At this time of the year, we all want to make things that bit warmer. Even when the weather is feeling unseasonably warm, it’s still not a touch on summer. And that can often leave us feeling blue. Because nobody wants to be stuck in the middle of winter when they could be enjoying summer instead. So, although we can’t fast forward through the seasons and arrive at summer sooner than usual, what we can do is try to make our everyday living situations that little bit more manageable. And to do that, we need to think about heating things up.
But sometimes, when you live in an old house or one that’s just a little bit too cold, you may find that you need to work a little harder to keep it warm. And it’s not always easy to know where you need to start to make this happen. But there are lots of different tricks that you can work with to ensure that your home is kept nice and warm – both in temperature and in the overall feel. Above all else, we often want to make this happen in the living room in particular. So if you’re ready to transform your living space, here are a few ideas to get you started.
Get Some Insulation
It’s difficult to think about increasing the warmth in your home if you’re not able to physically keep it warm. If you know that your home tends to lose a lot of warmth, then the first thing you should do is to improve this. Adding insulation will help – especially if you do live in an older home. If you’re paying a lot of money to heat up your home, and it then all goes, quite literally, out of the window, you have a problem.
Replace The Windows
As part of your insulation mission, or as a separate idea, you could also look into replacing your windows. If you do already have modern double glazing, this may not be necessary at all. However, if you still have single glazing in your home, or you can physically feel a draught in front of them, you should look to get new windows put in. If your home is listed, or if it has an older, country feel, you may not be too happy about having modern UPVC windows put in. So definitely consider shopping around at suitable window styles before you go ahead with this.
Install A Working Fireplace
Now that your living space is a little more insulated, and you have less risk of losing the heat you do produce, you should think about physically heating the room up as much as possible. A working fireplace can help with this. But, at the same time, you should look to learn more about chimney insulation too. You don’t want to have something installed to then lose more heat from the chimney.
https://www.pexels.com/photo/apartment-architecture-contemporary-design-276641/
Block Off The Draught
Another way to ensure that you are keeping as much heat in your living space as possible is to use draught excluders. Depending on the living space that you have, this could really cozy up your room too. Buy laying something in front of your doors, you’ll ensure that the heat coming from your working fireplace stays in the room and doesn’t escape around the house.
Utilize Your Soft Furnishings
At this point, you’re going to want to see how you can make your soft furnishings work for you too. You may or may not have gone with the new window option, but you’re then going to want to take that idea one step further with soft furnishings. Use the right curtains to keep the cold out and the warmth in. You may even like to make some yourself as a fun DIY project.
Work With A Warm Color Palette
We’ve talked a lot about using physical sources of heat so far, but you can also work with a few interiors ideas to create the illusion of warmth too. If you have a lot of cold colors in your living space, it’s always going to feel like a cold room. However, if you start to utilize warm paint colors, you’ll notice that the room instantly feels cozier.
Dress Up The Floor
Then, you’re going to want to look down. Because your floor can also be a key culprit for losing a lot of heat. Carpet can be a good idea for this reason. But, if you do prefer to work with hard flooring, then you’re going to want to lay a rug down to help you keep the heat in. Even if this is just something you do during the winter months.
https://www.pexels.com/photo/shallow-focus-photography-of-black-and-orange-pendant-lamp-179114/
Play Around With The Lighting
Now, we’re going to think about how lighting can work for you here too. You may not realize it, but whiter light will always make a space look bright – but cold too. Warmer lighting choices may seem slightly duller, but they are ideal at this time of year. The light they let of is more of a softer orange, which will always help to create a cozier effect.
Invest In Some Throws
When it comes to getting cozy, you’ve worked hard to make your living space more inviting. But when you sit yourself down on the couch, you may realize that you’re not as comfortable as you may have hoped. So, you’re going to want to pick up some blankets and throws that you can wrap up in and cozy on down with. Using different textures here will really help to keep things snuggly too.
Upgrade Your Heating System
And finally, if you’ve gone through most, if not all, of the points on the list and you’re still not feeling as warm and toasty as you’d hoped, you’re going to want to turn to your heating system. Because it could be the case that the system you have in place just can’t cut it. Investing in a modern upgrade might be all it takes for your living space to finally stay warm this winter.
Disclosure: This is a contributed post.
Share this:
Candid Mama
Recommended To You
3 Comments
Leave a ReplyCancel reply
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
Belinda Burton
December 7, 2017 at 4:56 pmFireplaces, especially those with fans make a huge difference! The temp in our house raises 3-4 degrees within just 15-20 minutes of starting a fire.
Linda Szymoniak
December 7, 2017 at 11:35 pmThis reminds me, I think we need to check the insulation in our attic. We had all new windows put in over the past few years (thermopane), replaced our old furnace with a more efficient one, added a smart thermostat, and did some other things. It’s been a few years since we added insulation so we might need to do that this year.
Donna L.
December 8, 2017 at 5:11 amGood tips, thanks!