How to curate a cozy home
Home is a place meant to wind down and enjoy your loved ones. It’s hard to rest easy in a home that doesn’t feel cozy. That could change now with some simple swaps and intentional adjustments.
I’ve had those days before—a long and broken night’s rest followed by starting the day with a rude greeting from my sink full of dishes. Yikes, I’m already feeling stressed in my own home. By the end of the day, the boys’ love and happiness for the day’s adventures are strewn across my living room with yet another full sink of dishes. When do I get to see my home in it’s full glory?
Has this been you before? Is this you now?
At the end of a productive, perhaps stressful day, the home should be your haven, not an unintentional, cluttered place that adds to your stress. I can immediately feel the shift in my home’s energy after making some small changes to seek out the peace and comfort of a tidy and welcoming space. This guide below is here to help support your desire for the home to become your favorite place to retreat to and rest.
Minimal Home Habits Video
If you’re a visual gal like myself or want a real-life example of quick habits that instantly level up your home’s coziness, check out this video below.
5 Ways to MAKE YOUR HOME COzY
Does a certain smell send you to a happy place? A specific song make you smile? The taste of a familiar treat take you back to a wonderful childhood memory? (Get where I’m going with this?)
Addressing your senses is a great place to start when wanting to make a cozy home. With that, ask yourself what makes you relax and go from there. As you reflect on that, here are some specific ideas how to quickly make your home a welcoming place of rest and relaxation after any type of day.
Make a Quick Simmer Pot
Simmer pots are such a fast and effective way to make your entire home smell amazing. Grab some of your favorite food, herb, or spice ingredients and boil them together.
Some combos you can try:
For relaxation: lavender, cucumber, and lemon.
For citrus fans: (your favorite) citrus fruit, peppercorn, fresh rosemary, and fresh thyme.
For my fall fans: apple, cinnamon (hello, apple orchard!)
For the chai spice lovers: cardamom pods, whole cloves, star anise, fresh ginger, pine sprigs, and Masala chai tea bags.
It takes just a few minutes for the magic to begin and you can get so creative with your combinations (my personal favorite is boiling cranberries and cinnamon). Try these or make a new one of your own!
2. Clear Your Countertops
Are you easily visually overstimulated, and cannot relax until you can’t physically see a stack of mail/toys/clothes/dishes sorted through and put away? While there are days everything seems to be piled in mountains, one simple thing you can do is clear and clean your countertops, specifically your kitchen, bathroom, and entryway countertops.
Whether you place your items in a designated basket to put away at the end of the day, or tackle it with a 15-minute timer, you will have fewer visually distracting elements, allowing your eyes to rest on sweeter things.
My fast and favorite cleaning tool is using Branch Basics. Their products are simple, clean, and oh-so effective. Crayon stains? Gone. Grease? Bye-bye. Mystery puddle? Say less.
3. Hit the Lights
There’s something to be said about lighting. Bright lights can feel sterile and stressful (like a hospital), and dim lights instantly make a space feel more intimate. Have you noticed that every fancy restaurant you visit has dim lighting? While there are studies supporting the theory that dim lighting encourages more eating at mealtimes (super interesting by the way, fellow mommas), dim lighting also helps balance your circadian rhythms and lowers your cortisol levels.
The common rule of thumb I follow is this:
“Match the lighting of what’s outside your window—at sundown, your lights also turn down.”
There are a few practical ways you can address this:
Have FEWER LIGHTS ON—PERIOD.
Straightforward, simple, and cost-effective. Instead of overhead lighting, switch to using a few lamps—I just put a small lamp in my kitchen for the first time and it instantly made the space more warm and charming!
LIGHT SOME CANDLES
Another easy way to add warmth and coziness to your home is through authentic candle light. I prefer to burn pure beeswax candles or coconut apricot creme wax candles, as they purify the air rather than fill it with toxic, synthetic fragrances.
SWITCH YOUR BULBS TO AMBER LIGHT
My favorite light bulbs are from Koze Health, mimicking a fire’s relaxing light. Try them and tell me you don’t feel more relaxed and fall asleep fast.
INVEST IN A PAIR OF BLUE-LIGHT BLOCKING GLASSES
If nothing else, invest in a pair of blue-light blocking glasses. They will at least balance your circadian rhythms, helping you feel more relaxed without anything else in your home changing.
4. PUT ON COZY MUSIC
I’ve talked about it before in some of my previous videos, but the frequencies of what we listen to can dramatically change our chemical and hormonal compositions. While I love my upbeat, happy music playlists, I switch it up if I’m trying to feel relaxed or create a cozy space.
Check out my favorite cozy music on Spotify.
5. GET YOURSELF IN A COZY MOOD
While you’re working hard to create a cozy home, don’t forget to get yourself cozy. Like, really cozy. Wrap yourself in your favorite sweater or lounge set, slip on your fuzziest slippers, throw a blanket over your lap, and snuggle up in a way that makes you feel like you’re in your own little cozy cocoon. Winter doesn’t have to feel cold if you’ve got layers and blankets on hand. I mean, who can resist the comfort of a soft throw and a warm mug in your hands?
Favorite drinks to wind down my day:
Herbal Teas: An evening ritual that helps you slow down and re-center after a long day. Pique Tea has so many options to choose from, and a delicious selection of herbal teas that are caffeine-free. Oh and by the way, it’s triple screened for heavy metals and you can taste the quality.
Collagen Hot Chocolate: Indulge in a sweet nightcap that is full of nutrients and collagen. My boys and I love making hot chocolate using Perfect Supplement’s chocolate collagen (great for any time of day, really). Level it up with some bone broth that you won’t even know is there for an added boost of protein!
A LITTLE REMINDER
There is a season for everything (even the Bible says it in Ecclesiastes 3:1-11), so there are going to be times you feel like days/weeks/months are soaring by and you’re crushing this homemaking, momming, or being a human thing. Then, there’s those heavy doses of humility that can quickly derail us if we don’t find ways to re-center ourselves.
But, if someone has yet to tell you—allow me to be the first:
“You are doing a great job. Look beyond the mountain of tasks and take a moment to see where you’ve come from and how much you’ve grown. Even 1% better is still improvement.”
I hope these tips can help you find a larger slice of simple living and give you more time to rest in your home,
Margaret