Home for the Holidays: 4 Tips to Cozy Up Your Home This Winter

• December 11, 2020

The cold temperatures and gray skies consuming the outdoors this winter need not invade the inside of your home, too. With some thoughtful design and well-placed holiday cheer, you can create a comfortable, festive atmosphere in your home that delivers warmth and joy throughout the season.

Gallagher and Henry sales staff offer these four tips to cozy up your home this winter:

Tip #1: Add Texture
Texture serves a few important purposes in home design. It can add visual weight and contribute to the mood of a room, while the mere presence of different textural elements also prevents a room from feeling sterile. During the winter months, texture gains added importance to balance outside conditions. Use texture to create warmth and coziness by laying a plush rug over the family room’s hardwood floor, adding pillows to couches, or draping a rustic wooden ladder with throws.

Tip #2: Bring the Outdoors In
The holidays can be a stressful time of year and the winter blues are a real annual phenomenon for many among us. While greenery – whether real or faux – serves a design benefit in that it brings color, interest, and texture to any room, various research studies have also linked greenery to reduced stress, sharper focus, and improved mood. While the traditional holiday tree is the simple solution, wreaths, garland, and other seasonal arrangements also fit the bill.

Tip #3: Tickle Your Nose
Scent is often overlooked, but given the sense’s ability to evoke certain emotions or memories, it shouldn’t be. Scientific studies have linked the smell of pine to decreased stress, peppermint to improved energy and concentration, and vanilla, one of the most universally beloved scents, to happiness and relaxation. Baked goods are one simple – and tasty – way to bring pleasant scents into the home, while aromatic candles can do that while also adding soft light to the home. (It is worth noting that more summery scents such as citrus or coconut can help counter winter’s doldrums, especially during the lengthy post-holidays march to spring.)

Tip #4: Light the Night
With limited daylight available, lighting plays a practical role during the winter months. Quite literally, it lights our way through dark hours while it also provides us comfort and warmth. Light also serves an important emotional role, too, as it increases energy. The presence of holiday lights, candles, and other illumination in the home ensures that a safe, snug environment dominates the season.