Dark, damp and dreary days of winter can give your surroundings a drab feeling. To lift spirits and make your home inviting during the colder months, try these tips for brightening up your home.
1. Lighting
The right lighting can have an amazing impact on the way your home “feels”. Lightbulbs come in a variety of tones to complement any decor or mood. Cool or daylight tones can help you brighten your home during the day, mimicing the presence of sunlight. Warm tones like warm white or soft white used in lamps in the evening can give a cosy feel. You can also consider using candles, task lighting and the liberal use of fairy lights is not only for Christmas!
2. Colour
There are a million ways to bring colour into your home. Lighter colours will make your home seem more spacious while pops of colour create interest and a brighter feel. Colour can be introduced through décor pieces and art. A hanging crystal in a window can create rainbows of colour across the walls and floor.
3. Comfort
In winter we crave comfort – comfort food, warming drinks, snuggly jumpers and blankets, lots and lots of blankets! The introduction of cushions, throws, and yes, blankets, in floral, gold or pink colourings will give your home that comfortable oomph.
4. Clean
Spring cleaning is not just for spring. In fact, your home will thank you for a good, deep clean before the winter really sets in. Windows that are free from grime will help to let in the light whilst wiping down all your work surfaces, kitchen cabinets and furniture will give your home a refresh. Don’t forget to cleanse the air too – an air purifier can help remove pollutants and allergens to create a more pleasant living environment.
5. Declutter
Nothing gives a home a more oppressive and “got to get out of here” feel than clutter! Make a conscious decision to clear the clutter, then donate, sell or dump the frump!
6. Music
Bringing light into your home is not just a visual thing. Music above anything else has the power to uplift your mood and fill your home with happy, laidback or sweet tunes. Just remember to cull out those melancholy tunes!
7. Let the sunlight in
Open and pull back the curtains early every morning to make the most of the sunlight – nature’s free mood enhancer. Don’t block windows with large items of furniture – a switch around with your furniture may even make the most of those treasured sunlight hours in living spaces.
8. Bring nature in
Indoor plants and cut flowers give a lift to even the most plain decor. Choose plants with variegated or highly structural leaves that create contrast, like cyclamen, orchids, anthurium, begonia or the awesome Swiss cheese plant.
9. Mirrors
Mirrors are perfect to bounce natural light around your room, making it seem larger and lighter. Glass and metallic decor items will also reflect light.
10. Warmth
As well as visual, auditory and other sensory factors, having a warm home when it’s cold and wet outside can brighten anyone’s mood! Choose the most energy-efficient heating system that you can afford and keep the cold out with insulation, thermal curtains and weather-proofing.
Read more on Kidspot:
Written by Julie Scanlon
Julie is Editor for Kidspot NZ and our MVP. Her hobbies include laughing uncontrollably at her own jokes, annoying her family by asking questions about movie plots, and never taking anything too seriously. She speaks a little Spanish and a lot of Yorkshire.
Favourite motto to live by: “It ain’t nothing but a thing”
Love having flowers and plants inside but definitely need to declutter as well to make the home more relaxing.
Our home is warm and cosy enough, but it’s also damp (gas heating) and dark (so many overhanging trees blocking the sun). And I really need to declutter – no wonder I want to go out all weekend! Need to run the dehumidifier, get some brighter bulbs in here and have a clean out. I might feel way more comfortable!
All lovely ideas 🙂 It’s nice to know we don’t just need to hunker down and hibernate over winter. I like the idea of bringing nature in, I’m starting to incorporate more pot plants etc into our home which is refreshing.
These are all so true there is nothing better than opening your curtains early to the sun. Having a warm house with the fire going is great to our go full time at the moment. Music is great while I’m listening to music I’m currently trying to declutter inside the houses it’s amazing how much stuff you gather up over the years.
All of the above! We have recently added a few more succulents into our place, we live in a small apartment in the middle of town so space is a premium, however live plants are very important, not only for looks but for the air. Also a few splashes of colour are important and you can get some really cool items from Kmart (never come out of that place with just one thing though haha). So doesn’t need to break the budget to look good!
Great ideas. We live in a house bus so have limited space but we have bright lights, plenty of cosy blankets, colourful curtains and have excitingly just installed a fire into the bus which has made a huge difference as apposed to a fan heater. The kids seem to be super happy in this environment even with it being winter they are happy go lucky and everyone is happy and healthy which is a bonus. I agree if you have a cold dull house it puts a damper on life. And I also completely agree music helps with any mood and any environment. Music is life. ♥