How To Make Your Living Room A Cozy and Comfortable Retreat

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While you may not have time for a vacation, you can likely find a few minutes to relax in a comfortable space. Keep reading for cozy living room ideas that will help you make your home your own personal retreat!

Way too Much on Your Plate?

Do you remember those “Calgon, take me away” commercials?  The ones where the main character is super stressed out and has way too much on her plate? And she found her escape by slipping into a warm, scented bubble bath?

Even though it’s an old, hokey commercial, we can still relate.  Our days are spent drudging away at work. And then we come home to a house that needs cleaned and people who need fed. After a day spent focusing on everyone else’s needs, we need a break.  A vacation or day off may not be in the works, but finding a moment to sit back, relax, and just BREATH, may be just the difference between sanity and becoming a giant stress ball.

Creating Your Own Personal Retreat

Whether it’s reading a book, checking Instagram or just staring off into space while sipping a cup of tea or glass of wine, sinking into a sofa or favorite chair in a cozy place just seems to melt the day away. Taking the time to relax and just BE in an inviting space calms the nerves and allows us to regroup.

Creating a cozy and inviting space doesn’t mean overhauling your house, spending a ton of money, or getting a design degree.  You can easily add a few cozy elements to your living space to make it feel warmer and more inviting, without making any major design changes.

Here are a few quick ways you can easily add cozy element to your living room, to make it extra warm and inviting:

Add Comfy Blankets

• A basket piled high with fluffy, cozy blankets sends an invitation to curl up and relax
• Draping a warm hued throw over the back of your favorite comfy chair not only adds an aura of coziness, but is at arm’s length when you are ready to snuggle up.
• Casually tossing a faux fur blanket over the arm of your coach creates a deliriously homey place to curl up.  (This blanket  has gone viral throughout my family….wrapping up in it is like being engulfed in a hug from a giant teddy bear.)

Decorate with Dancing Fairy Lights and Soft Candlelight

There is good reason that candle light is at the center of the Danish concept of Hygge.  The soft glow of candlelight or twinkling fairy lights instantly relaxes the mood of a room.

• Scatter a string of fairy lights over your mantel and strategically place another set or two around your living room.  (This set comes with a remote control that allows you to turn them on and off and set the light sequence.  You can use the same remote for the entire set.)
• Add a candle with your favorite scent or a grouping of tea light candles to immediately soften the ambiance of your living room.

Add an Oversized Pillow or Two

• Oversized throw pillows are perfect for leaning back into while reading a book and sipping a cup of coffee.  Place one on the arm of your couch or, prop it up against a piece of furniture if you prefer to sit on the floor.

Bring Nature Inside

• The next time you are out shopping, take a stroll through the floral section of your grocery store and pick out a bouquet and bring it home to display in your favorite vase.
• Purchase a pretty, ceramic flower pot and add an easy to care for plant.  Philodendrons are extremely hearty require little sunlight. (I have no green thumb and I’ve managed to keep the philodendron I received the day my son was born alive and growing for the last 12 years!)
•  If even the idea of a philodendron seems daunting, there are a ton of realistic looking plants available.  Pottery Barn, Crate and Barrel, and TJ Maxx are great places to pick up beautiful faux plants.
• Do your kids have a rock or seashell collection? We live near Lake Erie and my son loves to walk the beach and collect rocks that have been shaped and smoothed over by the water.  I placed a candle in a large bowl and surrounded the candle with several rocks from his collection. Not only do I have a unique display on my coffee table, my son loves that he’s contributed to the décor!

Well Placed Whimsical and Quirky Objects

Have you ever been out shopping and come across something that made you smile? And you loved it even though you weren’t sure what you would do with it?  Next time you do, give yourself permission to buy it and work it into your décor. While my family mocks me a bit every time I do this, that carved wooden llama and metal dragonfly are now perfectly at home in my living room.  And, seeing them staring back at me from my built-in bookshelves still makes me smile.

Decorate With Books

• Place neatly stacked books on your mantel or an end table to add color and dimension.  To make it extra cozy, choose books favorite novels and books that bring found thoughts and memories to mind.
• Use a stack of books to showcase a favorite item, by placing it atop a neat stack.

Pulling It All Together

As you create a cozy space in your living room, add an element or two, sit back and enjoy, and see how it feels.  Continue to add cozy elements that feel right for YOU and help you relax. This is about creating a cozy space that you can visit, catch your breath, and regroup in those moments in between the busy.