Whether you’re reaching for the cocooning comfort of your Oodie or zipping up your epic new winter boots, the cooler months demand a wardrobe changeover, and for maximum snugness, we recommend treating your home to a similar makeover, too. On the home front, the focus is on dialling up the warmth and cosiness and creating a welcoming space for yourself and for year-round entertaining. This winter, there are plenty of easy and affordable ways to restyle and turn up the heat – and we’re not talking about an abundance of nanas quilts or animal print mink throws. Here’s how to restyle with style.
1. Maximalism, it’s back, baby!
In recent years, minimalistic uniformity has been the biggest home styling trend, most likely thanks to Kim K’s weirdly empty, entirely concrete mansion, which is all about being as minimal and uniform as humanly possible. While this has been lauded for its ability to create a sense of clarity and spaciousness, Vogue claims this is ‘boring’, and now home styling has taken a complete 180 flip with maximalist design elements taking the lead. What is involved in this, you might ask? It’s all about layering textures, injecting colour, blending old and new, and reducing the uniformity of a space, but in a decluttered way. In winter, this leads to a more homey, unique, and cosy feel.
2. Up the ante with the art of layering
With our new interior design and styling rule of maximalism established, mixing, and layering textures is the perfect way to up the ante – and it couldn’t get any further from the echoes of minimalism! But before you go all in with patterns on patterns, there is a bit of an art to mastering this technique. Start small, and keep it harmonious by adding velvet pillows (any colour of your choosing, but more on that in the next few recommendations) to your leather couch, replacing cotton or linen throws with opulent wool, draping a sheepskin over your wooden chair, or swapping out the jute rug for something plusher. Not only will you embrace the interior styling secret of layering, but injecting fabrics like wool, sheepskin, and velvet will ensure you’re cosy for the cool days ahead.
3. Get your dose of nature – indoors
With less exposure to sunlight and shorter days creeping in, our time spent in nature naturally decreases over the winter months. To lessen this, disconnect and prop up our green time over screen time, turn your attention to indoor plants – and not the plastic kind. If you’re not already a doting plant parent, get your houseplant haven underway with some easy-care indoor ferns like the lush and low-maintenance Philodendron Xanadu or the Zanzibar Gem (commonly known as the ZZ plant), which happily thrives on neglect. If nurturing plants purely for aesthetics isn’t enough, turn your attention to something more rewarding, like herbs or mighty-on-nutrition microgreens that can happily be grown indoors. While they’ll take a little more work, your efforts are edible.
4. Infuse warmth with the right colours
It goes without saying that colour plays a significant role in how a space feels. It’s partly psychological, with different colours evoking moods, feelings, and memories. With warmth being key during winter, you want your home to feel like a big, enveloping hug. This can typically be done with hues reminiscent of warmer days, like oranges, yellows, gold, and reds, or with darker, moody hues of deep blues and forest greens, which create an all-encompassing, cosy ambience. Whether you go all out with paint or dip your toe in colour by reupholstering a statement chair or accessorising with pillows or curtains, you’ll banish the winter blues (maybe even using the colour blue in the process?)
5. Accents…because Vogue said so!
A recent home styling trend (all over TikTok at the moment) is ‘quiet luxury’ or ‘stealth wealth’. While it’s dominated the fashion world over the last year, the movement is now creeping into our homes. The essence of quiet luxury is a toned-down version of outright opulence, focusing on elegance and a polished appearance without feeling cold or unapproachable. Invite this trend into your home with luxurious decor items like candles, brass accents, high-quality warm timber furnishings and elegant lamps that exude warm lighting.
6. Carve out a mindfulness nook
The winter months can be mentally tough, our exposure to mood-boosting sunshine is limited, and it’s all too easy to opt for a night on the couch over venturing out to socialise. A great way to turn this around (while still staying cosy indoors) is to create a space within your home that can become your sanctuary, something like a mindfulness nook. Furnish the nook with plush pillows and sumptuous throws, and snuggle in with your favourite podcast, playlist, or book. Alternatively, make the space one of pure Zen with room to stretch out, meditate or journal. Adorn it with a soft colour theme, a Himalayan salt lamp for warm lighting, calming indoor plants and an essential oil diffuser.
7. Heat up your outdoor space
Staying inside all winter can be a real bummer, and if your indoor entertaining area is limited, it can take hosting mid-winter get-togethers out of the question. Instead of waiting for warmer months, invest in getting your outdoor area up to scratch for year-round entertaining. Heating is an essential ingredient – choose an outdoor gas heater or, for the ultimate in luxury, a fire pit table. If you have kids, they’ll love being able to roast marshmallows and make s’mores, and for an adults-only get-together, it’s the perfect place to rest your merlot while the conversation flows. Add ambient lighting and plenty of blankets to snuggle up in, and your guests won’t want to leave!
8. A whole new world – RUG!
A commonly forgotten textile that adds depth and character to any space and contributes to the insulation of your home is rugs. With the maximalism trend coming in hot, these key décor pieces are once again taking centre stage. Rugs come in all shapes, sizes, patterns, and materials and tick the textural box and the practicality one – keeping your tootsies toastie as a covering for hard flooring. Opt for wool or thicker piled rugs over sisal or jute for extra warmth. The best thing about rugs is you don’t need to stop at one. You can layer multiple rugs in the same room, use them to inject character into different rooms, have them as a focal point, or even hang them on the wall!
9. The fireplace – aka the headquarters of Hygge
The Danish term Hygge (pronounced hoo-ga) revolves around being calm, comfortable, and cosy, embracing togetherness and time to relax. These qualities lend themselves to the fireplace being the focal point of a Hygge home. If you’re lucky enough to have one in your home, make it the focal point by styling the mantel and arranging your seating to take full advantage of the warmth, ambience, and atmosphere it creates. If you don’t have a fireplace, consider investing in an electric one or try your hand at DIY-ing one of these inspiring faux fireplaces.
10. Lighting that’s functional but atmospheric
Sure, you’ll find yourself reaching for the light switch out of necessity over the winter months, but your artificial lighting can be both functional and aesthetically pleasing. Use the lack of natural light as an opportunity to experiment with different types of lighting that create atmosphere and define spaces. Instead of relying solely on overhead lighting, opt for the warm shimmer of candles and strategically placed table and floor lamps for a soft, natural glow. Brighten dark corners with floor lamps, and switch your bulbs to warm white for a cocooning feel.
Embrace your very own warm, welcoming winter retreat
From lighting to heating, textures, and colours, creating an inviting and cosy atmosphere in your home has never been easier or more fun. Once you’re done, you’ll be equal parts ready to hunker down and invite guests to show off your transformed space. If creating an inviting and welcoming home means making a more significant change, like moving to a new home or area that better suits your lifestyle needs, reach out to your local First National Real Estate office. We’ll guide you in making the right choice to ensure you can live comfortably and happily all year round.
If you’re in need of more design inspiration, you’ll find plenty of it on Pinterest or one of these great interior design podcasts. But be warned; you might never want to set foot outside your home again!