One thing is most important: a lot of feeling. So everyone has to find out for themselves what makes them feel good and what might disturb their well-being.
The following 11 tips guarantee more cosiness - if implemented correctly.
#1 Your needs determine how to make your room cosy
Cosiness touches the senses. You alone decide when you feel comfortable. What you perceive as beautiful, cosy and warm is completely individual. If you want to furnish your room comfortably, keep in mind that this is your home - it does not have to "look" or please your guests.
If you want to furnish your room in a cosy way, you first have to become aware of what you consider cosy. What conveys warmth to you, when do you feel a sense of security? Often we are not fully aware of this.
The following questions can help you find out more about your personal feeling of cosiness:
- What do you mainly use the room for? For example, is your main activity in the living room watching TV, reading or socializing with friends?
- How much space do you need, or how much free space do you need to work, eat, relax, think?
- What lighting conditions do you prefer? Do you prefer it dim, flooded with light, or do you want to be flexible?
As a general rule, you should also pay attention to small details. Even a flowering branch in a beautiful vase or a scented candle with your favourite fragrance will have a positive effect on your well-being. Be good to yourself and pamper yourself and your senses!
#2 Make your room cosy thanks to living islands
Arranging furniture in small groups is particularly helpful if you want to furnish large rooms comfortably. This creates small living islands that structure the room and make it feel more homely.
The sofa and dining table in the living room and dining room are already central anchor points that form the basis for a living island. Other possible zones in the living room can be: reading corner, couch corner, play corner and possibly a small seating area for afternoon tea.
With rugs and different wall colours, you can turn individual pieces of furniture into a unit so that the group also appears visually as a whole.
#3 Make rooms cosy with carpets
Carpets not only protect sensitive floors, they also improve the room acoustics by dampening sounds - just like all textiles, by the way. This has the effect of making the room feel denser and more comfortable.
To divide the room into different zones, carpets also give furniture visual support, which is particularly helpful when designing large rooms.
Whether fluffy flokati or soft vintage rug: rugs can also be used excellently as colour accents. As a result, you can get a lot closer to your goal of "furnishing your room comfortably" in no time at all.
Tip: If you prefer subtle furnishings, you can match the colour of your rug to the surrounding interior so that it blends in harmoniously.
Good to know: A rug that is too large will stifle the room, while one that is too small will visually drown it. However, the rule of thumb is to choose a larger floor covering - it looks more spacious. The rug should protrude at least 30 cm to the left and right of the sofa, and there should be room for about a third of all the furniture in the room.
#4 Pay attention to distances and walkways
Making a room cosy also means giving the room and the furnishings space to work. Crowded rooms are not only uncomfortable, but also restless, which has a negative effect on our well-being.
When positioning all furnishings, make sure there is enough space and that walkways are clear. In spacious rooms, feel free to leave larger, open spaces between the various living islands. This gives the room a lighter, airier feel.
#5 Make rooms cosy with luminaires
It goes without saying that atmospheric lighting is a must if you want to make your room cosy. Apart from natural light, artificial light sources have a major influence on creating a homely ambience. There are a few general tips for creating more visual warmth:
- The light source should not be visible from the outside - this only dazzles and also looks uncomfortable.
- If directional light shines on a warm wall, the light is also reflected warmly.
- Go for variance and combine luminaires with different brightness levels at different heights.
- Combine the spot and indirect light of pendant, floor, table and wall luminaires in such a way that the different islands of light overlap.
- Deep points of light add atmosphere to a room. So feel free to hang pendant luminaires in the bedroom or living room low above tables.
- Illuminate dark corners and niches with floor luminaires. A low light intensity is enough to create more cosiness.
- Choose as many luminaires as possible with a dimmer function - so you can adjust the brightness at any time.
- Use only energy-saving LED lamps with warm white light.
#6 Make your room cosy with visual connections
A basic rule if you want to furnish your room cosily: There should be a common thread running through the room. This can be a colour, a pattern, a certain shape or a material that is found in furniture, upholstery fabrics, accessories and decoration. In this way, the entire interior is given a visual framework and appears harmonious.
#7 Furnish rooms comfortably with feel-good materials
Cosiness means warmth. And nothing conveys warmth more than natural materials. So go for solid wood, wickerwork and textiles with a sensual feel when furnishing your room cosily.
Carpets made of virgin wool, blankets made of coarse knit, linen curtains and cushions made of felt have a wonderfully natural effect and create a cosy atmosphere.
In addition, choose fabrics that are interesting to the touch and that you simply want to touch: velvet, cashmere, bouclé and high-quality bed linen made of cotton percale not only give the bedroom a luxurious touch, but also seem cosier than plain textiles.
Feel free to combine different layers of plaids and pillows of different sizes and shapes. The casual layer look conveys a relaxed and cosy feel-good ambience.
Tip: Combine lively, natural materials with a few shiny highlights of metal or glass. The different surfaces stimulate the eyes and provide visual variance and tangible cosiness.
However, you should avoid too many smooth and shiny surfaces, as they visually cool down the room. Open-pored, natural materials are better suited to furnishing rooms cosily. They reflect less light and create shadows, making the room appear warmer.
#8 Make a room cosy with individual decoration
Decorate according to your own taste. Surround yourself with objects that mean something to you. Choose photos and souvenirs from holidays when making your room cosy. Combine pieces you have fond memories of with real art and homemade items. This creates a home full of personality.
Tip: Combine several decorative pieces of different heights in odd numbers - this has a more harmonious effect on the human eye. A kind of frame that visually holds small decorations together is also a good way to make an arrangement look calmer. For example, place 3 or 5 candles on a tray to create an additional, natural island of light.
Plants are the quintessence of making a room cosy. They are not only good for the room climate, but as living elements they bring a piece of nature inside and add green colour accents.
Tip: Combine plants with rather rounded leaves at different levels - this makes the room look more balanced.
#9 Make rooms cosy with colour
Colours influence the effect of a room and thus our mood and sense of well-being. How a colour affects someone is completely individual. So there is no reason to do without your favourite colour if you want to make your room cosy.
Wall colours also help to structure large rooms and create cosy niches.
You have no idea which colour is right for you? Then find out and feel your way to a shade that makes you feel maximally comfortable with coloured cushions or colourful bed linen.
A few basic colour rules are:
- Unagitated colours provide calm and comfort.
- Light natural tones almost always work together harmoniously.
- Warm colours increase cosiness.
- Cold colours do not have to appear cold per se. A touch of grey gives them a warm note. Muted greens and blues, for example, are ideal for cosy living spaces because they have a relaxing and calming effect.
- Coloured accent walls or accent furniture emphasise certain areas in the room.
- Colours have different effects depending on the incidence of light. Beware of white walls in rooms facing north: they look greyish instead of white because of the shadows. So instead of pure white, choose a soft creamy white.
- In rooms flooded with light, soft, tinted shades of the same colour family have a wonderfully calm effect.
By the way: If you are unsure and want to play it safe in terms of colour, you can use colour combinations from nature as a guide. Whether mossy stones, sand by the sea or a butterfly wing: the combinations of flora and fauna are ideal colour models and automatically have a harmonious effect.
#10 Furnish rooms cosily with lively walls
White, empty walls are the enemies of a homely atmosphere. So if you want to make your room cosy, you have to breathe life into them. Either put the colour directly on the wall or decorate your four walls. Here are a few possibilities:
- Wall paint
- wallpaper
- large-format wall pictures
- wall galleries of smaller pictures
- tapestries
- plant pictures
- decorative wall objects
- acoustic panels
- vertical gardens
- decorative shelves
With wallpaper or wall colours, you are committed for a longer period of time, while wall pictures or the decoration on shelves can be easily changed and adapted to the seasons, for example.
#11 Be brave when furnishing your room comfortably
If you want to furnish your room comfortably, you also need a bit of courage. Don't go by current trends or what friends say. Just go with your gut and don't be afraid to combine different styles. What feels right is right.
It is your home, only you have to feel comfortable in it!
Do you have a current project and want to give your rooms more warmth and cosiness? Then contact us and let's talk without obligation!
Or take our style quiz if you want to find out what your preferred living style is.
