4 Essential Design Tips to Maximize Home Comfort

Your home’s comfort has just as much to do with your personal taste as it has to do with design. There are simple ways you can combine design elements with personality to make your home exude a special warmth.

Start by looking around at what you don’t like. Change furniture around with some feng shui ideas or pinpoint the areas that feel a bit cold or detached to you. Then see how you can make improvements with the following tips.

Toss Some Throws and Pillows

Image via Flickr by garryknight

Nothing says warmth like a soft, cozy throw draped over a favorite chair. Throws and pillows can turn a relatively bare couch into a lush lounge. Keep an eye on design. Velvet gold pillows with tassels appeal to a different aesthetic than bold black and white striped pillows. Use pillows and throws that complement the thematic colors and mood of a space. Don’t be too rigid, though. Play around and add personality. Remember that comfort is partly what feels familiar and reflective of you.

Make Patterns, Textures, and Colors Work for You

Image via Flickr by 12Ave

Balance your patterns. Too many busy patterns can create a feeling of disharmony or discomfort. Consider gentler, calm-inducing patterns for curtains, wall fabrics, and rugs or combine bold patterns with muted backgrounds. Choose textures that create softness, like cotton or lace, or more robust textures like woven jute. Use colors judiciously. Warm colors, like burnt orange, have a fiery warmth. Cooler colors like blue or steel-gray will command instant calm.

Make It Intimate and Personal

Add items that evoke comforting memories, inspiration, imagination, and personality. Whether it’s a beautiful sculpture you picked up at a craft fair in Lisbon, or an heirloom china set handed down by your great-grandmother, personal items that hold meaning for you imbue your environment with a sense of safety and intimacy. Adorn your space with art and photographs. Put your favorite books on your coffee table. Place houseplants around your rooms.

Adjust Lighting and Temperature

Lighting and temperature are just as important to the visual and tactile comfort of your home as any other element. They set the mood and affect your body’s sense of ease. Lighting that is too harsh or imposing will make you feel anxious and a poorly warmed room won’t feel inviting no matter how comfortable it looks.

Consider a smart thermostat to help you tailor every room in your home to the exact temperature you need. Take time to schedule service for your HVAC system to make sure your heating and cooling systems are functional. Think about ventilation and air flow and get rid of any drafts.

Your lighting choice should work with the style of the room and complement the size and purpose of the space. For example, a desk lamp will give you a different result than an overhead fixture in an entertainment room.

Sample these tried-and-tested comfort design tips and mix in your own personal creativity and vision. Greater comfort is just a few steps away.