Create a cozier living space with this simple design tip!

We're always looking for little ways to make our homes cozier & more comfortable, especially now that we're spending A LOT more time in them! After a long day of work, homeschooling, stress-eating, or whatever else is keeping you busy these days, it's important to have a space the family can relax & unwind. There are a lot of ways to cozy-up your home, whether it's a good organization system for toys so that everything feels tidy at the end of the day, or some cozy blankets & a good candle burning. But the ONE thing that has the power to make any room instantly cozier is - good lighting.

One of the most important design elements in a room is lighting. Lighting can make all the difference in making your room feel warm & cozy. Warm, soft light can instantly make you feel calmer & more relaxed. There's a reason spas don't blast bright fluorescent mega-watt lights in their spaces, they want to create a soothing space for their customers to de-stress.

So how do you achieve good lighting? 

Most rooms have a ceiling light, and most of the time ceiling light is not flattering & does almost nothing for the ambiance of a room. To achieve cozy lighting in your living room you are going to want 3 points of light other than the one on your ceiling. For example: 2 table lamps, one on each end table, and a floor lamp next to an arm chair. If possible, space the lights so that the whole room is somewhat evenly lit. Then, in the evening, turn on all the lamps instead of your ceiling light.

Don't forget the bulbs!!

While having 3 points of light is super important in achieving a cozy atmosphere, the warmth of the lightbulbs in those lights is equally important! All lightbulb packages indicate a bulb's Kelvin color temperature. This number will tell you the warmth of the bulb, or in other words the color of the light it casts. A "cool" white lightbulb is about 3100K - 4500K. An example of cool white light bulbs would be similar to the lighting in a waiting room or the grocery store. It's bright & achieves its purpose of helping you see everything clearly, but you probably don't consider it relaxing. 

A "warm" white lightbulb will range from 2500K - 3000K. This is the range you want your bulbs to be in - we find the sweet spot to be around 2700K! This color temperature gives off a warm, cozy glow like you would see streaming through the windows of a cozy mountain cabin on a Hallmark card. Ahhh, relaxing right?!

So rearrange those lamps, put in some warm bulbs, and shut off that ceiling light! Trust us, making these small adjustments to your living room will make it feel like an oasis!

Happy lighting, friends!