Inspiration

One of the simplest ways to acknowledge the shift in seasons is to fill vases, pots and bowls with flora that’s sprouting in the great outdoors. Deep burgundy hellebores, blowsy dahlias, snowberries and winter roses will ensure your seasonal flower arrangements reflect what’s growing in the garden, but also make the most of greenery and foliage. Evergreen sprigs, boughs of eucalyptus and russet coloured sprays of beech, oak and fern draped over mirror and picture frames, window ledges, fireplace mantels and entwined around a banister evoke a British winter woodland setting.

While you’ll mostly read that cushions and statement accessories are the easiest steps to a seasonal interior, it’s important to not altogether overrule repainting your walls. Nobody is suggesting that you need to paint anew every wall in every room with the change of seasons; that’d be much too costly and much too time-consuming. But, having a feature wall in a key reception room, like a sitting room, means that the prospect of changing the room’s colour scheme becomes less-daunting and more enticing. An artful position of a mirror means your chosen hue will be reflected so that you can appreciate it two-fold. It gives the illusion that your wintery tone is on more than just the one wall but with half of the work required – see just what we mean in the first scheme where the feature wall in Mist is amplified through the leaning mirror atop the chest of drawers.

In terms of accessories, candlelight isn’t all about reproducing the spectacle of flickering flames from the fireside – the epitome of winter cosiness. Think carefully about the vessels you’re using and the colours emitted when the candle’s glow radiates through. For autumn and winter, amber-tinted glass candle holders will produce a majestic golden tone, and nestled alongside tea light holders of both etched and frosted glass, the light’s pattern will be both dappled and diffused. Think also about something with a touch more shimmer as Christmas draws closer, like mercuerised glass, which turns a candle’s glow into a beautiful glimmer.

When decorating, attention tends to be focussed on the main rooms in the home, leaving hallways and landing areas near the bottom of the priority list. But quite often, you’ll come into contact with these parts of your home just as often. By including them in your seasonal updates, you’ll feel your interior responding to winter, cocooning you wholly and fully. And these updates need not be big ones or challenging ones. Foliage up a banister, candles safely kept in hurricane vases on staircases (or sturdy lanterns that are less likely to tumble if caught by children or pets running amok), corridor floors or upon console tables, and even something as simple as putting a winter-scented diffuser throughout all count for something.

And finally to one of the most popular of wintertime interior touches – blankets. Popular for good reason, nothing says cosy like a sofa with a blanket draped over its arm so you know it’s always just a stretch away, or an armchair with a basket at its side with a blanket stashed away. But be sure to include your bedroom in the blanket action. Go for one statement throw at the foot of your bed for starters with it pulled up to at least halfway down your bedspread – pick out a coordinating cushion to really reinforce its presence. Next, choose another blanket to layer on top, though not letting it come quite so high up the bed. This way, both blanket layers are seen, felt and appreciated. With your bed of blankets laying the comforting winter foundations, build on the cosiness by adding in a sumptuously soft and textured sheepskin cushion or two. To them, introduce a rug at the side of the bed for your feet to find first thing in the morning and last thing at night. What could be more cosseting for winter than that?