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Not everybody can afford luxury in the home; however, everyone deserves comfort. It’s part of what makes a home a home – knowing that, no matter how tiring the day has been, you can come back, flop down on the sofa, and feel utterly at ease. It’s easier to achieve than you might think, and paying attention to comfort can make for a much happier family home.
Is your old sofa getting a bit thin and lumpy? You don’t necessarily need to buy a new one – sofas are easy to revamp. Adding new stuffing to old cushions will make them much more comfortable, and you can add new covers too if you want to make the sofa look more appealing, or you can simply use a throw. This can also be good for snuggling up in. If you want to add extra comfy seating, beanbags are affordable and kids love them. You can even make your own, using their favourite fabrics.
If you have gorgeous wooden flooring in your lounge such as parquet, then you can add some rugs to make it warmer on your feet and make the room feel really cosy too.
Even if money is tight, buying a new mattress every five to eight years can be a good way to spend it. It can drastically improve the quality of your sleep, and thanks to improving technology, newer mattresses now have longer useful lives. Re-stuffing tired old pillows can make them much more comfortable. It’s important to make sure that bedding is breathable in order to ensure proper sleep – cotton and linen are the best choices.
For children, emotional comfort is highly important to getting a good night’s sleep. This means that it’s worth taking the time to design a room your child loves and feels safe in. You can do a lot to make a space like this work simply by painting the walls, transforming it into a fairy-tale castle or a space station. Children’s rooms also need spaces for toys so that they can be comfortable too and your child can feel confident that everyone is being properly provided for.
A cosy kitchen is a wonderful place for the family to come together. Fitting wooden window shutters can make it feel even more comfortable, as can fitting in a table, or at least a breakfast bar, so you can eat together. There’s nothing like the smell of home cooking to make everyone feel good, so baking, roasting food or using a slow cooker really adds to the atmosphere. Use warm colours in the kitchen and choose real wood over MDF – its longer lifespan makes up for the extra cost.
Despite what tradition has taught us, bathrooms don’t need to be white or blue. They can be warm and colourful. You can even get your children to help by painting decorative tiles. A big bath to soak in is the ultimate in bathroom luxury, so if you can’t fit in a traditional one, consider a round, wooden Japanese-style bath you can sit in. You can still fix up a shower above it.
Simple touches like these can help you to transform your home into a welcoming, comfortable space that everyone in the family loves.
Welcome to Birds and Lilies! I'm Lou: mother, blogger and freelance writer. This is my lifestyle blog, where I talk about motherhood, infertility and IVF, beauty, my love for food and wine, as well as my thoughts about stuff, and our real-life and travel adventures.
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