Shorter days and cooler nights signal the time for autumn home décor ideas. Read on for our tips for an autumn home and creating your perfect home cocoon using a calm and cosy look.
What makes a room cosy?
Cosy room design can come naturally in homes with lots of character but can feel challenging in contemporary homes. Making small rooms feel cosy can also be as tricky as making large open rooms feel inviting because there’s the danger of additional layers cluttering the space.
Since generous furniture and tactile accessories are central to a cosy look, the key to celebrating these features without compromising the calm is to maintain the same scheme and colour palette; choose a generous new coffee table that complements your existing sideboard and opt for light-coloured upholstery if you feel your room is dark. Add layers with natural tones - a new pure wool throw or sumptuous velvet cushion, and consider baskets to hide the extra layers away when not in use.
Cocoon at home, hygge style
Inviting hygge as an attitude into your everyday living is a big part of feeling good indoors, and we can all get involved by designing spaces that will allow you to make more of the simple things. Introduce new dinnerware to elevate your everyday dining - and doorstep decor for a better welcome home. For the living spaces, a comfier spot to enjoy quiet moments is important over the shorter days in winter.
For instance, consider your morning coffee - don’t perch in the kitchen - have a side table to hand in the living room to encourage you into a cosier chair. Add uplifting faux planting in new season tones to a beautiful vase, accessorise with plump seasonal colours, like forest green velvet - and have a deep pile rug for a sumptuous feel underfoot.
Decorate with warm colour schemes
Naturally, adding a warmer tone to the walls with paint is a simple way to transform natural décor from summer cool to autumn cosy - and introducing living room furniture with contrasting texture and decorative wood grain will add to the atmosphere. Our Astoria range is perfect for that unique rustic cabin feel, but if your look is less rustic country cottage and more contemporary neutral, introduce the same texture with nurturing curves and boucle accessories, punctuating the look with rich saturated tones.
“Decorative accessories like seasonal wall art and a layer of natural-coloured throws and blankets will elevate the warmth whatever your style. Colours inspired by nature in the living room will always create a calming scheme.”
Make a room warmer with lights
We all know how instantly safer, calmer and cosier we feel when we draw the curtains against the dark – take that one step further by dimming the lights. Lighting is essential to creating an atmosphere over the darker months. Consider your whole lighting scheme for autumn, and think about dark corners and where you might spend most of your time - think beyond the table lamp; these can be illuminated easily with a slender floor lamp or wall light, with no need for an additional surface.
“We need creative views at home in autumn-winter because we spend such a lot of time inside. The importance of lighting isn't just reserved for the living spaces - a statement pendant light is important over the island in the kitchen, so you can enjoy a softer view, and a feature table lamp in the hallway allows you to turn the 'big light' off.”
Decorate with mirrors
Cosy rooms are made by adding different textures and finishes, and hanging mirrors will have the same effect on a plain, square room. Bring new views and add interest to a room with a carefully placed mirror. Try positioning a stylish round mirror above a console table to create focus in an open space, and hang a mirror in the hallway to reflect additional light when the coat rack takes on more hats and scarves come autumn.
“Rooms can feel over-crowded, or dark and uninviting this time of year, use mirrors to keep the cosy look calm - they create a sense of space whilst we add seasonal flowers and cosy layers.”
Style an autumn fireplace
When the hearth looks cosy, the house feels cosy - so now is the time to address that empty fireplace. Autumn fires demand attention, so enhance the look with stylish fireside accessories and log storage. If you’re styling a room without a fireplace, recreate the intimacy by pulling your living room furniture closer together, and consider replacing the coffee table with the sumptuous style of an upholstered ottoman for an alternative cosy focal point. Pair with a candle placed on a large tray for an evening ambience.
“You can get away with decorating surfaces inside in autumn, with layers we might have traditionally reserved for December decked with decoration. Take your faux eucalyptus wreaths and garlands out of the attic and welcome the beauty of this season inside. Decorate with forage finds to enhance the autumnal feel or leave bare for a pared-back look.”
Create a cosy reading corner in your home
Take some plump lounge cushions, pouffes or throws, and you can put a reading nook anywhere in your home! Add task lighting effortlessly with plug-in wall lights (no need for an electrician!), or for teen rooms, drape some fairy lights above a beanbag to zone the space (or even around an indoor hanging chair) and make it feel special.
If you can invest in a move around and a new cosy armchair or loveseat position your new nook under a window so that you can add in a bit of daydreaming. Swapping out under stair cupboards for a small library is becoming a popular DIY move; opening this space creates a snug hang-out for you and a home for your books, a win-win for landings.
Design a cosy, hotel-feel bedroom
There’s no better place to combine calm and cosy than in the bedroom. While the best time to put on the winter duvet is down to personal preference, we can all benefit from that retreat-hotel look now. Consider upgrading the bed with an upholstered headboard to frame those at-home-snug vibes, and add lots of tactile layers with velvet quilts and chunky or pure wool throws to enjoy the best in home cocooning when the nights draw in. Once you’ve plumped your cushions and donned your comfiest nightwear, the only thing missing will be room service.
Feeling the autumnal cool? Browse our new season collection and introduce warming layers for a cosy seasonal home.