Sustainable Options for a Cozy Winter Season

With the cold weather arriving and a pandemic keeping everyone apart, many peoples’ thoughts are turning toward the homefront. As millions of individuals work, learn, and rest from the same living space, it becomes a natural goal to turn that space into a more desirable, cozy home to dwell in through the cold months.

Nevertheless, you don’t want to compromise on your commitment to sustainability just because the temperature has begun to drop. Here are a few easy ways to create a living space this winter that honors both comfort and sustainability at the same time.

Start with Ambiance

The best decorations will quickly fall short if they aren’t supported by a solid foundation. That’s why you should start your pursuit of cozy sustainability by considering your home’s general atmosphere. What is the ambiance that you’re currently maintaining? Does your home give off a comfortable vibe or does it have a messy or utilitarian feel? A few ways that you can set a responsibly snuggly tone include:

• Controlling your climate: Use a smart thermostat to keep your home at a comfortable level during the day while automatically turning down the heat when you’re sleeping or not at home. Additionally, seal drafts from your windows and doors.
• Being thoughtful about your lighting: Use LED lightbulbs and trickle power strips to properly light your spaces with a warm, eco-conscious feel.
• Setting up a Bluetooth speaker: One of the best things about music is that it doesn’t waste resources. Having a nice holiday playlist ready to go at a moment’s notice is a great environmentally-friendly way to keep your home’s ambiance at peak coziness.

If you want a sustainably cozy home this winter, it’s important to start with the basics. Warmth, lighting, and sound are all cornerstone elements that can create a safe and intimate atmosphere to build on.

Consider a Minor Home Renovation

Larger remodel and restoration projects will likely only add stress to your holidays. However, if you’re feeling the need to shake up your space a bit, consider a smaller home renovation project to improve the layout and appearance of your space.

Most renovation activities tend to focus on upgrades rather than overhauls. Small alterations, such as fixing dilapidated appliances or making cosmetic changes can be the perfect way to improve your space for the winter without using up too many resources. Renovations also provide ample opportunities to replace things like inefficient toilets or lay down environmentally friendly flooring.

Decorate for Warmth

There are many ways to overlap coziness and sustainability as you set up your living spaces. One particularly effective area is heating. You can reduce your fuel consumption by using several other sustainable methods to stay warm, such as:

• Keeping plenty of warm blankets involved in your decor — and then using them regularly.
• Using a fireplace to warm specific rooms of the house with a comforting glow.
• Maintaining a solid stock of warm beverages on hand, from coffee and tea to mulled wine and hot cocoa.
• Stocking your closet with plenty of warm, comfy clothing.
• Having an electric blanket ready to go at all times.

By focusing on a “warm” theme to your decor, food, and clothing you can ensure that you remain comfortable without the need to turn up the heater.

Don’t Forget the Bedroom

With social distancing still taking place, the chances of holiday parties and larger family get-togethers are quickly melting away. Rather than having a pessimistic attitude about the situation, though, you can adopt a “cup half full” mentality by redirecting some of your hosting energy into creating a cozy sleeping area as well.

Instead of using your bedroom as a coat catch-all during parties, invest some time into turning the space into yet another cozy area of your home. Decorate with the same warm theme, and make sure you’ve got good lighting. You can even set up music, reading, and movie options as well.

As you do so, remember to keep the sustainability side of things in mind, too. You can maintain a sense of energy-efficiency in your bedroom by sealing up the windows, using warmer bedding, keeping an electric blanket nearby, and generally focusing on localized heat sources.

Steer Into Hygge This Winter

Hygge is a popular Danish concept that is technically untranslatable. However, the closest English understanding of the term typically includes a feeling of cozy contentment and well being — which is perfect for the cold winter months.

On top of that, Hygge isn’t accomplished through reckless spending or environmentally-unfriendly activities. On the contrary, it focuses on simple things. Warmth, comfort, and a feeling of closeness and togetherness. These are all elements that can easily be incorporated into a cozy home all while improving your home’s sustainability in the process. So sit down and create your own “cozy winter strategy” to overhaul your home this winter. Consider how you can address the ambiance and warmth of each room in your dwelling, whether it’s through renovation projects, warm-themed decor and clothing, or even simply brewing a pot of coffee.