Fabrics for the Winter - Tips for Warm Interiors

Winter brings along with it chills and cold dry winds. All you like is to be indoors cuddling up with a warm blanket drinking endless cups of hot ginger tea. But with the mercury dipping down to lower and lower temperatures with each passing year, our homes also tend to feel colder and uncomfortable. There are many ways to cozy up your home and maintain warmth inside. Installing a room heater can give instant effects, however is a temporary solution. It neither allows us to keep windows open and also the sudden difference in the inside and outside temperatures can cause havoc with health.

The very first thing one needs to do is to let in natural light and air during the daytime. If you are lucky to receive sunshine inside the house, keep windows and doors facing the east completely open during morning hours. However, if the sun peeps in during noon you can let in sunlight for at least 3-4 hours. This will ensure a lot of fresh air and natural warmth for those areas of the house.

With the day getting shorter, the use of more yellow lighting by the way of chandeliers and lamps can make a room warmer than when white light is used. You can however use low energy bulbs to avoid power wastage.

The ultimate way to keep indoors cozy is to use fabric generously. Replace all the sheer and lacy curtains with thick cotton or silk and satin draperies. You could even try double curtaining. Accessorise your sofa with more number of soft, foam cushions and thick settee mats. Cover the arm rests with readymade wrappers available in the market as they tend to get cold especially if the sofa is a metal one. Drape one of the empty walls with big-sized silk tapestry without framing it. You could even cover the ceiling with a nice motif-designed fabric for additional warmth.

Cover the floor with synthetic or woollen carpets instead of bamboo and cane mats. Flooring, especially marble, tends to maintain a chilly surrounding inside. Walking on a very cold floor can lead to a lot of health problems later. Cover all walk able areas in the house like corridors, bedrooms, living room, and the foyer with thick carpets.

For the beds, use good quality thick mattresses and cover the bed with quilted bedcovers. A great way to ensure comfort and coziness in the bedroom is to have a canopy for your bed. Get detachable steel rods fitted on four corners and leave a free flowing fabric with pleats adjoining them. Alternatively, you can have a canopy for the headboard by accessorising it with 3-4 different curtains.