6 Designer Tricks to a More Comfortable Home

From being able to kick back with an ottoman to keeping a throw in every room, we asked five decorators to share how they make a house feel more cozy.

Have Comfortable Dining Room Seating

From being able to kick back with an ottoman to keeping a throw in every room, we asked five decorators to share how they make a house feel more cozy.

In this L.A. dining room, designer Peter Dunham fashioned a sprawling yet comfy corner. "A deep banquette in a dining area is dressier and more relaxed than just chairs," he says. He brightened it with six pillows made from a vintage suzani from Design Utopia. Banquette not in the budget? Pull in an armchair from another room or try tossing a few pillows onto the seating.

Reprinted with permission of Hearst Communications, Inc.

1 of 8 Photo: Victoria Pearson

Kick Back with an Ottoman

"Putting your feet up is like lying in bed," says Dunham, who added a Caucasian carpet ottoman from Hollywood at Home to a slipcovered chair in the master bath.

2 of 8 Photo: Victoria Pearson

Sleep on the Right Pillows

"When you're the parents of six children, you absolutely need a retreat," says designer Susan Zises Green, and the master bedroom of this Connecticut home, with its comfortable sitting area, its deft touches of sophisticated gilt, nicely fills the bill. Green's idea of comfort is having "Really comfortable pillows on every bed." The Harlow bench is from John Rosselli.

3 of 8 Photo: John Kernick

Place Extra Blankets in Easy Reach

"I'm always cold," says designer Susan Zises Green, "I love to have warm throws in every room." The sitting room has an English country house air with its chintz-covered sofa and 19th-century prints of hunting dogs. The upholstered ottoman is by Robert Kline.

4 of 8 Photo: John Kernick

Install Soft, Diffused Lighting

Finding comfort in "the flicker of light," designers Gene Meyer and Frank De Biasi have two lanterns hanging in an archway of their Miami house. De Biasi also added a blue Noguchi-style paper shade to a brass Chinese lantern in the dining area. The come-into-the-casbah arch is painted Benjamin Moore's Garden Green and decorated with seashells. Blue Hurricane wool rug by Gene Meyer for Niba. A beaded curtain from Italy screens the view of the master bedroom.

5 of 8 Photo: Mikkel Vang

Accept a Wrinkle or Two

Neutral cotton bedding makes designer Ginger Barber comfortable. "I love a soft wrinkle on a bed," she says, such as the one in the master bedroom of this Houston home. Rose fabric from Bennison.

6 of 8 Photo: Nathan Schroder

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6Comments

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Feb 16, 2012 4:44PM

I like the rooms and agree with most of what they recommend except for the upholstered chair in a bathroom. I have never understood why anyone would just want to sit in the bathroom. I have even seen conversation set ups (two chairs and a table in between). Who has a conversation in the bathroom?? If you have a house big enough for seating in your bathroom, surely they are at least 2 or three other areas better suited for a cozy book read or television watching.

PS...if you need to sit to put on make-up, contacts, etc... then i think a hard chair or cushioned stool would work much better

Previous replies

rudyshadowmom1

Mar 16, 2012 3:08AM

I am a decorator for regular people and yes I agree, who would have a conversation in their bathroom and the need for a seating group? Most of my customers bathroom seating only includes a toilet! If you read the story behind the photos the locations are Hollywood and Miami where style is more important than function. My first rule of thumb is that a room must function first and beautiful secondarily. If you are holding court in your bathroom then you have more money than common sense. First rule of common sense: Don't eat in the same place you poop!