Home Comforts

This is a ?guest post from Sharon Bradford. Sharon is a passionate homemaker and design enthusiast who loves contributing to blogs and publications about home design.

There’s something about the autumn season that just screams “comfort,” and I’ve never been quite sure what it is. Maybe it’s the fact that I personally prefer the slightly cooler weather to the blazing heat and suffocating humidity of the summer; maybe it’s the warm color tones that suddenly surround us, in nature with the leaves turning, and in shop windows of all kinds playing up the tones of the season. Whatever it is, it’s a vibe I’ve always enjoyed enhancing within my home.

When you’re happy and cozy, it’s only natural to want to be, well? even happier and cozier! This is why I always take the autumn as an opportunity to address some needs in my home, and to amplify the pleasant feeling of the season as much as possible.

For me personally, it all begins with the seasonal decorations – the ones stashed away in storage for the rest of the year, associated with the cooling weather and the coming holiday season. Just as the changing leaves and new fashions sprouting up outside of the home surround us with an autumn atmosphere, I choose to have my house do the same on the interior: faux food items like pumpkins and squash tastefully lining the mantles, perhaps a few Halloween decorations on the front stoop, and I’m in “fall mode.” I also recommend a visit to Fleur De Lis?for some ready-made autumn bouquets for around the home.

Once the basic decorations are up, it’s time to address comfort, and this is where I like to make a few significant upgrades each year. Last year I finally gave in to temptation and ordered a brand new memory foam mattress from Dreams, and managed to make it work with the vintage bed frame I love so much. This struck me at the time as a good way to enhance comfort even more during my favourite season, and it turns out it was a great decision! This season, I’m looking into similar adjustments for the more public areas of my home, and specifically trying to upgrade couch and chair cushions, but the search goes on for a good fit. It’s not just the couch and cushions I’m thinking of changing, but I was looking at a company called Bazeer Velvet the other day (who are a company that teaches how to look after your rugs as well) and it got me thinking that maybe I ought to change my style up a little bit and invest in a rug for my house – that will certainly bring some more comfort to each room. Maybe I could go a bit further and change up the exterior of my house as well. Maybe getting some new windows in could make all the difference… maybe I should look at getting a residential window installation company involved to help me out. There’s so much I want to change but not enough time! I should probably just stick to smaller tasks though for the time being and leave the windows for another day.

With basic decorations and some added comfort covered, I like to put on the finishing touches, which for me are all about scent. Autumn, in a way, is all about clutter – decorations and flowers come out, extra blankets may be needed on couches, people are in warmer and bulkier clothes, coat closets become packed, etc., and to some extent this clutter plays into overall decoration. But with some autumn scents wafting through the home, you can really step up the seasonal homemaking a notch! Check out Yankee Candle for some seasonally selected scented candles…

These are just a few miscellaneous tips from my own experiences that, to me, can really help to play up the coming season at home.

Enjoy those autumn comforts… Love Sharon.x