Monday, June 4, 2012

Keeping Warm in Winter

Well... Didn't I just drop off the face of the planet for a short time :)

What can I say? A lot going on at the moment (so what else is new). I guess blogging just had to take a back seat for a while. I have lots of exciting things to share with the world. Some of it is still a wee bit of a secret, but here are the highlights that I can share with you:

1. My beautiful and amazing husband of three years (as of tomorrow) and I are finally going on our honeymoon at the end of this year! We are going to America for almost three weeks, and squeezing in every theme park and magical escape that we can. Think Disneyland, Hearst Castle, Sea world, Lego World, Downtown Disney, Notts Berry Farm... You get the picture :)

2. I am writing my first book :) More on that to follow at a later date!

3. We moved house over the weekend... Opening up a plethera of exciting home decorating opportunities that just have me giddy with excitement!
Now I don't really have much time to share with you today, but I was doing a wee bit of research this morning in relation to point #3, and thought I might as well share my findings with you. Today being the 5th of June is now the 5th day of winter here in the lovely city of Sydney. Having recently moved into a small castle of a home with twice as many rooms as our last one, we're finding it considerably colder! I guess it doesn't help that we haven't got everything set up yet either.

So I got to thinking... What are some of the things I can do to make the house warmer? Here are the things that I am going to try :)

Keeping the House Warm in Winter

  • Mats in the bathrooms (all three, in our case!)
  • A large rug for underneath the table in the dining room. Otherwise it's a very large room of cold white tiles. Hrmph.
  • Draft stoppers for the front and back doors. Stop those cold drafts breezing their way into the house :)
  • Thicker curtains across some of the windows? Not sure if I'll try this one yet... It might come last on my list as we have verticals on all the windows. Maybe just the bedrooms - but we'll see
  • More home cooked meals! Once upon a time the kitchen (or rather, the stove) not only provided food for the family, but it was also the heat source for the colder months of the year. What better way to keep warm than to fire up the oven or stove top, and then enjoy a glorious hot meal afterwards? I'm thinking soups, stews, slow-cooked roasts... Oh yes :)
  • Hot drinks. As per the point above, filling our bellies with something hot is a sure fire way to keep warm. I've recently fallen in love with Lemon Syrup (see my earlier posts) which my husband uses to make lemonade. I use it for hot lemon tea with a dash of ginger and cinamon. Not only is it comforting and festive, but it's kept both of us from getting the sniffles so far *and-fingers-crossed-it-continues-to-work!*
  • A couple of blankets and throws - I'm going to invest in an additional one for the living room. Hubby and I love snuggling together with a lovely movie when we can, and I'm a bit of a sook in the cold anyway (suffering from low blood pressure doesn't help) so these are always handy! This means another trip to IKEA for the OFELI throw blanket! :)
  • Keeping dressing gowns near the bed. Hopefully this makes it a bit easier getting out of that toasty warm bed of a morning!
  • Burn more candles. It actually does make the house warmer... And I love candles. I really don't need to build a case for this one. At all :)
  • Electric blanket. I was trying to find non-electrical ways to make the house cosier, but this is a bit of a no-brainer. We took this off the bed when spring came around, and we've survived autumn without it - but it's time to go back on the bed I think!
  • Hot water bottles. A less expensive alternative to the electric blanket, and portable :)
I love textiles... So I'm all for blankets, pillows, fluffy rugs, door stoppers, even fabric drapped along a wall instead of opting for wallpaper or paint can be really effective. Have you seen some of IKEA's fabric selection? (Yes yes, I know I'm plugging them quite a bit!) For me, it really does create a feeling of warmth in the home.

What other suggestions do you have to cosy up the house?

Lots of love, and hopefully you'll hear more from me tomorrow :)

Love Laura
Xoxoxo