While I was on vacation I was inspired by Arhaus Furniture to do a blog post on how I transition from Holiday décor, to cozy winter décor. There's so many warm and cozy ideas for the living room that can help us get through these last few months before spring arrives.
Today I'm connecting with Amy's Five on Friday link party and sharing
Five Ways I cozy-up our living room for winter, after the Holiday season.
Living in Indiana, after the Holidays, we still have a couple of gray months of weather. It still gets dark pretty early in the evening, we have very little sunshine, and it's cold outside.
So for me, cozy alludes to an atmosphere of warm and comfy,
and doing things I enjoy...inside!
I think of
fires in fireplaces,
or the glow of lamps or candles,
warm drinks,
or a glass of wine,
books,
magazines,
linens, yarn, blankets and afghans,
old movies,
snuggling under cozy blankets....
So, when I "cozy-up" a room I surround myself with those kinds of things.
Things I enjoy,
things I love,
warm-comfy things.
ONE
Lighting
We have a fire in our fireplace nightly. The fireplace is in our den,
but we open the French doors between the den and the living room, and you can see it from both rooms.
Sconce lights add a cozy atmosphere to the rooms.
We have little battery operated candle lights that are on timers (they actually came that way) and we have them set to come on at dusk and turn off at dawn.
And we have several small lamps scattered around our house that we turn on for atmosphere, and sometimes use as night lights.
I think lighting is important to obtain a cozy atmosphere, whether you use a fireplace, candles, or sconce lights.
. TWO
Warm drinks and seasonal mugs!
I put away the Christmas mugs,
and I set out the spring-like mugs.
I make rich vanilla latte's, dark hot chocolate, black silk coffee, or English black tea for a
warm cozy drink in an adorable seasonal mug.
How can you not feel cozy and comfy with a warm drink in your hand?
THREE
Books and Magazines
I never go anywhere without a book or a magazine or both, and I have them in every room in our home. There is something about the covers of real books, with real pages, and pretty covers.
During the holidays I have a lot of Christmas cookbooks out, I read Christmas novels during November and December, and I look through a plethora of Christmas magazines for decorating ideas.
We have this bookshelf behind our sitting area, in the living room.
It is now holding summer beach reads, crafty and garden books. I use some of the books that have nice covers for decorating. A stack of beach reads or garden books make you feel like spring is right around the corner.
Our sitting area.
Besides the bookshelf behind the big green chair, I have a tray with magazines on it, and a basket with magazines on the coffee table.
FOUR
Yarn, linens, blankets, afghans!
(or fiber - not the edible kind)
I love to use linens, quilts and afghans to change the look and feel of a room.
Christmas season
Now
When I crochet for the holidays, I am usually making Christmas items out of red, green, or white colored yarn. After the holidays I pull out beachy, spring-like yarn for my projects.
Beachy colors....
I have afghans and blankets in the same beachy springy colors, to freshen up the room, and lift my mood!
Bright colors
Spring colors,
I've been buying linens at rummage sales for several years.
I think it's one of the quickest ways to change the looks of a room.
So here is our couch, which I love by the way. It's so comfortable, it makes into a bed, and it matches just about anything.
But if you want to do a quick change to the look of it...
(make the dog get in his bed and off the couch for starters!)
throw a bedspread or a quilt over it, linens over the coffee table, and you have a brighter room that will help get you through the gray dark days of winter!
This will also prolong the life of the couch, especially if you use it as often as we do.
I like to layer linens.
And yes, you could buy a slipcover for the couch, but a bedspread bought from a garage sale works just as well, is inexpensive, and has dual purpose!
FIVE
Flowers and plants.
I love them...PERIOD
The flowers are are called "manager's special" at one of our local grocery stores. They are usually anywhere from $1.99 to $5.99 and if you cut the stems and freshen the water daily, they will last a week or two.
So, when I take a warm drink in a seasonal mug, and snuggle up in a spring colored afghan, on my comfy couch, and take some time out for myself to read or crochet, then I'm cozy!
And that's where all of my ideas come together, for the living room.
Here are some cozy, warm and inviting pictures, all taken in our living room,
using the five things that I think help cozy up a room.
Don't forget to say hi to other bloggers at Love Made my Home.
Just click on Five on Friday and you will be taken to the list of bloggers who also joined the link party.
Have a great weekend, and if I may ask,
How do you cozy up your living room for the winter season?
By the way, I am not receiving a stipend from Arhaus, nor am I advertising for them, nor are they advertising for me! These are my pictures, my furniture, and my living room!
My dog isn't getting paid for posing for these pictures either! He didn't actually pose. He's spoilt and lazy and spends a lot of time laying around and happened to get in a few pics!
