How to make your living room feel cosy

One of the most frequent questions I get asked by clients is ‘how can I make my home feel cosy and inviting?’ Often it’s the finishing touches that we struggle with the most, but that’s what sets the mood and dictates the feel of a space. You’ve splashed out on your dream sofa, bought a new coffee table and put a few of your favourite things out but nothing seems to pull it all together into a calm, cohesive scheme. It doesn’t take much to bring a warm, welcoming feel to a space – you’ve probably got most of the tools already – but it does require a bit of careful thought and consideration.

It’s not just about lighting a few candles and pulling out a soft throw either. A cosy living room makes living in it feel easy and natural because it’s been designed with comfort in mind, from the way the furniture is arranged to how it is lit and what materials have been used. Making a space feel cosy is about appealing to all the senses, not just how a room might look. You need to think about scent, touch and sound, so that everything comes together to create a homely ambience conducive to relaxing and unwinding. Get it right and you’ll create your very own sanctuary that you can’t wait to spend time in. Here are 8 tips for making your living room feel cosy.

Texture and tactility

Soften clean lines, bare walls and open spaces by layering up the texture in your living room. A bit of texture can warm up even the most neutral of homes – every home needs some. Swap synthetic man-made materials and shiny surfaces for natural materials such as lightly stained wood, rattan, jute, organic cotton and linen. I think we’re drawn to texture because our minds are naturally suspicious of anything that’s too perfect or polished. A pristine surface can appear boring and one-dimensional to our eye, but add in some tactility and complexity, and it starts to appear interesting and intriguing. You can’t help but stroke the creases of a linen cushion, wrap a wool blanket around your shoulders or appreciate the natural grain in wood.

Smooth shapes and rounded edges

A cosy living room needs smooth, curved shapes to give an inviting feel. Hard, sharp edges and lots of straight lines suggest a feeling of rigidity and inflexibility, giving the impression that you have to sit up straight and take it all seriously. Create a more relaxing ambience by letting your living room suggest a more carefree type of behaviour. In a cosy living room, you want the furniture to feel like it’s almost embracing you and giving you a warm hug – so you can sink into a sofa, curl up and get comfy. Circular furniture, such as a round coffee table, encourages you to gather around it, like we once did around a fire, while rounded corners on items like sofas and armchairs makes them feel more tactile and welcoming. Add squishy cushions to hard surfaces and soft rugs under furniture.

Add some colour and tone

White walls can feel bright and airy during the day, but in some lights they can feel quite stark and cold. Warm neutrals are much softer and soothing. Add a subtle hint of hue on the walls to warm everything up; even just an off-white or light beige can make a space feel cosier because it feels more natural. Paint the walls, ceiling and woodwork the same colour for a truly cosy feel or use a half painted wall to help ground the space.

You could also add character and depth to plain walls with some simple wall panelling. Whether you have a period property or a new build, it will help add an architectural feature to a space and make a room feel instantly more inviting – choose slatted panelling for modern spaces and moulded panelling for more traditional areas.

You can also start to introduce some colour in your accessories, layering up the tone to create pops of interest and break up the expanse of material on a sofa or armchair. Choose complementary colours that are opposite each other in the spectrum to create a harmonious look (eg. navy blue and tan).

Turn the overhead light off

No one wants to sit in their living room in the evening with the overhead light on full – the bright glare makes you feel alert and awake, not rested. Install a dimmer switch on your lights and layer your lighting with multiple light sources to create a warm, inviting setting. Have plenty of accent lights to help set the scene with a softer, more diffused light. In a cosy living room, use lamps to create focal points on side tables, sideboards and shelves – it will help draw your eye around the space to these cosy, inviting corners. You can read my tips for getting the lighting right and setting the mood here.

Use your furniture to create moments of intimacy

With clients I often talk about pieces of furniture being in conversation with each other. If you think about how you might actually use a space, it can feel more natural if you’re positioned opposite or at an angle to someone. Often the default layout will mean pushing everything against a wall to try and give a greater sense of space. But this can give the feeling that you’re in a waiting room at the doctor’s surgery. Cluster your furniture together to give an impression of intimacy – an armchair set at an angle opposite a sofa for instance.

Block out the outside world

I’ve talked about introvert interiors before, but part of getting cosy is creating space for a quiet, restorative moment away from it all. And often that might mean away from people and the noise and stresses of the modern world. Hang natural linen curtains over windows to give a sense of privacy, choose discreet technology that doesn’t dominate the space, turn your phone on silent in the evenings to help you wind down, put on some relaxing music and hunker down.

Use warm, uplifting scents

The smell of cooked food, musty linen and stagnant air doesn’t make you feel like getting cosy. Set the mood with some soothing scents that can transport you to a little moment of escapism. Make sure to air the room during the day, then in the evening light a candle or spritz some eco-friendly room spray. Use scents that remind you of a time when you were relaxed. Bring the outdoors in with smokey, woody scents or create a spa-like feel with fragrant lavender and fresh, green notes. Scent has a powerful influence on our mood – as soon as I light the candles, it sends a little signal to my brain that it’s time to chill.

What makes you feel at home?

For some it might be surrounding themselves with plants and nature, for others it might mean using bright patterns to bring a space to life. For me, flowers and books instantly make me feel at home. Maybe it’s because growing up, my mum always bought fresh flowers for the house each week. Think about what connects you to home and surround yourself with the things you love. By giving a deeper meaning to a space and thinking carefully about the objects that we surround ourselves with, we can create an interior that’s cosy and welcoming on multiple levels beyond just aesthetics.