Creating coziness at home, no matter your favorite color
By Amanda Bedgood ~ Photo by Robin May
Creating warmth in a home may sound a simple task. Add a few splashes of warm color and call it a day. But to truly create a warm space it requires far more attention to detail and an eye for fabrication with materials that create a cozy abode. It's less about color and more about finishes.
It's the kind of space Crissy Greene created in this Parade of Homes house in south Lafayette. She kept the color to the extras and infused the home with warm tones and materials like nubby linens and rich woods.
"People want to change accessories more often than furnishings, so it's easier to put the pops of color there and stay with a neutral palette and create warmth with curtains and lighting," Greene says.
When it comes to lighting she went for lanterns in the kitchen in lieu of more traditional pendants. And she advises trying a chandelier instead of a ceiling fan in a place like the cozy keeping roomor this living area.
"It gives a different ambiance with a soft glow," Greene notes.
It casts a kind of warmth over the space that is tempered by equally warm drapery while brick floors are inlaid with wood.
"We also did a solid walnut countertop in the kitchen," instead of a more oft used granite, Greene continues.
"The island is more of a place for kids to sit and do homework, for meeting and greeting, and it's not an island that's getting wet all the time," Greene says. "If you have a sink you don't want wood there. But if not it's a good option."
Other options that create instant warmth include nixing stainless steel appliances for cabinet fronts. The other easy way to temper harsh metal - give wrought iron the bronze treatment.
"There are iron railings up the stairwell that we did in a bronze coating to soften that harsh black," she says.
And then there are the fabrics that take any space to a cozy place - think chenilles, velvets and linens.
The key, Greene says, is mixing them together rather than using just one. "For a sofa use a heavier one that's nubby and a linen drape and then a wool rug - all those different textures together make for a more inviting space."