There are bits & pieces of decorative furniture that belong in the house all year round that can contribute to the cosy feeling. However, they don’t just have to be used for a seasonal period. Plus, just to be cosy doesn’t mean you have to ignore the nature of the outdoors.
Today, we’re going to show you how with 20 ways to warm up your home!
1. Keep Heat In Your Home With A Rug
Wooden floors may look sleek and stylish but they do no good for warming up your home. They say that most heat is lost through hands and feet so tipping around on cold wood, or even worse concrete, is not going to do you any good in winter.
Make sure you invest in a fluffy rug or two, like this one made out of faux fur. It will no doubt come in handy, when you nestle those frozen toes into the soft fabric on a cold day.
Shaggy rugs and sheepskin rugs help to keep the home looking cosy and their effect is bolstered by the inclusion of soft throws and comfortable cushions that dress your items of furniture and make them even more welcoming. This helps to cosy up a room and requires minimal effort!
Shaggy rugs feel beautifully soft underfoot, and manage to easily add a sense of warmth and cosiness to any room. Thanks to their luxuriously thick piles, they’re also extremely durable and easy to look after aswell as being a comfy addition to any room!
A plush rug can also come in handy during the colder months as its thick pile means that it traps heat effectively. Not only this, but the thick pile also means the rug is extremely comfortable and would make a perfect place to sit/lie down while watching telly, whether man or dog! This would be perfect for movies if you have lots of friends around but not many seats on the couch!
If you are a fan of shaggy rugs make sure to check out our Best Ways To Clean And Care For Your Shaggy Rug blog.
2. Draught Proof Your Home
If your home has a draught, make sure to patch it up! Filling in any gaps around windows and doors can help you save on your heating bills, so why not spend a few pounds on window draught excluder – insulating tape is a great investment. Fitting it is a breeze too, but remember to make sure it sits snugly.
3. Use Thick Curtains In Your Home And Keep Them Open Until Dusk
Thick curtains are a brilliant way to retain heat and not let in any of the cold from the windows. Not only this, but a thick curtain makes a room look cosier as it can add colour and design to an otherwise bland looking area. Curtains don’t have to be used just for windows though. Placing a curtain in front of doors to the outside helps to add another layer of protection as well as further cosying up your home!
Now you might think that if you’ve got thick curtains keeping them closed all day is more likely to keep your home wrong. You’d be wrong. Keeping your curtains open during the daytime allows natural sunlight to seep in and warm up your home. As long as you remember to close them as soon as it turns into the evening and the sun is no longer up, this will help warm up your home. Shop our range of luxurious curtains, by your favourite designer brands from the likes of Sanderson and Scion.
4. Cuddle Your Furry Friends
If you’ve got a dog, cat, or any other cuddly pet, give them a cuddle! The amount of heat a dog or cat gives off is almost like owning a loving hot water bottle. Furthermore, just because they have luxurious thick coats doesn’t mean they don’t get cold. If you cuddle with them it will not only increase the bond between you but it will keep you both warm. Win-Win!
5. Use A Chimney Balloon
It’s now fairly common to have fireplaces that are merely decorative. However, if you’ve got a real fireplace then chances are you’ll be losing a lot of heat through your Chimney. To prevent this, you can use a chimney balloon. A chimney balloon is literally just a balloon that goes up your chimney and inflates until it fills the chimney making it more insulated. Just remember to remove it before starting a fire!
6. Fire Away
Take a step back in time and invest in a natural heating solution, a majestic fireplace! There’s nothing cosier than to snuggle up in front of a warm and hypnotic fire when the winter blues come creeping. Not only does a fireplace heat up your dwelling, it’s also one of the most dazzling statement pieces for the home and will add a nice focal point to your living room. Investing in a fireplace is the ultimate solution for heating up your home efficiently while adding some period charm.
Don’t be afraid to use the fireplace during the winter as it is an excellent source of heat and if you’re staying in the living room for the majority of the evening it can even be used to replace the heating. Furthermore, if you own a wood-burning fire the crackling sound is extremely relaxing and can Furthermore you out after a long, cold day at work. Just make sure no pets or children get near it!
7. Don’t Waste Heat
Chances are, you cook a lot of food in your oven and close it after you’ve finished without a second thought. Have you considered leaving the oven door open? The amount of heat that is wasted by not leaving the door open is rather a lot and an open oven can help to warm up a home more than you’d think. Just be wary of young children or pets burning themselves!
8. Use Your Bath
Continuing on from our last point, when having a bath don’t waste the heat! Don’t pull the plug too soon, if the water in the bath is warm, leave the plug in until it cools as the heat will warm your bathroom. Not only this, but steam is naturally warmer than air and so it could even warm other parts of your home!
9. Make Sure To Set Timers On Your Heating
When its winter, using the timers on your heating is important. Some people say that leaving it on all day is better but this is simply not true and costs more. This is due to heat loss that occurs due to the difference between the temperature outside and the temperature you’re trying to maintain in your home. According to age UK, if it’s very cold, the timer should be set to switch the heating on earlier, rather than turning the thermostat up to warm the house rapidly.
10. Make Use Of Pipe Lagging
Pipe lagging is simply insulating hot water pipes with foam tubes. Using pipe lagging helps to keep the water inside your pipes hotter for longer and protects against the cold, rather like a flask. Pipe lagging is available from pretty much any DIY store and are fitted in literally seconds with no tools required.
11. Use Insulating Foam
Insulating foam is an excellent way to retain heat that is usually lost. In your attic, use a roll of insulating foam to restrict the amount of heat lost and throughout the rest of the house in areas such as the basement or other small holes use a can of insulating foam to fill the gap. Just remember to wear a facemask, goggles and protective clothing if you do it yourself, and leave sufficient gaps around the eaves (the part of a roof that meets or overhangs the walls of a building) to avoid condensation!
12. Bleed Your Radiators
Radiators are an excellent way to keep your home warm, but if your radiators aren’t heating to the top there’s a chance they’ll need to be bled. Bleeding a radiator is super simple. All you need to do is pick up a radiator bleed key (roughly £1 in any DIY shop) to open the little valve at the top. Once you’ve done this you should hear air hissing and as soon as you see a drop of water, make sure to close it up again. Now you have warmer, more energy efficient radiators!
13. Don’t Block Sources Of Heat
Keep an eye on where you position your furniture! If your couch, bed or even just chairs are in front of your radiator it restricts the capability of the radiator warming a room as the furniture will absorb the heat.
14. Use Radiator Reflectors
As previously mentioned, you can lose a lot of heat if you leave furniture in front of the radiator, but did you realise that you can lose a lot of heat through the back of the radiator as well? To prevent this from happening try using radiator reflector foil. This literally reflects the heat from the radiator back into the room!
15. Is It Time To Upgrade Your Boiler?
When it comes to winter, I’m sure you’ll have heard the adverts for new boilers. While it might seem like companies are trying to make money from you, it could actually be financially beneficial for you in the long run! Depending on the age of your old boiler type and your home, you could save up to £350 with a new A-rated condensing boiler – which uses less energy to produce the same amount of heat!
16. DIY Terracotta Heater
Need to use up some of your old candles? Maybe you just want a wintery DIY touch in your home? Try a DIY Terracotta heater! All you need is either a few candles or a Sterno flame, a clay flower pot and something to stand it on to make this heating contraption. Believe it or not, this baby Terracotta pot heater can heat up an entire room!
17. Close Doors To Rooms You Don’t Use
You can’t heat up a room if all the doors and windows are open, can you? Use the same concept with doors. If your whole family’s just staying in just one room, close everything else up to make sure you trap the heat in one area!
18. Change The Direction Of Your Ceiling Fan
Ceiling fans usually rotate in a counter-clockwise fashion as this pushes air downwards to create a draft. During the winter, change your fan’s rotation to push cool air upward and mix with the rising heat by reversing it. The cool air will then rise and warmer air spread downwards, making your room feel warmer!
19. Keep Warm With Hot Chocolate And Other Warm Beverages
Hot chocolate is well loved by most people in the winter time. It’s hot and truly warms you up on a cold day, not to mention the luxurious taste and feel of drinking hot chocolate on a cold day! Not only does it warm you up however, but it’s also healthy with scientific experiments finding that it increases the microcirculation in your skin warming you up, and another found that the it helps trigger the brain to release endorphins that induce feelings of feelings of calm.
20. Wrap Up Warm!
One of the cheapest ways of keeping warm in your home is one of the most obvious. Wrap up warm! With it being winter, you’ll no doubt have plenty of hoodies, vests and T-shirts to layer up in so why not do that? You also have the excuse to wear your most disgusting Christmas jumper if it’s coming up to Christmas. Come on, everyone loves Christmas jumpers!
