When it starts getting cold, we tend to start moving quickly from the gardens and parks back indoors, trying to create the warmest atmosphere we can. Warm blankets, candles, and certain colours are all there to help us. Here are five accessories and refinements that should be part of every home.
Blankets and throws
What’s your idea of the perfect winter evening? Perhaps wrapped in a blanket with a mug of hot tea and a favourite film or book? Well, blankets and throws are essential features of every home. They don’t simply warm you through, but somehow manage to make the whole interior seem warmer too. And what is more, they are exactly the right type of household accessory to help you change the colour scheme of your interior to match the way you feel, or indeed the season of the year.
Flannel or microplush bedding
Bedding serves the same purpose in the bedroom as blankets and throws in the living room. And if you reach for microplush or flannel bedding, you won’t feel the cold on even the chilliest of nights. The general rule is that the temperature in the bedroom should be around 3-4 degrees lower than in the rooms you spend time in during the day. The lower temperature helps you doze off more easily and sleep peacefully. If you choose the right combination of bedding and temperature in the bedroom, you won’t feel either cold or hot.
Candles
Much has been written down the generations about the magic of sitting by the warmth of a fire. And while the natural replacement for an open fire in the home is the fireplace, this is out of the reach of many, and indeed sometimes unwanted. It is at this point that candles come into their own. Perhaps you are thinking that candles are a fairly poor substitute, but the fact is that the very opposite is true. Candles have an incredible psychological effect: they build a pleasant atmosphere, help us relax after a hard day, and are even able to give us the feeling that the temperature in the room is a bit higher than it is. What is more, if you reach for candles with a special wick that crackles like burning wood when lit, you will take the whole experience to a whole new level.
Warming colours
Let’s stick with the psychological aspect for a moment. After all, certain colours have the same effect as candles, more specifically the warmer shades that adorn the countryside around us at the beginning of autumn. Perhaps an optimistic, but deeper yellow, orange, which evokes fire and the radiant heat it gives out, red, quite literally charged with energy, or different shades of beige and brown, coral, or softer peach. This does not mean, of course, that you should start changing the colours of your walls or your main furniture. It is more than enough if you add in some warmer colours with accessories – perhaps the blankets or bedding mentioned above.
Lights and lamps
With winter comes the dark: dusk arrives sooner and dawn later. It is no secret that a lack of light has a negative effect on our mental state and can easily darken our mood, meaning that there is nothing else for it than to at least surround ourselves with artificial light in the winter, best of all in warmer yellow shades that evoke natural sunlight. If you don’t have enough sources of light at home, you can reach for table lamps and floor lamps. The best idea is to get one with a dimming switch that allows you to regulate the intensity of the light. Meaning you can easily increase the light when you want to read, or dim it when you want to watch television and rest after a hard day.