Getting Your Home Ready For The Colder Months
Being from Cape Town, the southern most point of the southern hemisphere, it has taken me a long time to adjust to London weather, in fact, I still don’t think I’ve acclimatised! I’m slowly growing to love Autumn in particular, I usually take the crisp mornings and golden leaves as my cue to start preparing our home for the colder months. As much as I love Summer, there is something special about cosying up with the family for long, lazy comfort-food lunches and movie nights.
House Maintenence
Around September, we usually start with the boring and obvious building maintenence. Preparing your house or apartment for the Winter is a good way to avoid dealing with frustrating little issues when it’s freezing outside. Clearing gutters, testing heating, servicing boilers, fixing little leaks, all do not fill me with joy, but at least once done, you can forget about these tasks for a few months and enjoy your cosy home. Cleaning the windows just before the cold months set in is also something I have found myself doing, when you’re spending more time indoors - you’ll want to be able to look out without being reminded of yet another task to do when the weather improves!
The Autumn Clean
Maintenence out of the way, I turn my attention indoors, I’ve always been a fan of the “Spring Clean”, but I think the “Autumn Clean” is just as therapeutic, if we are spending more time indoors, it’s important that our personal space is clean and well-organised. With Covid-19 still affecting our daily lives, we are potentially facing having to spend even more time in out homes, deep-cleaning and organizing your your home will create a calmer environment for everyone, the order and calm can relieve stress and make the home more enjoyable for the entire family. I’ve written before about an American study that proved that clutter and disorganisation can negatively affect many people, being in a disorganised space raises cortosol levels - causing a similar effect to PTSD! So get tidying everyone!
This little cabinet hides all the kids toys, giving us somewhere to stash them each evening, making the entire open plan area a more pleasant place to be. You can read the full blog post here.
Getting Cosy
Moving on to my favourite part - creating an atmosphere that literally induces instant relaxation! With family life, businesses, work and other commitments, between my husband and I, we are always pressed for time, but we still like to make the effort to make home a special and relaxing place to be for both our little kiddos, and visiting family and friends. A tip I have is to make a craft project with the kids for the decorations, so you get a double whammy! This year to bring in the autumn, we decided to make simple leaf bowls out of clay, you can find the tutorial over on the blog, and some very simple leaf art.
Layer-Up
Throws, furs rugs and cushions, add all of them! Nothing is cosier. Layer different textures and sizes of cushions, and if you like, you could even swap your usual ones over to softer, more textured ones in a different colour as the seasons change.
Add Texture And Seasonal Colour
All of the above are great ways to add texture, but if you want to take it further, add some beautiful dried flowers and foliage. The flower shops are bursting with them at the moment and they last a really long time. I’ve recently added some pampas grass to our dining area and I love the texture, softness and height it gives to the room. Add some Autumn colours too - greens, reds, ochres and natural materials like leathers and sheepskins all work.
Lighting And Candles
Having control over your lighting is key, especially at this time of the year when the darkness draws in so much earlier. Lighting is one the most important elements of the design that we discuss with our clients. Having various circuits and dimmers will give you ultimate control for creating that cosy atmosphere. If you don’t have the best lighting set up, you can use strategically-placed table and floor lamps to create the mood. And what would cosy even be without candles? There is great satisfaction in the ritual of dimming the lights and lighting the candles to get ready for a cosy evening in.
