How to make your house more beautiful this winter
With colder months ahead of us it is time to make your house super cosy and beautiful. But even if you’re a budgeting pro and have most of the Christmas presents sorted, it is definitely not the time of the year when you want to be spending money on refurbishment. But you can still add some lovingness to your home without braking the bank, or in fact, without spending a penny.
1.Add fresh flowers to your home. I think at this time of the year it is almost necessity (flowers are permanently on my shopping list, and believe me, after couple of weeks of moaning your partner will get use to it too). Just buy what you can afford, even the cheapest bunch of chrysanthemums on your dinning table or on the sideboard will make you smile (and yes, Him too, but He just won’t admit it). Make sure to position your flowers in accordance to your kid’s capabilities. Even if £2 is all you spent on those flowers, you don’t want them to die prematurely by being tipped over, squashed and sat on by your little angels (that’s the face you’ll see if that happens). And you definitely don’t want water all over your carpet, broken glass and a night at A&E which will then lead you to swearing not to buy flowers ever again (I think I got a little bit carried away, but you get the point, right?). So back to the flowers. If you avoid all of the above the flowers will make you feel better, will make your home look prettier and it’s just another way of adding a bit of colour to any room. (literally any room). But remember never leave your shop bought flowers wrapped in a foil and just dumped in something that “will do as a vase”. Instead trim the flowers to your desired length and arrange them in your favourite vase or jug (or create few little bouquets and display them in little jars).
2.Make your bedroom super cosy by adding throws and cushions (I know, I already mentioned that in that tiny little post where I actually went fully on about the cushions, oops…) Introduce as many texture as you can as that will add warmth to the room. And definitely experiment with darker colours, like black or navy blue to create a little cocoon for those long cold evenings. If you’re renting or simply don’t fancy the idea of running around the room with a paint brush, inevitably trying not to splash that gorgeous deep colour all over your bed linen (which is not so gorgeous splashed all over your bed linen), then try by adding dark accessories. This will still add lots of interest and cosiness to otherwise blank room (that wall behind the bed is the only one painted white in this bedroom, which I hugely regret).
3. Control the clutter, give away old toys and get rid off as much as you can. Don’t just throw things away though. If there is still wear left in them, give them to charity shops and maybe Santa will bring you a present for being good (just make sure you tell Santa what you want, they’re rather useless in figuring that out:)). Everything else that is worth keeping, need keeping or you just want keeping (that’s probably the biggest chunk of it) store away nicely and neatly in pretty boxes like these from Matalan (£15 for two).
4. Turn the lights on! And by that I don’t mean your main lights (that boring pendant light hanging from the ceiling in the middle of your room). Think about different parts of your home and how you use them. Add task lighting to your reading spot, oversized floor lamp behind your sofa and table lamps all over your house to create a mood. And remember, fairy lights are not just for kids rooms, you can hang them on the walls, push them into jars or even try to spell out a word by wrapping the light’s cable around little nails hammered to the wall (just make sure you plan and position first).
5. And finally – take care of your fireplace. Because if you don’t do it now, when the evenings are longer and colder, then when? If you lucky enough to have a real wood burner in your living room, then all you have to do is to put your feet up and enjoy it. They are beautiful as they are, even if it gets a bit messy. You just can’t beat the real flames, the smell and the cosiness that comes with it. But it doesn’t mean you can’t recreate that cosiness. In fact, you can with a gas stove, but it’s gonna cost you a fortune. So if (like me) you don’t have a fortune and in fact you don’t even have a fireplace (we removed our ugly gas fire and left an empty hole, hoping that some cost-effective idea will strike us like a lighting) how about faking it? Fairy lights, candles, Christmas decorations and everything else that comes to your head (or your hand for that matter) can be good. And what’s best is it didn’t cost a fortune, in fact it didn’t cost a penny.