3 Tricks to Make Your Home Cozier

There are times when we work so hard to make our living spaces sleek and stylish that we forget about making it feel like a home.

Cozy and bright sitting room with fancy fireplace

by Garrison Hullinger Interior Design / Photography : www.blackstoneedge.com

Your living space is an empty canvas eagerly awaiting your artistic direction, but it’s also the place where you gather with loved ones, prepare your meals, relax after a long day and sleep soundly. It’s the one place where we can seek total solace and solitude. Here are a few tips for maintaining a comfortable atmosphere in your home.

Use as much natural light as possible. People make the mistake of covering their windows with heavy drapes and substituting natural light with fluorescents and harsh overhead fixtures. In addition to taking a serious toll on your utility bill, unnatural light can make your space look more like a show room than a home. Embrace natural light for as many hours of the day as possible by keeping curtains wide open in every room, and switch to soft lighting at the end of the day.

Cozy-living-room-design-ideas — Cozy living room design with fancy fireplace mantle

by CWB Architects

Grey-and-Red-living-room-with-tufted-furniture — Grey and Red living room with tufted furniture

by Mark English Architects in Collaboration with Geoffrey De Sousa

Cozy-nook-design-for-guests — Cozy bedroom design with built-in beds and book nooks

by Sullivan Building & Design Group

Design a welcoming entranceway. Decorate the foyer to your home with warm, friendly colors. Keep a shoe rack next to the door and lay down a soft rug to prompt your guests to take off their shoes. As everyone knows, it’s much easier to feel at home when you’re padding around in bare feet.

Cozy-dark-living-room-with-wooden-beams-and-staircase — Cozy dark living room with wooden beams and staircase

River Bend Ranch by Phillips Development

Modern-living-room-with-stone-finished-walls-and-cozy-atmosphere — Modern living room with stone finished walls and cozy atmosphere

Basin Ledge Residence by Dick Clark Architecture

Remember small touches make a big difference. A few tea lights on a mantle, a throw blanket draped haphazardly across a corner of the sofa and a handful of well-read books on scattered about the coffee table. These little additions to your home will remind both you and your guests that a home is a place of comfort. A too-sterile home can give the impression that you are pretentious and unwelcoming, and it can also infringe on your own ability to enjoy a few moments of cozy solitude.