On a cold winter’s day, there’s nothing better than a cozy room that invites you to sink into a cozy chair and curl up with a fuzzy throw.
“No matter what kind of home I’m working on, whether it’s more contemporary or more traditional, my goal is always to create something that’s comfortable, warm and welcoming,” she said. Sean Henderson, a New York-based interior designer. “Most people are looking for that sense of comfort and security.”
David Jimenez, an American designer based in Paris, has different words for this sentiment. “You can call it comfort,” he said, “but you can also call it making a space feel more layered, more comfortable, more relaxed. It all boils down to the same idea: You feel like putting your feet up.”
What’s the best way to create that warm atmosphere? We asked designers to share some tips.
Wrap the walls
When you walk into a warm room, it should feel like it’s hugging you.
“Coziness starts with feeling surrounded and like the walls are closing in a little bit instead of pushing out,” said Jenna Chused, of Chused & Co., an interior design firm in Brooklyn. “Painting a room a rich, dark color or using wallpaper helps create that feeling.”
For a sitting room in her own mansion, Ms. Chused wrapped walls in a graphic paper depicting trees and clouds in various shades of gray.
Wood paneling is another option.
“We’re big fans of the investment,” said Shana Sherwood, who runs Sherwood Cyprios, a Los Angeles interior design studio, with her husband, George Kypraos. “It gives you a lot of visual interest compared to mindless expanses of drywall.”
In a kitchen, they used V-groove paneling on the ceiling and walls to make the space more intimate. “It’s the architectural texture that reduces the scale of the space a bit,” said Mr Kypreos. “It makes it feel more comfortable.”
For ultimate softness, try lining the walls with fabric. That’s what Mr. Henderson did when he designed his Hillsdale, N.Y., cottage. “In all the bedrooms, there’s some level of wallpaper,” he said.
A guest room cleverly uses a section of wallpaper as a generous headboard. “It’s an acoustic diaphragm that’s also soft to the touch,” he said. “Talk about comfortable.”
Soften the floor
Area rugs are an easy way to add warmth and comfort to a room. Look for thick, shaggy rugs or consider putting two or more rugs to extend what a single, tightly woven rug can provide.
Tamara Honey, founder of the Los Angeles interior design firm House of Honey, used both strategies in a recent project. In a living room with a bar that had a hard terracotta tile floor, she layered vintage Afghan, Turkish and Indian rugs on the floor, using scraps of other rugs to make throw pillows and floor pillows. “That way, people can relax on the floor,” he said.
In the living room of the same house, Ms. Honey used a shaggy circular rug to define a sitting area on a terracotta tile floor. “It’s almost like this conversation pit,” he said. “I just feel good.”
Use ambient lighting
“Lighting is very important for a comfortable space,” said Ms. Chused. “Table lamps and floor lamps are the most important, and you want soft, shadowy light.”
Try to place the lamps exactly where you need them, so you can bring functional light to certain parts of the room without having to make them too bright. In her living room, Ms. Chused placed a shaded lamp with a swivel arm on the wall behind the sofa and placed a floor lamp to one side.
Ceiling lights that wash the entire room with light are less desirable. If you have them, look for diffusers and bulbs that offer warm colors—for LEDs, the color temperature should be a warm white of about 2,700 Kelvin—and make sure you have dimmers. For her living room, Ms. Chused chose a Viscontea pendant lamp by Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni that is wrapped in a cloth-like resin veil.
Embrace the warmth of wood
A cozy room is a great place to play with natural materials, such as different types of wood and natural grass.
When Mr. Henderson designed the living room of his Hillsdale home, he painted the wall paneling a teal gray but left the original rough-wood posts and beams unfinished for their rich visual character. He then added vintage furniture made from other types of wood, such as oak, rosewood and pine.
The designers at Sherwood Kypreos often take a similar approach. “Mixing the woods gives you a warmer, warmer feel,” Ms Sherwood said. Her company also often uses window coverings and lampshades woven from natural grasses for their visual warmth.
Create places to clip
Choosing the right furniture is critical to a comfortable room. Sofas and chairs shouldn’t just look comfortable – they should is comfortable. This means finding pieces with a lower seat height, deep seat cushions and soft, sinkable padding to encourage lounging and napping.
Mrs. Chused used oversized leather chairs upholstered in sheepskin to create nests by the fireplace. Mr. Jimenez likes a sofa or recliner in front of a fireplace so people can admire the flames facing one way and turn to chat with others in the opposite direction.
Mr. Henderson has a low, armless sofa with a soft bench cushion in his own living room, which he placed next to a wing chair. “The seat in that chair looks a little higher, but you sink into it,” she said, and the wings offer a huggable hug. “A wing chair is one of the most comfortable pieces of furniture one can have in a room.”
Add soft accessories
Cushions and throws are a must: A cozy room is the place to go a little overboard with down and wool fabrics to soften the look of the room and give people the ability to adjust their comfort level.
“Use lots of pillows and have convenient throws,” Ms. Chused said.
You can mix color and pattern for a pulled together look and look for options that are luxuriously soft, she advised: “I use a lot of velvet, super soft mohair and alpaca.”
It’s almost impossible to have too many soft accessories — or to have them too soft.
Level with Abandonment
Layering a space using artwork and decorative accessories will make it feel more homey. Mr. Jimenez likes to decorate his homes with items he has collected over the years: framed art, small sculptures, interesting plates and boxes, and many, many books.
“There’s something to be said for comfortable spaces that are filled with things that are meaningful to you,” she explained. “It’s about what touches you. What do you love, what are your passions and how do you project that in your space?”
Make a room personal and it will be comforting every time you walk in. And that’s the best kind of comfort.
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