How to Create the Illusion of Warmth in Your Home

How to Create the Illusion of Warmth in Your Home

Amy Edwards |

With the cost-of-living crisis rising as fast as temperatures in the UK are dropping, how can we create a warm and cosy vibe in our home without sending our energy bills into overdrive?

A good starting point in creating an environment that feels cosy and encourages you to relax, is soft abietic lighting. 

Of course it is!  But doesn’t that take us straight back to the electricity bill crisis? 

Not if you cleverly create a warm and welcoming ambiance with the use of candles.

Candles have long been known for their soft romantic light. You simply cannot help but create atmosphere in a dark room where flickering candlelight bounces elegantly off the walls.

And don’t be fooled into thinking that real candles are your only option, because as beautiful and aromatic as the real McCoy is, there is an argument to say that burning several candles is akin to burning your actual money.  And that is absolutely, NOT what we want!

Instead, opt for flickering faux candles that run off batteries.  Choose a good quality battery, and you’ll get weeks and weeks of softly lit cosy winter evenings from these realistic faux candles with their moving flames and genuine waxy look and feel.

There is of course a fine line between creating a stylish ambiance and terrifying the neighbours that you’re holding a nightly séance!  So, in order to create the former and avoid the latter, simply position your candles in areas where you would naturally require light – such as side tables and consoles where a lamp would typically be. 

Position two or three together at varying heights to not only add style and interest, but also to vary the angle of the flame as it casts its soft light.

Another effective idea is to choose a selection of faux candles and position them in or around your fireplace.  Not only does this look enticing, but it tricks the mind into thinking there is warmth whilst also creating a focal point in the room.

‘But’, I hear your cry, ‘I love the aroma of a real candle!’

 I’ll let you into a little secret, so do I!

 A beautiful scent is one of the nicest accessories you can add to your home.  It is immediately delightful and welcoming and a pleasure for all who enter. 

So based on that, let’s consider the options: 

  1. Include just one aromatic candle into your room.  Pick a warm rich scent, maybe something with Oud, Bergamot or Woody tones to compliment the ambiance you are creating.  
  2. Pick a beautiful diffuser with a scent that reflects your personality.  You could even opt for a different scent in each room, depending on its function and required mood. And here’s a bonus of not putting on the heating, your diffuser will last so much longer in a cold room as there’s no extra heat to evaporate the scented fluid. 

So now we have the warm and cosy vibe going, but it’s still freezing! 

Moms everywhere are screaming ‘put on a jumper’ and you would do well to heed such advice. But in addition to warm loungewear (we’re thinking Cameron Diaz in The Holiday,) don’t skimp on soft cushions, blankets and throws to snuggle into. 

Style your chunkiest, best quality blanket on sofas and chairs with additional ones that you can pick up relatively inexpensively in discount stores, stylishly draped from baskets in entrance halls and lounges for when your friends arrive.

So, with just a few clever tweaks, you’ve managed to fashion a cosy, stylish ambiance in your home whilst creating the illusion of warmth without so much as switching on a lightbulb, fire or radiator.  

All you need now is a large hot chocolate, a good film and a roomful of your favourite family and friends (never underestimate the power of body heat!) And if all fails, repeat after me… ’Spring is only two months away!’