Five Ways to Make your Home Feel Comfortable and Cosy

What makes a home feel cosy? In my mind a cosy space has a comfy reading chair, books and a space to put a cup of tea! But a cosy space is made up of many different aspects.

The following five tips might serve as inspiration to add a comfortable feeling to your space:

1. Fresh flowers or pot plants are a great way to make a space feel welcoming. Flowers or greenery picked from the garden or bought from the grocery shop add life to a room and freshen up a space. I like to put greenery on the dining room table as it is also the enterance to our house. We also recently potted up some violas and petunias for our outdoor table which is in direct line of sight of the living room. I was amazed that it only took a few bright annuals in a pot to really cheer up this small space.A fresh bowl of fruit can also be an inviting addition to a table or kitchen counter top. 
2. Cushions and blankets are also a helpful addition to up the cosiness of a room, especially if you live in a chilly climate or have cool evenings. In spring and summer, light weight cotton throws may be just the ticket to add some colour and texture to a room and as the season changes to autumn/fall and winter some more heavy weight wool blankets might be in order. I love neutral tones, but adding a bit of colour with these decorative elements has certainly added a fun element to our spaces.
3. Lighting is something I tend to forget about, but that adds a lot of warmth and cosiness to a space. Table lamps and floor lamps as well as candles and fairy lights can change the mood of a room from dreary to magical in a moment. Scented candles can also add a lovely atmosphere to an evening at home (or even a long soak in the bath). If it is possible to fit a dimmer switch to dining room and bedroom over head lights, this small modification can create a lot of atmosphere. It might be helpful to have "layers" of lighting that include overhead lights, mood lighting as well as task lighting.
4. Floor Rugs and carpets are another forgotten aspect of warming up a space. Especially in the bedroom where you step out of bed, it is lovely to have a warm mat to step onto. Rugs can also add a design statement to a room and add an injection of colour if necessary and they are useful for demarcating specific areas in a room, such as a reading nook or children's play area. They might also help to take up a bit of wear and tear in high traffic zones.
5. Artwork and meaningful items are the final touch to make a room feel comfortable and cosy. These can be anything that makes your heart glad, from quirky to classic depending on the mood you are trying to create. They are the items that really make a house into a home and lend personality to a space. They can also be changed seasonally or moved around to freshen up a room and add some pizazz.

Do any of your spaces lack cosiness? What are your ideas about what makes a space cosy and comfortable?