Environment is such a big piece of your wellbeing, so today, I’m sharing 5 hacks to make your space cozier. It’s definitely worth taking a little time to set up your space for a little extra coziness. I promise these ideas are inexpensive and you likely already have things on hand that will help you execute them.
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The first way to make your space cozier is to infuse it with the smell of something that it is just supremely delightful to your particular palate.
That could mean baking cookies, running your essential oil diffuser, even opening the windows on a warm-ish day to get some sweet smelling fresh air inside. A cool trick that I have been embracing this winter is to simmer stuff on the stove. I bought a simmer bag from someone at the farmer’s market–it’s a muslin bag filled with dried lemons and rosemary sprigs, and it was $3.50, but you could easily just gather that stuff and throw it in a pot of water that you heat on the lowest setting. Just make sure there’s plenty of water so you don’t walk away and end up scorching your pan!
You can also go with simmering cloves and cinnamon sticks, a trick the woman who showed my husband and I our first apartment was using and, guess what, we ended up moving in to that apartment because we fell in love. Was it at first sight, or first scent?
Another immediate cozy hack is to light some candles
They could be scented or unscented (although if you do with scented, stick with those scented with essential oils as synthetic scents are often created using chemicals that you probably don’t want to breathe in–a fact that my candle-crazed tween really does NOT want to accept. I found some essential oil candles at Home Goods for her that were $7 and smelled divine.
My favorite candles at the moment are beeswax candles. Even though they’re technically unscented they smell wonderful. In addition to the scent of candles, the light they emit is from the red end of the spectrum of light, which is soothing to the nervous system. Think about it, we evolved being exposed to only firelight or starlight after the sun set. Lighting a candle–or a fireplace, if you are lucky enough to have one–bathes your eyes in red light, which helps regulate your internal clock and soothes you before bed.
My third cozy home hack is to get out alllllllllll the soft stuff you have
Pillows, blankets, comforters. If you’ve got ‘em, drag ‘em out and put them everywhere–draped over the back of every couch and chair, tucked into a basket on the floor for easy grabbing. Don’t save them for someday, or for a special occasion. Give as many surfaces as you can–chairs, couches, beds, floors, a soft covering. You basically want to woo yourself into snuggling in to anywhere you land in your house.
My fourth cozy home hack is to light your fireplace
After all, nothing says cozy like a crackling fire. What if you don’t have a fireplace or a wood-stove you ask? I feel you! We do not have a fireplace or a wood-stove, so we invested about $120 on an electric heater that looks like a wood stove, and let me tell you, it’s a pretty close second, especially considering how low-maintenance it is and easy to store during the warmer months. Better yet, get your thickest softest blanket or rug and lay it out in front of your fireplace and really bask in the coziness. And, again, that red light from the actual or faux flames are soothing to the nervous system.
And finally, my fifth hack for a cozy home environment is to do a 10-minute tidy up
I’m not talking about getting out the vacuum or the broom. I’m talking about just walking around and putting things back where they go. Put the shoes where the shoes go, clear off the coffee table and dining table, throw the balled up socks in the hamper, hang up your coat, scarf, and bag. For many of us, clutter makes it hard to relax–it represents decisions that need to be made or tasks that need to be done and some of us are wired in such a way that it’s hard to relax in our own homes. So take the 10 minutes to remove the visual stuff that will whisper to your brain, what about me? Don’t you think you should do something about me? So that you can truly appreciate all the other cozy accouterments.
Daily Tiny Assignment
Your tiny assignment is to choose one or two of these things to do so that you can start enjoying a cozier home environment asap. Your nervous system will thank you and your being will thank you. And if you’re up for it, post a pic of your cozy hack to your instagram story and tag me–I’m @katehanleyauthor.
And come back tomorrow when I’m sharing 5 quick hacks to keep your BODY cozy.
