Winter Home Furnishing Ideas

When you work from home it's important for your house to have a comfortable feel about it. Now that the days are getting ever shorter and the temperature dropping it's also essential for me to have a cosy touch to the house. With this in mind I've been updating a few areas so when the rain beats against the windows and the wind blows hard I can snuggle up inside.

We've only ever owned one sofa and it's coming up for 18 years old. The sofa itself is in good nick thanks to the washable covers but what was letting it down was the cushions. I'm a terror for wanting to make things rather than buy them but yet never getting round to doing the job. It was time to give in and pick some new cushions. The colour scheme in our living room is red and gold; perfect winter colours; so I went for these striped cushions. They're wonderfully tactile with the chenille and velvet fabrics. The three matching cushions were a snip at 3 for £10 and most importantly for me are machine washable!

With the dark nights I find lighting important and it's time to get the candles lit. Of course it's always nice if your candle holder is attractive in its right so during the day you can keep it out on display. This one fits in with our gold scheme as well as providing a warm glow when a tea light is lit inside.

Upstairs and Miss JibberJabber has recently had her room decorated. She's gone for a duck egg blue scheme on both the walls and bedding. There was still a few details missing so she picked out a soft, fleece blanket with butterfly design on it. My daughter's favourite animal are monkeys but primates don't really fit in with this style. Instead to finish off the look she went her second favourite animal and picked a penguin cushion. For complete hugability it has a soft, faux fur backing to it.

As I'm someone who actually gets dressed to go bed keeping warm at night is very important. For some time I've been looking for a brushed duvet set to keep the winter cold at bay. I haven't been able to find the right colour until now. This set is so soft and warm that getting into bed is very easy but getting out of it in the morning is much harder! Just in case I do get bored with the check design the duvet and pillowcases are reversible to show a striped pattern.

What are your tips for winter home furnishing ideas? Do you change your furnishings to suit the seasons?

I picked out a selection of items from George Home. All photographs and words are my own.