Design Warm-ups
Sofa throws, pillows and room fragrances designed for winter create beautiful seasonal interiors
Creating Cozy Seasonal Interiors
Ilove coordinating. Fall layering means spending a few more minutes to team up turtle necks, shirts, jackets, scarves and chunky sweaters when I dress in the morning. When I bundle-up to go outdoors, that’s when I layer-up my rooms for a parallel comfort. I thoroughly enjoy the extra pairings there too. I admit to having a set of winter pillows in the storage locker for my small suite of rooms. The summer accent pillows go down with the summer clothes, and the winter ones come up with the coats. Not all of them change out, but certainly the eye-catching ones do. We put on a sweater, our sofas and lounges put on a throw. Fur is the luxury model. Fluffy wool is the newagain classic this year. I love Ombré (ahm-bray’) with its horizontal colour gradation from light neutral to saturated colour. It looks like you held the end of the fabric in the dye vat. Ombré throws inject colour without really adding a pattern and look very design-forward. They are the perfect choice for minimal-sophisticate rooms. Texture on texture and tone on tone is a way to add layers without compli
cating things. I’m featuring Rosemary Hallgarten, known for her signature Alpaca designs. Her artisan collection is represented by Theo Décor as is the furniture. The deep pile on these cushions and sofa blankets are so unbelievably soft, I wish we could share tactile experiences electronically. Prized for its luxury, Alpaca is the warmest natural fibre, fire resistant, water repellant and hypoallergenic. These adorable animals with their innocent smiles are shorn like sheep. No harm comes to them from the generous sharing of their silky soft coats. Cozy throws are folded across the end of the bed by the tailored design aficionado and tossed diagonally in irregular folds by the romantic. Patterned velvet, knitted velvet and faux fur are gorgeous bedroom add-ons.
Perfumes for cooler weather tend to have a full complex scent. By extension, scents for the heated home are warmer too. My favourite diffuser, Lampe Berger, was designed in 1898 as a hospital antibacterial. Loved by Picasso and Chanel, their fragrances are continually evolving. If, like me, you’re not a great cook, use the Gingerbread scent to camouflage the truth. If you actually use your oven, Orange Cinnamon clears cooking odours from the air. Candle Emporium in Yorkville says Heavenly Spruce is a seasonal favourite. If you cook like Sara Waxman this is all you’ll need! Kandl Artistique offers candles from around the world as well as a lab to create a custom candle fragrance just for you. The lab workshop for 2 to 4 people would be a wonderful holiday girlfriend activity. Modern art lovers on your list? They have Basquiat candles! I plan to warm heart and hearth through to March, marking the progression of fall to winter and spring, by changing accessories and scents along the way.