It’s a great feeling to get home after a long cold day out, and immediately start to make your home feel like the warm haven it should be, turn on the lights, light the fire (or switch it on) close the curtains, and settle down with a nice hot cuppa. The closing of the curtains signifies blocking out the cold, and choosing the right curtains to make your house feel homely this winter is something you can really enjoy doing, if you know what you’re looking for,

 For those of us who aren’t very skilled in home décor, choosing the right curtains can be a bit of a minefield though. Get it wrong and you won’t feel homely, cosy and warm, but instead you’ll feel a sense of irritation that something isn’t quite as homely as it should be. With that in mind, we explain what you should consider when you’re looking for curtains this winter.

Types of curtains

There are various types of curtains you could be looking at, and each has its own advantages. In the living room, for example, many people have curtains on poles, as they give off a very opulent effect, and look great over feature windows. There are a variety of curtain pole designs to choose from, and you can get opulent tie backs to match.  If you’re not sure about getting a pole though, there are plenty of different curtains you can get to go on your existing curtain tracks, and tiebacks look great on these curtains too. One tip is to go for fixed tiebacks, which look like hooks fixed to the wall. This makes it much easier to tie back your curtains than fiddling about with a bit of material or rope.

Materials

Voile curtains are really more of a summer thing, but you can always opt for voile to shade the window, and have an additional pair of curtains over the top for the winter months. The usual choice for winter, to make your home all cosy and warm, is a heavier material, such as velour, heavy polycotton, or faux silk (don’t get the real stuff- it’s a nightmare to clean). You can choose from a variety of different designs, but make sure they’re fully lined to keep the heat in.

Colours

Colours really depend on the colour scheme of your room, but if you’ve got a really blank canvas then go for rich colours to make you feel cosier. Patterned or not, warm rich reds, browns and golds are lovely colours for curtains in the living room, whilst in the bedroom, a darker shade of your current bedroom colour scheme will certainly make you feel cosy and warm.

 Feeling cosy in winter is definitely something we all want to do, so why not revive your living room this winter with a new pair of curtains, and give yourself something to really enjoy closing against the cold winter outside?