It may already be the end of the month but doggone it the January blues are still here. Here’s nine of the best tips to make your home as cosy as possible until Spring has finally sprung.
Scandinavian inspiration
You can soften the clinical look of an all-white kitchen with some simple Scandi know-how.
Install lots of potted plants on open shelving and countertops and add a couple of casually thrown hides onto seating to help cushion timber surfaces as is the case here with this Valatta dining table and benches.
The small size table, 77.5cm high by 160cm long and 90cm wide, costs €579 while the matching bench, 45cm by 150cm long by 38 wide, costs €259, from Arnotts.
arnotts.ie
Tiles
Your flooring choice will colour the whole mood of a room.
Hard surfaces and stark white or cream colours can make a space look cold, even when it’s not.
If you would like to update the look of a living room then try these Bert & May hand-poured, natural pigment, leather-coloured encaustic tiles, underfoot.
They cost about €3.60 per tile, and will look and feel gorgeous especially if you have underfloor heating.
If not lay a rug atop them to soften the look.
bertandmay.com
Hides
If January has been a dry one it might be almost time to savour a little tipple, ideally served whilst still snuggled under on mixed lamb blanket, €1,600, or while seated in this sheepskin upholstered vintage Giorgetti armchair, €2,900, by Alsace-based Norki.
This firm specialises in hides, cowhide, sheepskin, lambskin, reindeer hide, and furs to create luxurious collections for furniture, rugs, throws, cushions and wall coverings.
Their clients include French décor stars Jacques Garcia, Philippe Starck, and Nathalie Ryan of Kirei Studio whose work includes refurbing Dior boutiques worldwide.
norki-decoration.com
Seating
Solitude can sometimes be a glorious thing.
Especially if you invest in seating that brings the notion of a fireside chair up to a whole different level.
This Walter Knoll Onsa chair has a bucket-seat form that opens up to welcome you as you recline back into it to daydream, listen to music or watch a movie.
It is available in a wide range of fabrics including deep pile velvet but in butter-soft, aniline leather, as pictured.
Prices start from €3,900 for the chair. The matching footstool is priced from €1300. In leather the chair costs €5600 while the footstool is €1800 from Bushell Interiors.
bushellinteriors.com
Rugs
Felt underfoot creates a deliciously soft layer on which to pad around the house.
London-based Felt Rugs stocks designs made in the mountains of Kyrgyzstan using indigenous wool.
This rug, number 1061, measures 1.5 metres by 2.6 metres long and costs about €2,510.
The matching floor cushions, 90 sq cm, feature shapes such as birds, animals, mountains and rivers that are part of the lives of the nomads that make them.
While you can buy them singly, about €376 each, the geometric pattern is cut through two pieces of different coloured felt so that each is a mirror image pair, about €662 per set.
feltrugs.co.uk
Bed and blankets
A good night’s sleep does wonders for the mind and body.
A Hastens bed is made from ethically-sourced pure natural materials. The Swedish made bed costs six figures and is built to coddle you to a more qualitive sleep.
A double costs from about €15,665, excluding delivery, from Portadown-based JJ Pierson. And if you’re partial to man or woman’s best friend occasionally sharing your cosy surface for napping then maybe it’s time to invest in a Ralph & Co Henley blanket.
Available in two sizes, small, 80cm by 70cm, at about €46.99, and medium, 127cm by 76cm, at about €63.99, the former is perfect for Cocker Spaniels, Beagles and Staffordshire Terriers, the latter for Labradors, Dalmatians and Huskies.
Reversible with a stylish grey upholstered pattern on one side, it has a soft wool finish on the other and is machine washable.
jjpierson.co.uk
ralphand.co
Cocktails
The Nest cocktail lounge is perched atop Downtown Camper by Scandic’s Stockholm’s hotel.
Gothenburg-based interior architects Stylt Trampoli have created a space that is full of contrasts and panoramic vistas that offer up all of the city’s landmarks from a glass-fronted stove and fireside seat.
It feels ultra cocooning, especially during this cold spell, and an idea to replicate at home.
scandichotels.com
Fire
To create an instant sense of end-of-January cosy, nothing beats an open fire.
This Burlington surround from Chenseys, around €2,500, will look equally smart in a period or contemporary setting but what makes it on trend is the addition of fireside accessories.
The Soho fire basket costs about an additional €562, while the Swan fire dogs are another €2,164.
The collection can also be ordered through Greystone-based Fenton Fires. Fireside accessories, which had fallen out of fashion are back in vogue and can be picked up for very little at local auction houses.
chesneys.co.uk
fentonfires.ie
the-saleroom.com
Drapes
Drawing the drapers is one of the smartest, most cost effective ways to create a cosy, warm atmosphere within.
Any decent fabric will keep draughts at bay.
This ontrend Venturi pattern is one of the new range of fabrics from Larsen and falls beautifully when hung.
The linen, viscose, wool blend is priced per metre from Brian S Nolan.
briansnolan.ie
larsenfabrics.com
