8 Ways To Make Your Home Inviting
A few weeks ago
our good friends from up North came to visit us.
And one of the things my friend said to me
as she was sitting on the sofa was,
‘I love your home!
It feels so comfortable!’.
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That was the greatest compliment anyone
could give me!
While sometimes I tend to focus a lot on the way my house looks,
more than anything,
I want my home to be
comfortable, welcoming
and a place where everyone feels like they can sit back,
relax and be themselves.
So today, let’s look at 8 ways to make your home inviting:
START AT THE BEGINNING
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Your entry space should be welcoming and set the tone for the rest of your home. Make sure there’s a place for visitors to put their coats, handbags and other items as soon as they walk in.
Keep it clutter-free of backpacks, piles of shoes, keys and donation items that you haven’t gotten around to delivering yet.
2. DOES IT SMELL NICE?
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Get the recipe for amazing Strawberry Crepes HERE
Sometimes, when you live in a space, you can become so used to the way it smells, you might not even notice offensive odors yourself. Pets, cooking certain foods (broccoli, fish, cabbage…), dampness or musty-ness, the trash can and even the garbage disposal can all create not-so-pleasant smells around your home.
If you want to be sure that you haven’t become ‘nose-blind’ to the way your house smells, ask a trusted close friend to sniff around and give you an honest report about how your house smells.
Keep in mind, you don’t need a lot of perfumed candles or sprays to make your home smell welcoming. Sometimes, just opening up the windows and letting in fresh air is all that’s needed. Or, remember that some foods when they’re cooking (cake, pie, cookies, pot roast…) give off pleasant scents!
3. LAYER YOUR LIGHTING
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See how to upcycle a 1980s plaster table lamp HERE
Use lighting evenly around a room. Use overhead lights, table lamps, wall sconces and floor lamps. Disburse light from one end of the room to the other, especially in dark corners. Also, to be most effective, you want your lighting to be at different heights in the space too.
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Having everything on a dimmer allows you to transform your light from general or task lighting to ambient or mood light. With just a quick touch, you can change that table lamp from a soft glow to bright enough to read by. Or in the kitchen, you can switch those undercabinet, chopping veggies task lights to just barely-there night lights.
And the most inviting color for light is warm white or soft white. Try to avoid fluorescent and bright white or cool white tones in your lighting. Many of today’s LEDs come with adjustable light colors so you can switch them from cool white to warmer white tones.
4. KEEP IT TIDY, BUT…
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Read the backstory about this chair slipcover HERE
People are the most comfortable in homes that are clutter-free but not completely eat-off- the-floor, don’t-touch-anything, squeaky clean. If your home feels like a museum, it’s not going to be very inviting. You don’t want your guests to feel like they would be disturbing a display if they set a drink on the table or moved a pillow to sit on a chair.
At the same time, they won’t feel very comfortable if your house is so cluttered they can’t find an empty place on the table to set a drink and there are piles of laundry sitting around.
So try to strike a good balance of clean, tidy, orderly and lived-in, put-your-feet-up comfortable.
5. GET PERSONAL
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Your home is just that — your home. There should be evidence that you live there. Family photos, collections, books you like to read and momentoes from your travels should all be part of your decor.
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If all your decor is just things you bought from Pottery Barn and Home Goods, then your house is going to feel more like a store than a home.
Again, balance is key here — blend purchased decor and art along with personal items to make your home the best reflection of you and welcome guests with a feeling of personal warmth.
6. USE WARM MATERIALS AND TONES
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Just like lighting, using warmer materials and colors in your home makes it more welcoming. Houses with all polished, shiny surfaces like glass, mirror, and metal tend to feel cold and uninviting. Using warmer materials and tones in your decor like beige, brown, rust and bronze give you that ‘sit down and put your feet up’ vibe in your home.
7. SOFTEN THINGS UP
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Pillows, throws, slipcovers, drapes, and rugs are all ways to soften a room to make it cozier and more welcoming. (We don’t have rugs yet because we’re still in the midst of a huge kitchen remodel and, well, dust…)
Drapes can make a huge difference in adding warmth to bare windows. And pillows and throws just beckon you to sit and relax. I like to have large baskets around for guests to toss pillows into so they have just the right amount of cushiony support when they sit — giving people this choice is another way to make your home inviting!
8. BRING NATURE IN
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Use natural materials in your decor. Wood, wicker, seagrass, sisal, marble, linen, and leather are all natural materials that make a home feel more relaxed and informal.
And don’t forget live plants — they’re the best way to bring nature into your home. They give so much life to a space! I like to make sure every room in my home has at least one live plant in it.
So here’s to house guests —
whether they’re family, good friends or new acquaintances.
May they always feel welcome,
relaxed and at home
in my favorite place on the planet —
my home
Matt. 25:35