After months of waiting, the winter holiday season is finally upon us. Boxes of winter clothes are being opened, forcing us to put away our tank tops, shorts and flip flops to make room in our closets for puffy jackets, chunky sweaters, and snow shoes. With this influx of cozy and warm attire, it is important to upgrade your room into the perfect winter getaway.
To achieve maximum coziness in a bedroom, there are four main elements.
1. A delicious wintry smell that makes you feel like you're at Santa’s workshop.
2. A bed that feels like a cloud covered in puppies.
3. Some warm lighting that says, “Yeah, I’m down to sit by a fire and eat fondue.”
4. And of course, a robe fit for a queen.
1. Delicious Scents
With the weather dropping to absurd temperatures, leaving a window open for extended periods of time is a joke. No one wants to come home to a freezing room, even if it does smell like fresh air and the forest (substitute other smells depending on where you live). That being said, running into Urban Outfitters or Anthropology for delicious smelling candles that cost $18 and last a week isn't realistic. Opting for a large candle designed to burn for 40-plus hours will pay off, even if the smell isn't as potent. It is easy to use store-bought products to give your room any smell you desire. Leaving out fresh coffee beans in a ceramic every couple days will give your room an all too familiar Starbucks feel to it. If you desire a stronger smell, putting a couple drops of your favorite extract in a humidifier will do the trick. Vanilla extract along with the coffee beans is a personal favorite.
2. A Cloud 9 Bed
This is the go-to spot whenever the weather drops below 40 degrees. Of course there is some feng shui rule about “only using your bed for sleep" but I don’t care about that. Beds are awesome and can be used for whatever you want: sleeping, eating, napping, watching TV, reading, writing, lounging, looking fabulous, and of course, more eating. To make your bed reach its full snuggly, winter wonderland potential, you need four specific items (along with your normal bed set). The softest blanket you can get your hands on will be your snuggling blanket and a way to lay on your bed warmly, without actually getting into bed. Secondly, you need a fat pillow, one that you can lean against the wall, headboard or your other pillows, that gently holds your head up as you binge-watch Netflix. Thirdly, you will need an extremely fluffy comforter, one that puffs up next to you whenever you sit down on it. Lastly, the most important component of any cozy bed is a food tray, whether it has legs or not. This ensures that when you're eating in bed, you won't be rolling in crumbs later on that night (assuming you eat in bed as much as I do).
3. Perfect Lighting
The number one rule of anything looking good is lighting. Plain and simple. If your room is lit properly, you could look in the mirror and see Beyonce. But if your room has one awkward overhead florescent light, an ogre could be looking back at you. Luckily, making the lighting in your room “snuggle ready” is easy. The trick is to always use warm colored lights. They match the color of fire and just look better in general. Try to disperse strings of lights all over the room, around windows, door frames, wrapped around headboards and even zig zagging across the ceiling. If you can get something other than just overhead lighting, you're good. Having candles all around the room will also help. I am a big fan of candelabras and believe every room in America should have one, but it's up to you. Just make sure to always blow them out when you leave a room, because burning down your house wouldn't be ideal. Also, candles are expensive, so you don’t want to waste them.
4. The Robe.
This is the last component of a cozy room because it is seemingly optional to some, but for true snuggle masters it is a necessity. Owning a nice robe is like being royalty. Whenever you arrive home you can throw off your pants and step into a warm hug of fabric. It is not just an extra piece of apparel that you stole from the Westin, it is a way to tell yourself and the world, “I am at the relaxation station.” Robes also separate lazy time with productive time. You could spend a whole afternoon on school work, but once you put on that long cape of power your mind can relax. Proof that a nice robe is the essence of tranquility.
So get out there and pick up some delicious smelling extracts, a couple huge candles, strings of warm lights, fuzzy blankets, plush pillows, and of course, a robe fit for an emperor. Then your room will feel like the coziest place in the world. All you need now is some food, Netflix and someone to share it with.
