw out. This way, you can save money and have a cozy home at the same time.
