8 Organizing Ideas to Make Your Home More Cozy

 

Everyone wants a cozy home. The more crocheted blankets, flowers, mugs of tea and puppies, the better. In all seriousness, though, making your home a warm and welcoming place to be is high on everyone’s priority list. Not only do you want guests to feel happy in your home, you want to enjoy it yourself.

 

So, what’s the best way to get what you want? Simple, really. With a few home organization and design hacks, you’ll feel an immediate lift in the cheer and comfort of your surroundings. Here are eight ideas to make your home cozier today!

 

1. Make the Most of Your Windows

While we often associate coziness with the darker winter months, that doesn’t have to be the case at all. Sure, blanket caves might make the depths of January better, but nothing cheers up a home like some good old-fashioned sunlight.

 

Create spaces lit by natural light wherever possible. Place a small table and chairs near a window to create a “café zone.” Place piles of books and a vase of flowers under a windowsill to draw the eye and merge indoors and out. Draw your furniture and bed as close to portals as possible, the better to create the feeling of ease associated with the outdoor world.

 

Need some window dressing ideas to better cultivate that cozy vibe? Here you go.

 

2. Blankets, Blankets Everywhere

You knew we couldn’t stay away from blanket forts forever. Nothing beats a thick throw blanket for the ultimate in home comfort. Choose coverings that will resist stains and pet hair, but will keep you warm even in the coldest months or when the power goes out. Luckily there are lots of options from which to choose.

 

3. Bring Love Into Your Home

Family pictures beat all for making a home feel like a safe and loving space. Want to move beyond the standard school and vacation pics in the hall? Consider ideas such as:

• Starting a holiday gallery. Choose a time of year at which to send out your holiday card. Keep one for yourself, mat and frame it, and add it to a growing wall gallery.
• Choose an unusual medium for your pictures, such as metal backing or wood.
• Decorate with giant photo strips!

 

4. Put in Soft Lighting

Hospital fluorescents are the official opposite of cozy. Instead of using the traditional light switches that come with any home, install dimmer switches. If you’re handy yourself, you can check out this video. Otherwise, call in a handyperson to do the job for you. It’s quick and easy, won’t set you back much, and will majorly up the vibes for your next dinner party.

 

5. Rugs Are for Winners

Rugs versus bare floor? No contest. While most people put down area rugs on wooden floors and tile, though, a lot don’t do it over carpet. But why not? It adds extra spice to a room while minimizing the area you’ll have to shampoo later. It’s a definitely win-win.

 

6. Create a Cleaning and Decluttering Routine

No home can stay cozy for long if there’s filth or clutter everywhere. Now, it might seem counterintuitive that removing items from your home would make it cozier, but it’s true. Moving room to room, get rid of items you don’t need and sort them into four piles:

1. Donate to charity.
2. Give to friends.
3. Sell on Craigslist or eBay.
4. Toss.

Ideally you can avoid No. 4 as much as possible (Earth first!), but some things just have to go.

 

Once you’ve gotten clutter to a minimum, create a cleaning routine. Since most people dislike cleaning, it’s best to put up a checklist and stick to it. That way, there’s no avoiding the necessary, and everyone in the household knows what needs to be done.

 

7. Add Some Warmth for Guests

Hosting is a time-honored tradition centered on extending hospitality and making people feel welcome when they’re far from home. You can up your game by adding some special touches just for them. Think:

• House slippers and a robe hanging in their room.
• Basic toiletries on the bathroom counter.
• A well-stocked shower.
• Chocolate on the pillow. (Watch out for enthusiastic doggos!)
• A stack of reading material specially curated to the guest.

Keep extra items in a special drawer that people tend to forget during the flurry of packing: toothpaste and toothbrushes, feminine items, socks. They might not need it, but if they do, you’ll get Host of the Year for sure.

 

8. Use Storage Units

That’s right, storage units might just prove the key to Project Cozy Home. This is especially true if you live in a small home or apartment. For instance, if you just don’t have enough space to hygge it up all winter and still deck out the patio in summer. In that case, self storage is a real boon.

 

To make it work for you, we recommend a seasonal system:

1. Get a tub for every season. If you’re feeling minimal, just go winter and summer.
2. Organize items such as blankets, candles and holiday décor into your winter tub.
3. Put cheerful plastic plates and bright napkins, picnic blankets and lanterns into your summer tub.
4. If you own lawn furniture that you want to keep out of the rain in winter, you can keep that in storage units as well.
5. Holiday decorations always belong in storage, whether that’s your own garage or a storage facility near you.
6. At the change of seasons, bring home and pack up your current tub before you get out the new one. This will minimize clutter.

See? Easy-peasy lemon squeezy. (Well, at least in the summertime, when you’re making lemonade.)

 

Let us know your best cozy home hacks today by getting in touch or dropping them in the comments. Need to know more about storage? Our team is always here to help, so don’t hesitate to reach out. *grabs seasonally appropriate cozy beverage* To your comfort and ease: cheers!