Small Space Living: 7 Ways to Make Your Home More Hygge This Winter (hint: consider a Space Heater)

The colder weather and often darker days of winter may mean it’s not everyone’s favorite season. But those reasons to be inside make it the perfect season to embrace the comfort and warmth of a small, welcoming home. In many ways, winter makes us slow down and enjoy life in the moment. And there are things you can do to make sure your home is ready to inspire hygge by bringing in elements that make it warm and cozy – perfect for those nights when you’re snowed in. Here are seven ways (including getting a space heater!) to make your smaller home perfectly hygge for winter.

1. Add Warm, Strategic Lighting

While it may be darker in the winter, your home can be an oasis when you use strategically placed lighting to create a cozy atmosphere. Rather than turning on overhead lights, which can be harsh – especially fluorescent bulbs, think about adding table lamps, floor lamps and task lighting. Also consider using warm light bulbs to create ambiance. And, keep in mind that the warm glow of dancing flames from an electric fireplace, like the Highland Wall Mantel Electric Fireplace from Home Decorators Collection at Home Depot (shown above), can help create that soft light as well.

2. Burn Festive Candles to Set the Mood

Our sense of smell has the power to evoke a lot of emotions and nostalgia, especially when certain scents are connected to fond memories. If you’re someone who likes burning candles, winter is the perfect time to put out your best fir-scented votives or spicy, cinnamon candles to give your home the essence of the holidays. If you’re not a candle lover, there are a number of other ways to infuse your home with the scents of the winter season. Try simmering a pot of water or cider with sliced oranges, whole cloves and cinnamon or hanging evergreens as a decorative touch throughout your home. You can also choose flameless candles, like a duraflame® Electric Candle Lantern, to create a cozy flicker without the worry open fire can cause around little ones or pets – you’re sure to love the glow and the 5,200 BTUs of heat it provides!

Shannon Ggem, an award-winning interior designer from Los Angeles, loves the idea of these lanterns. “I’m very excited for those,” Ggem said. “For those sunrooms that close in the winter, you can just have a little heat out there and you can still get an extra season out of it. Sit out there, read your book, turn on your lantern.”

For those without kids or pets, a beautiful way to use candles in your holiday décor is to nestle them in front of your wall mantel electric fireplace. In the design shown below, candles add to the glow of a duraflame® Infrared Quartz Electric Log Set Heater. Heaters like this are also an excellent way to update a non-working fireplace and give up the mess of a wood-burning fireplace.

3. Switch Out Your Light Curtains for Heavier Ones

During the summer, it makes sense to have sheer panels that let in as much sunshine as possible. For winter, you’ll want heavier curtain fabric that creates more of a physical barrier to help keep the cold out. More substantial curtain materials in darker, warmer tones also add a psychological coziness to a room. To keep the chill out and make things really comfortable, you might even consider using panels backed with insulating materials.

Beyond the functional aspect, Treci Smith, San Diego-based designer and real estate investor, loves the way that changing up your window dressings creates a different mood.

“Getting my home ready for the holidays, or just from summer to fall, I like to change my textiles,” Smith said. “So, for instance, I will go from white sheer curtains in the summertime, to the fall, I would go to maybe velvet, maybe a wine color, just to change the color to give the home a more warm and cozy feeling.”

4. Warm Up Cold Floors with Area Rugs

If you have hardwood floors or other flooring that can be cold in the winter, adding an area rug makes it much more pleasant to get out of bed in the morning and walk around your home during the day. Whether you choose a traditional style with warm tones, like dark red or deep olive, or you go for a more modern look with bold colors, an area rug immediately makes a space feel cozier and more welcoming.

5. Soften the Look of Your Furniture with Blankets and Pillows

Warm, fuzzy blankets and throw pillows aren’t just wonderful for curling up with on the couch. They also soften the look of your home and make it inviting to family and friends. Winter fabrics, such as flannel, fleece or wool offer a little extra weight and warmth to make things nice and comfy.

6. Use a Space Heater for Supplemental Zone Heating

Nothing you do with candles, lighting, rugs or curtains will make your home cozy enough if you still feel like you’re freezing all the time. You could turn your heat way up to warm up your entire home to the point where everyone is comfortable. But that’s not very efficient and it can be costly. Even if your home is small, a space heater, like the duraflame® DFI-5018 electric stove heater (shown below) keeps your most-used rooms at the perfect temperature while going easy on the heating system for the rest of the house.

7. Add Warmth and Light with an Electric Fireplace (or sometimes a space heater)

If you want supplemental heat for a certain room in your home and you’re looking to create a welcoming space, you might want to opt for an electric fireplace to add an even cozier aesthetic.  With the Danyell Electric Fireplace (shown below), you get the warmth that you’d receive with a space heater, plus the glowing light of a natural-looking electric fireplace all tied together with a beautiful three-sided view of the dancing flames. This one begs you to sit beside its warm glow, curl up in a warm blanket and sip hot cocoa.

Fire Up Your Space Heater and Embrace Cozy Comfort

Whether your home is small or large, Twin Star Home® has electric fireplaces, furniture, space heaters, and more to help you create the warm and inviting space you want this winter. To find these products and so much more, see our premier retailers today or browse our best ideas and inspiration for more home decorating tips.