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8 decorating ideas and styling tips for the cooler months

Metricon

With winter fast approaching, your coastal or Hamptons themed home might feel a little too summery for the impending cold snap. Don't stress, though - with a few easy tips, you can achieve a warm and cozy feel inside your home no matter the theme. Here are our top winter styling tips to bring some much-needed cheer and warmth into your home.

Choose home decor with luxe textures

Add cushions and throw blankets made from soft velvet, lush sheepskin or faux fur, and cuddly cashmere to your bed, couch, living room and more. These materials and textures will introduce an instant comfort hit to the space.

Winter is about creating layers. Layer cushions, pillows, throws, and blankets so you can cosy up on the couch with a feel-good movie, book, or mug of hot chocolate. Opt for deep, bold colours such as navy, forest green and deep amethyst, or keep it traditional with monochrome.

Your textures don't have to come from blankets and cushions. You can find thick and luxurious rugs, attractive footstools, knitted wall hangings, functional baskets and storage items or textile table runners, placemats and coasters.

Add warm light sources

There's less natural light during the colder months. If your lamps have cool, blue globes in them, pack them away until summer and replace them with warm orange bulbs instead. This will make your home feel cosier and help to chase away the gloom of winter days. Your home will gain an entirely new atmosphere and ambience.

The other option is to add candles into your space. Rustic candlesticks might seem old-fashioned, but they add a vintage look and feel perfect for darker, moodier rooms. You can mix and match different candle holders you find at the second-hand store for a shabby chic look. Adding candlelight to your space will help you feel more relaxed and can be used to highlight other pieces on display, like a mirror or piece of art.

A lovely scented candle can also make your home feel cosier when the temperature drops. Choose sweet and spicy aromas like cardamom, toffee, cinnamon, cloves, sandalwood, fig, rosewood and orange.

Use mirrors and metallics

Another way to brighten up your home during the cooler months is to utilise mirrors and metallic surfaces in your home. Interior designers love using mirrors – they have more uses than checking yourself out on the daily! Mirrors can be used to make your home look bigger and are especially useful in small spaces. When it can feel like the walls are closing around you during winter, this can be incredibly valuable.

The other benefit of using mirrors in the home is that they'll bounce light around your space. When you combine mirrors and metallic surfaces with the above tips for lighting, you won't even notice how hard it is outside.

For a more comprehensive guide on using mirrors in your home, read our blog post about styling with mirrors.

Timber tones

Wood elements are on-trend in 2021, and luckily, organic elements are here to stay. The benefit of utilising wood in winter is it brings warmth into your home. Timber doesn't automatically mean Scandinavian - there are plenty of dark timber options out there that interior stylists love.

When we talk wood and timber, it doesn't just have to be flooring, roofing and joinery. You can find some fantastic art pieces made from reclaimed wood or in a wooden frame. Or, you could discover new furnishings for your home, just as dining tables, coffee tables, stools, cabinets and more. Or, DIY it – find an affordable basket and fill it with logs and kindling!

Sit by the fire

This won't apply to everyone but sitting by the fire during the winter months (especially when it's raining outside) is incredibly relaxing. If you're in the process of building a new home, mainly if you live in Melbourne, Adelaide or Sydney, you must consider a fireplace. Not only do they add an elegant feeling to the room, which is sure to impress guests, but they heat up a room in no time at all.

Gas fireplaces have improved a lot recently and are now a stylish addition to any room. If you're looking for a focal point that's functional as well as stylish, a fireplace might be the perfect fit. They make a fantastic reading nook and are a staple of winter decor.

Check out our fireplace ideas which will light up your interior designer!

Indoor plants and florals

Signs of life will act as a pick me up even during the darkest, coldest months. Adding flowers and greenery to your home in winter can help to liven the space. Interior designers like to stack vases with vibrant native florals like grevilleas and wattles with loads of lustrous green leaves.

In winter, indoor plants are even easier to look after, as they'll require less water and less maintenance than usual. Pops of green throughout your home will see you forget that outside, all the trees have lost their leaves.

Read our guide on the best low-maintenance indoor plants so you can live guilt-free.

Prevent cold feet

No one likes getting out of bed in the middle of the night and stepping onto freezing floors. Winter is the perfect time to bust out mats, rugs and other floor furnishings. Hallway rugs can be a stylish addition to your home, plus they help keep the noise of foot traffic down.

Perhaps the coldest floor in the home will be the bathroom. While placing a rug in the bathroom might make some people shudder, you can find some super stylish bath mats at places like West Elm, Adairs and Temple & Webster.

A fresh coat of paint

Winter is a great time to get out the paintbrushes and change up a wall or two if you have the time. Warm white walls are always a safe bet. Still, suppose you're not averse to mixing it up. In that case, winter is an excellent time for dusky pink, burnt orange or rusty terracotta. Come spring, you can quickly return to something cooler, like deep-sea blue or mint.

It might seem drastic to paint and repaint your walls at the change of the season, but when it's just one wall – the feature or focal point of the room – it's much easier and can be done in an hour or so.

Anyone can paint! Read our guide to painting a wall here.

With these tips, you'll be able to transform your home from summery and bright to warm and cosy in no time. There's no reason to be sad because of cold weather when you can snuggle up on the couch with your favourite TV show and a block of chocolate. A winter home is a cosy home!

For more decorating ideas and interior design advice, browse through our blog, Home Truths.

You can also find photography of your display homes in our Image Gallery to get some design inspiration.