Quick and easy ways to cosy up your home this autumn

Now's the time to go into full hibernation mode and dial up the cosiness – here's our top tricks for creating an ultra-comfy family home you'll never want to leave

Freja coffee table, £675, Cox & Cox

With the clocks changing and the days getting shorter, there’s never been a better time to create a cosy home to hunker down in. It’s only going to get harder to get out of bed in the mornings and keeping the kids entertained late afternoon without the usual backup of a post-school playground trip, so making your home that bit nicer to spend time in during the longer days ahead is worth its weight in gold. And we’ve got a few tricks up our sleeves to help you transform your home into a comfy autumnal retreat – when the kids aren’t trashing it, obviously…

Pile on the layers

Wayfair

A basic yet effective trick to get that ultra-comfy look is to layer up your soft furnishings. The key is to consider texture, pattern and colour to ensure it’s interesting and doesn’t look one-dimensional – mix chunky knits, soft boucles, natural linens and sumptuous velvets to create a scheme that’s both visually pleasing and super tactile. Look for throws, quilts and cushions in earthy shades such as ochre, terracotta and olive green, as well as on-trend gingham and striped fabrics, floral motifs and ruffled edges.

Add a rug

Bagsie sofa from £2,375; Sugarloaf footstool, from £435; Bella In Marble side table, £345; Small Flute table lamp, from £75 and Loopy wool rug, from £395, Loaf

If you’re looking at a room and you can’t quite put your finger on why it feels a little ‘cold’, a rug is often the thing that will make all the difference. The trick is to be generous with your rug size though – don’t make the mistake of putting it in the middle of your space like some floating island; it should anchor all your furniture, so the legs of your sofa or chairs for example should sit over the rug to some degree.