The average amount of time that a Brit stays at home and indoors is 18 hours and 43 minutes per day, according to a study from early this year.
With working from-home or hybrid working solutions still continuing and on the rise, having a comfortable home is as needed as ever.
With the weather being a bit grim sometimes and the clouds coming in every so often during the winter especially, bringing some warmth and comfort within your home is a great way to lift spirits and feel more at ease.
Here are a few ways and simple tricks to go about it.
Consider a bioethanol fireplace
The best way to bring warmth into a home is through a fireplace.
If your home does not have a fireplace or a chimney then a great and stylish alternative to this is with a bioethanol fireplace.
Having to try to build a fireplace and a chimney is a structural hazard that is often not allowed after the house has been built and with the rise in prices of electricity, a bioethanol fireplace is a suitable and modern alternative.
A bioethanol fireplace is an eco-friendly fireplace that actually could serve as a piece of art it is so beautiful.
They come in all shapes and sizes, mounted on the wall, floating, underneath the telly or as a free-standing basket.
With only the ethanol renewable fuel needed, it can run completely without wood or fire and is actually remote-controlled.
Just a simple flick of a button gets the bioethanol fuel burning.
Many happy users do add some pebbles or logs around the fireplace to create a more traditional feel.
Find some comfortable seating areas
It may be a comfortable single-seater chair propped next to a small side table to hold your cup of tea and biscuits, a large dining table with some comfortable seats for long Sunday roast dinners or a work desk with a well-designed chair to support your back when working from-home.
Whatever you choose, it’s vital that you find some staple pieces to make all those hours being home the most enjoyable they can be.
These do not need to be expensive pieces.
Pop down to your local IKEA, visit a local charity shop on the high street closest to you or see if anyone is gifting bits on an online social media furniture page or platform.
Acquiring comfortable seating areas for yourself and any guests who come to visit creates a wonderfully comfortable experience.
You can even consider creating a small nook somewhere in your home, perhaps under a high window or next to a shelf of books.
All it requires is a crate like wooden box, which you can then cover with a bunch of cushions to sit on. This creates a very welcoming space.
Re-decorate cushions and reupholster sofas
It’s normal to have sofas and cushions for eons and to have your own special place on the sofa that everyone in the family knows is yours.
Buying a new sofa or big cushions can be costly.
Getting them reupholstered is a fantastic way to get some more life into them but it also gives you a chance to update the material coverings into something more exciting and warm.
Try to find some warm colours of material that suit your home.
Whether this is a warmer shade of the colour of the walls in a specific room or a purposefully contrasting colour to make it your old sofa look like a brand new designer piece, is up to you.
Don’t forget the small things
It’s the little things, like candles, small lamps and quaint decorative pieces that bring warmth, life and personality into a home.
If you have the time to try to source these, it can add a fair amount of charm to your home.
Try to find some small bits and bobs that you can place around the flat.
There are so many small businesses that are based in the UK, produced in the UK and that try to do so sustainably.
Consider supporting some of these small businesses the next time you need to fill your home with little trinkets.
Whether that is a scented candle made and produced locally in Richmond, a lamp shade sustainably made out of recyclable material in Peckham or crockery made in a studio flat in Hammersmith.
Alternatively, you can also find some vintage pieces at your local Saturday or Sunday market that can bring some warmth and life into your home and make it feel more lived in.
