As the days get shorter and the temperatures drop, your best defense against the winter blues is to make your home warm & cozy. Spending more time indoors, as we have been during the pandemic, doesn’t have to be a downer if you love your surroundings.
If you’re searching for ways to add warmth to your home for fall and winter, this article compiles tons of terrific, doable ideas that don’t require complete redecorating. Of course, the most obvious ways you might warm up your rooms is with light fixtures or a crackling fire in the fireplace, we cover those ways and more below.
Read on for tips on updating your color palette, adjusting your lighting, sprucing up your entry, and many more ways to cultivate a cozy haven.
1. Change Your Color Palette with the Changing Leaves
The color palette you choose will most likely have a strong effect on how a room makes you feel. If you want to know how to warm up a room, choose color palettes or accents that include hues in the red, orange, yellow, or gold families. Within these colors, you can find unique shades that match your decor, whether you want a rusty orange or a mustard yellow.
Adjusting the color palette of a room doesn’t have to mean painting walls and buying new furniture. The best way to make room color updates quick and simple is to start with neutral home decor and update accents seasonally.
A simple white bed, for example, can easily be accessorized for fall with red and orange pillows or a faux fur throw. With this method, you can transition smoothly into the holiday season, swapping out oranges and reds for your preferred wintertime palette, whether that’s blue and silver or simple white and gold.
2. Add Warmth with the Right Lighting
Warm lighting is a must for fall and winter decor. As the days get shorter, having multiple sources of warm light can make a home feel cozy and peaceful. For the best overall effect, use multiple layers of lighting in your home.
In your living room, make sure you have enough smaller table lamps so that you don’t need an overhead light at all times, but also bring in other light sources. Natural firelight and candlelight bring in heat, light, and a sense of nostalgia.
Electric candles in a window share the inviting warmth of your home with the outside world. String lights are another easy option that you can add to a headboard, a floral display, or a mantelpiece.
3. Accessorize with Autumn and Winter in Mind
Fall and winter are all about settling in and enjoying the quality time spent with the people you love. The right accessories can make these experiences even better. As you move into the fall season, make sure you have enough of the right accessories in the right places in your home. This means plenty of throw pillows, blankets, and accent rugs.
When you’re considering how to warm up a room with accessories, try to work in at least one of the following elements:
- Cozy fabrics: This can include wool, chenille, and oversized knits.
- Faux fur: You can choose from many different styles and colors of faux fur for pillows, rugs, and more.
- Buffalo plaid and flannel: Nothing says fall more than a touch of buffalo plaid, whether in black and white or black and red.
Whatever accessories you choose, make sure to keep them handy so you can quickly cozy up. Try keeping a basket of pillows near your sofa, or display earthy-hued wool throws along the arm or back of your sofa or favorite chair.
4. Add Some Wall Art with Fall Themes
Art is a great way to easily update your decor because it can be quickly switched out and stored for the next season. Many stores carry fall-themed wall art that you can hang on walls or arrange on your mantle.
If you have a chalkboard wall, update it with fall-themed quotes, sayings, and images. For modern homes consider having some of your favorite photos blown up and printed in sepia tone.
5. Spruce Up Your Front Porch
Updating your front porch decor for the fall and winter is a great way to improve your curb appeal and add warmth to your front entry. Here are a few ideas to get you started:
- Hang wreaths on your front door. Experiment with traditional wreaths and also wreaths made of more uncommon materials, such as dried cornhusks or pages from old books.
- Add a touch of seasonal greenery in the form of mums or miniature evergreen shrubs.
- Bring in warm lighting with lanterns or string lights.
- Use pumpkins of all sizes for front porch decoration. Get crafty and paint pumpkins in metallic colors or go minimal with all-white painted pumpkins.
- Create a cozy seating area with any extra space you have. Add a cushion and a chunky knit blanket to an outdoor swing or seat. Surround it with a few solar-powered lanterns for added ambiance, and you have a perfect setting for sipping hot cocoa and cider.
6. Create a Tea and Coffee Nook
Simple pleasures like a cup of your favorite tea and coffee are a quick way to warm up even the dreariest day. Bring the coziness of a coffee bar into your living room in a few simple steps.
Use a side table or a credenza to hold a coffee maker of your choice plus bowls containing coffee pods, tea bags, hot cocoa sachets, and all of your favorite coffee and tea fixings. Stack a few mugs on the table and position it next to your coziest chair.
7. Bring in Touches of Nature
Bringing nature inside during fall and winter is a great way to celebrate the seasonal changes while staying warm and dry indoors. Mantelpieces and chandeliers are two perfect canvases for adding seasonal garlands of fall leaves or evergreens. Fall leaves also look beautiful as bouquets.
Other items, such as dried flowers, colorful dried corn cobs, and acorns, can be used around your house as decor. Try filling a large glass candle holder halfway with acorns and nestling a candle in it for a fall-themed accent.
Final Thoughts
Picking out fall and winter decor is a wonderful way to flex your creative side. Whatever your decor style or budget, there are plenty of ways, both large and small, to add a warm, seasonal touch to your home. Use one, such as LED table lamps, or all these tips to start creating a home you won’t want to leave until spring.
