How to inject to warmth and softness into my house?

[TheTermagantToaster]

DH loathes any kind of fabric (stems from his excema but has gone beyond this) and so our new house feels quite cold. We've taken up the carpets and sanded the floorboards and replaced all the curtains with blinds/shutters. Our sofa is beautiful, but not particularly inviting, battered old saddle leather. We have one soft rug, in the dining room, which I bought when DH was away, but the lounge rug (which he chose) is sea grass. Good and hard wearing but fairly unpleasant to walk on bare foot.

The only carpeted area is the stairs - he was campaigning for these to be sea grass too, but thankfully it's not suitable for stairs!

All this coupled with pale walls makes the house feel, well, not very cosy. I tend to wear a big fluffy dressing gown most of the time to offset the feeling but I feel a bit self-conscious when we have guests.

Any ideas? I'm thinking about insisting on cushions for the sofa (we have a throw but he's constantly folding it away!) and that the new armchair we need should be fabric. I was wondering about a sheepskin rug for the bedroom, perhaps. Not sure, really - I understand his dislike but I would like a cosy space.

LIGHTING.

Buy lamps, lots of them, and fairy lights too. I am obsessed with good lighting. A well placed lamp in the corner can transform a room.

I know you're after ideas on cushions and rugs, but only you know what you can and can't use in your own house. But lighting is something that often gets overlooked!

Giant paintings in red/orange/yellow? Definitely lots of nice lamps.

Could you have hanging things? I have some hanging hearts that soften it. I also have lots of cushions and a lovely rug though! I agree with lighting, I find dark woods warmer. Candles at night? And a nice tablecloth?
In my opinion my house is very warm and cosy but others would say It's like the inside of a traditional gypsy caravan so you might not want to trust me! :-)

No, lighting is exactly the kind of thing I need advice on, thanks. It's because I'm focused on fabric that I'm missing ideas we would both like. We've got a good lamp with a dimmer in one room (although DH keeps turning it up to its brightest setting but there's nothing in the living room yet, and that's where I spend most of my evenings.

Out of interest, is it possible to buy nice soft light bulbs anymore? Half the problem with the lighting is that it's all harsh and low energy and the last owner's light fittings are fecking hideous.

and keeping lights at a low level helps. I don'y mean dimmed, I mean physically low eg a lamp on a low table will look cosier than a high level standard lamp. A mix of both would also be good.

Not sure about your style - but what about a basket with a folded blanket in - even being able to see the blanket will make the romm feel cosier. And you can get it out for you to snuggle with.

And definitely paint some walls and add some pictures. I'm thinking very dark walls with large scale graphic prints so it doesn't look too 'frilly'.

Colour? Some of the mid-tones can be very calming and 'soft' - i.e truffle, coffee, some mid-green/blues. These would add some atmosphere. And yes, you can now get soft white versions of the low-e bulbs which help a bit. If you have table lamps, consider having shades which are lined with gold, this helps warm up the light.

How does he feel about chunky weave wool? Maybe wool doesn't have the eczema connotations as it's a natural fabric? There are some good cushion covers around, have a look at the White Company.

Flowers? I always think these help. Unless these fall under allergens and are therefore a problem for DH?

Plants too will 'soften' a space. Are these a possibility?

Really, for softness you need a mix of textures, but I am struggling to think of how to do this without fabric! What about lampshades, is there anything that you could use that suggests fabric, but isn't? Is wallpaper an option?

Other issue of no fabric will be that the acoustics are altered: sounds will seem harsher as they aren't buffered by any softness (explaining this really badly!). This will compound the 'cold' feeling that you mention.

Could you compromise by finding a couple of ways of introducing fabric, but being really strict about washing them regularly?

Yy, you can use a lamp without having to resort to a low energy monstrosity. Mind you, recently we had spotlights fitted as low energy and once they'd passed the regulations test we changed the swith to a dimmer and added normal spots! No way was my garden room going to be lit up like a canteen!

I've bought some lamps from Laura Ashley which have touch sensitive bases - you touch once twice or three times according to the level of lighting required. Otherwise, use a normal lamp with a 25w bulb, or a 40w with a dark coloured shade.

More than one light source. In the room I'm in there are five. Two floor lamps, two wall lights and central. All can be dimmed.

Agree energy saving is a bit yeuch.

Fresh flowers, simple ones and books.

Ooh, (inspired).

What about books / mags? These would possibly be soft enough to help soften harsh soundwaves a bit, plus they're colourful as well. Are books (lots of) on display an option?

NB have made a massive assumption that excema + fabric isshoos means that all objects and trinkets and dust catchers are off limits, but I could of course be wrong.

Is your dh ok with flowers? I do think pretty flowers can add loads to a room. Plus personal nick nacks, pictures, add personality and warmth to a room. Scented candles are always the first thing I light when dh is out for the evening... I load the mantlepiece up with tea lights and candles.

My sitting room is warm and cosy, yet has only boards on the floor and shutters at the window.

To make it cosy I have done the following:

Painted the walls a soft, deep, darkish blue (Pitch Blue by F&B) alongside a sof white on the woodwork
Added mirrors and pictures, and touches of glass (drawer knobs and picture frames) and silver and gold
Have spotlights on dimmers, and a chandelier-style lamp in corner which is V soft
Dark wooden floorboards
Silver velvet sofa and contrasting brightly coloured, cut velvet fabric for cushions
2 x bookshelves full of books
Log burner

Books are the thing I think. Big bookshelves, it's all the soft echo-reducing paper and colour.

Some art on the walls too - bare walls make a house look stark.

If you can't get a fabric chair what about a fabric foot rest/poufee?

How about a really beautiful wallpaper. I don't really this whole feature wall thingy. I think if you find something really lovely put it all over the room. I love this red Toile paper With a leather sofa, wooden floors it could look really really lovely. It's not cheap though :(

Ooh, some fabulous ideas here, thanks.

The living room has a couple of bookshelves in it which are currently storing heaps of random crap . I will stuff them with books ASAP (need to order some bookends).

Plants, yes definitely - just need to work out what I won't immediately kill...also love the idea of a basket for blankets (I'm obsessed with baskets :o). I'm going to get one even though DS will spend half the day unpacking it.

Lighting tips are very helpful, thanks. Just a couple of lamps in the living room will make all the difference in the evening, I think

Yes also to mirrors and art on the walls. They are totally bare at the moment and it is very stark. Unfortunately we painted quite recently and I misjudged a couple of the colours. I was scared about the place being too dark but it's far too pale! Repainting/wallpapering not currently an option, however.

I lurve chunky cable-knit cushions but they don't seem to last very well. I am incredibly lazy and have a mucky DS and one on the way so will be avoiding cream accessories, sadly. We've got a rather nice window seat that could do with some cushions, too.

Wall paint is wipe clean matt, btw!

B&Q Apricot light bulbs!!! We ahve them in all the lamps (not ceiling lights because you just don't use ceiling lights, do you?) and they cast a really nice warm glow but not obv 'artificial' looking, iykwim?

I have used stencils to add interest to my walls - use tester pots in a darker shade of what the rest of the wall is. Loads of stencils on Amazon!

We have some nice big china lampshade bases that are all sirt of bulbous and curvy and they look "soft", more so than anything straight up and down, metal etc.

We have some nice pretty twiggy things in a vase as I kill plants but they're quite good as an alternative. Good silk flowers could work too.

I noticed Bhs was selling cable knit blankets in various colours, only saw online so might look rubbish in real life.

Laura Ashley has some fab cable knit cushions in various neutral colours too.

(I heart cable knit)

Plants. You need peace Lily's. I haven't killed ours yet and I am dead to plants normally.

My dh has a thing about bright lights! I hate it so we have table lamps so he can read in brighter light.

Our walls are quite dark, I can't bear stark coloured living rooms. We used a greyish colour from next and a morello cherry for the fire place. I also have cushions, lots of them.