in collaboration with Very.co.uk

When autumn comes around and lives moves from the garden back into the living room there is one word that is high on my to do list, gezellig. The Dutch word for cozy. Making the room look as cozy as possible for the dark days, when the wind howling round the house and the rain just doesn’t stop. But gezellig is so much more then just cozy. It’s also the warm feeling you have when you spend time with your family and friends, the smell of a perfectly perfumed candle or a dish bubbling away in your slow cooker. It’s the warmth you get from snuggling up under a blanket, hot drink in hand watching the Gilmore girls. It’s playing card games while still in your pyjamas, it’s the feeling of comfort and warmth pottering around in your home on a rainy Sunday afternoon.

Injecting my home with ‘gezelligheid’ is always on top of my to do list for autumn but never so much as this year. As you might have seen in previous post I broke my ankle in 3 places at the end of September and have been on a forced hibernation. I’m on the sofa with my leg elevated with a minimum of hopping around allowed so making my living room look as cozy as can be was a big priority. I better make this forced hibernation a super ‘gezellige’ time.

I thought I’d share my top tips for making your living room look so ‘gezellig’ you want to hibernate too! I teamed up with Very.co.uk as it is the perfect one stop spot to get everything you need to get cozy this autumn.

Textures

To make your room look gezellig it’s all about layering textures. We have carpet in our living room which is a good start but a rug really ads another layer of comfort especially this high pile Very Home Hadley rug. It’s zones the sofa area of the living room, is warm under foot and the high pile injects the room with a cozy vibe (since putting it down it is the go to spot for my daughter and dog, I can’t get them to sit on a chair anymore! ) Blankets and cushions are instrumental in making your room look gezellig too. Layer up colours and textures, I love this super soft Very home Cozy pillow and the patchwork autumn bedspread by Catherine Lansfield, that I use as a sofa throw.

Use colours that complement each other and use soft hues for a warm autumnal look. Curtains are important too, blinds might be easy to use but the softness of a curtain can’t be beaten. It does wonders for the acoustics in your living room too.

Comfort

What is more comfortable then a slow morning in your pyjamas? I do like looking presentable when the doorbell rings unexpected so these blue checked Chelsea Peers pyjamas are perfect. Wide enough in the leg to fit over my cast, made from super soft cotton and the top is cut so beautifully that I could even wear it as a normal shirt. And have you noticed the matching scrunchy? How cute! Kiki’s blue set is so comfy she has been asking for a pyjama day. Perfect for cozy mornings reading books on the sofa, playing with teddies or movie afternoons wrapped under a blanket. Well, that is if we can get the blanket! Mister Kermit the Dog is rather fond of snuggling up in our blanket himself.

Creativity

Taking it slow goes hand in hand with gezelligheid for me. Having a little water colour session while drinking my morning coffee, listening to music. And you don’t have to be an experienced artist to have a little fun with paint. I love mixing colours together and just creating blobs on a piece of paper. Once the paint is dry use a fine liner to turn your shape into an animal, plant or person. Such a fun, and quick creative fix and great to do with children too. Make a few pieces of art to hang on the wall, turn the animals in handmade cards or cute gift tags ready for the festive season.

Lighting

Create an inviting atmosphere with lighting, never use the big lights as they will kill any coziness. Instead use floor lamps, table lamps and candles (fake ones if you live with small children) dotted around the room. I love using usb chargeable lights as you can put them in any lamp so you then don’t have to bother with the electrical cords and having have a plug nearby. Always chose for a warm light and not a cool blue one to set a nice cozy vibe.

Candles don’t just create an atmosphere with their flickering lights but also by their fragrance, I adore this Green Tea and Eucalyptus candle, not your most traditional autumn scent, I find all the pumpkin scented candles too sweet and prefer earthy scents, and I love how this candle fills the room with warmth. Added bonus the colour of the label matches my interior perfectly!

You can also make your own mood light, all you need is a glass jar (mine is a vintage mason jar but an empty pasta sauce jar would work fine too) and fill it with dried orange slices, cinnamon sticks and fairy lights. You can make your own orange slices by drying them out in the oven for a few hours but mine are shop bought. Love this light it is like having autumn in a jar!

Nourishing

When it comes to coziness your tummy wants some warmth too and nothing says gezellig better for me then a bowl of apple crumble. My go to comfort food. By cooking it in your slow cooker it’s not only super, super easy but your home fills with autumns top smell, cinnamon and apples, while you do something else. Spend ten minutes on prep and a couple of hours later you have cozy in a bowl. The most delicious, and easy, apple crumble.

To make my apple crumble you wash a chop up 1kg of apples, I always leave the skin on as that makes the crumble a lot faster to make and I like the added texture. Place the apples in the slowcooker basket and sprinkle 1 tsp of cinnamon over the apples and give it all a little stir.

Make the crumble by mixing together 100 gr of butter, 100 gr sugar and 175 grams of self raising flour. Sprinkle the crumble over the apples and thats it! Cook on high for 2 hours, take the lid off and cook for another 30 minutes. You can wrap a tea towel over the lid of your slowcooker to stop the moisture dripping on top of your crumble. Just make sure it doesn’t touch the heating element. If you use the teatowel method you can skip the 30 minutes cooking without the lid on.

I serve my apple crumble with freshly whipped cream, for me this is the only way but I know some people prefer custard or ice cream.

A slow cooker for me is the perfect product for autumn days, prep your food in the morning, switch on your cooker, go for an autumn walk, get your craft on our simply watch a movie and a few hours later your diner is ready. A slow cooker is perfect for hearty winter soups, my fav is a Dutch erwten (split pea) soup or a tomato soup using up all the leftover tomatoes in your garden. A hearty chilli, a bonfire night staple, or a bolognese or ragout served with pasta. Having them slowly cooking away ads so much flavour to your meal. The Murphy Richard sear and stew slow cooker is super easy to clean with its removal cooking basket that is dishwasher safe, making cleaning up a small task as who wants to spend too much time in the kitchen on your cozy weekend indoors.

Crafting

Now I am stuck on the sofa I make the most of my time by spending a lot of it crafting. A perfect activity for the darker evenings and when the wind is howling outside and you just want to spend your day indoor in your pj’s and comfy socks. I like using up scrap pieces of fabric in easy stitch projects and came up with this eye pillow for you. A hand stitched project even the sewing novice can manage and the end product is perfect for some relaxation at home or makes a great handmade present.

You need fabric, needle and tread, rice and dried lavender.

Cut pieces of fabric so together they make up a piece of 30x15cm.
Arrange your pieces so you have two strips and stitch them together using a back stitch. Make sure your stitches are small as you don’t want the rice to fall out of your pillow later.
When you have your two strips attach them together, once again using a back stitch.
Now cut another piece of fabric for the backing, put your patchwork piece on top of your backing fabric and cut around it so the two pieces are the same size.
Put the fabrics on top of each other, right sides facing, and attach together using a back stitch. Keep a gap of 8cm open at the top.
Turn you fabric the right way round and fill your pillow to just over half way with rice and a handful of dried lavender flowers.
Stitch the opening closed, lie back, place the pillow on your eyes and put on your favourite music.

I hope my tips will help you get cozy this autumn season, embrace the Dutch word ‘gezellig’ and have some cozy days in hibernating when the weather is wet and the daylight hours short.

What are your top tips for autumn?