How cold has it been this week?! I know I wrote a post last week about the things I LIKE about winter, but seriously, it’s soooo cold. Together with the fog and the dark nights, I’ve been trying to make our home warmer. We live in a new build apartment which doesn’t have radiators – we have underfloor heating instead. Unfortunately it doesn’t warm up straight away, in fact it feels like ages till it actually feels warm. So I brought out my furry throw that I got last year – it is so soft and warm to sit on.
I drape it over the sofa, or curl up under it. It’s seriously warm. I also got out my trusty fan heater. I’ve had this for years and it still works. I don’t put it on so much because of electricity bills, but it’s good for a quick burst of heat.
We’re quite lucky to live in a new build apartment, as we don’t have to worry about a boiler or any outside maintenance, unlike my parents who live in a 1930s house where there’s a lot more to do. Luckily, plenty of information is available to help get your home winter-ready, including this one from Quercus Living, which has loads of useful ideas.
Apart from the obvious of getting your boiler serviced, there’s ideas for things around the home you may have forgotten about, like clearing gutters and sorting out noisy pipes – all of which prevent damage to your home during winter. And the great thing is, you can do most of these things yourself without having to call someone out to do it all – these tips are definitely worth a read!
The other thing I do is put a fleecy throw against our front door, as a draft always seems to come that way, so this stops it. I must get myself a proper draft excluder one day!
Lastly, I must get some curtains for our living room, the cold definitely comes through the windows, double-glazed or not.
Have you any other tips on how you get your home warm ready for winter? Do let me know!
Sabrina x
This is a collaborative post with Quercus Living, but all opinions are my own as always.
We live in a rented flat which like u is also a new build we lucky as heat rises and we are on the first floor. I also like to wrap up with a fab blanket we have a thermal one which I got last year and love it as it keeps us so warm.
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Ahh you’re lucky. We thought the heat would rise here, but I think they insulated the floors too well – damn it! xx
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We have an Aga which keeps one end of the house warm, and then the wood burner for the living room end. The middle room isn’t used at night. Similarly the heat then goes up a bit to the end 2 bedrooms so it’s just N’s which is colder. He has a fleecy blanket he likes to snuggle with as well as his duvet, and luckily doesn’t mind whatever the heat of his room is.
Our windows are rubbish though – they’re out of fit, and let in lots of draughts, and rain so we could do with getting those sorted out, as well as the pointing issue it looks like we have. The house is under 20 years old, but I don’t think it was particularly well built.
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Ooh an Aga and a wood burner, how lovely! They must keep the house nice and warm. I know what you mean about windows, I really feel the cold from them too. x
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That soft furry throw looks really cosy. I must get some more draught excluders – think they’d help in our house.
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Oh it really is, I’m always under it now. Hope you find a nice draft excluder! x
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Our house is quite draft due to one of our cats not using the cat flap. We have to leave it wide open on a bit of string. We always have draft excluders down which make a hugh difference. There are so many different types you can get now days. x
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Oh no, that must let in the cold – you must love your cat! I’m going to look into a nice draft excluder, you’re right, lots of nice designs out there x
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Must be different in the UK. It’s s warm this weekend In Ireland that it’s so weird being in the month of November. Luckily we have a well insulated house and don’t need to cover any gmdrafts coming in or create extra heat.
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Ahh you’re lucky it’s still been warm in Ireland, I wish it was here too, it’s been absolutely freezing – wah! x
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I’ve been so chilly the past few evenings too. Great tips for preparing for the winter chill! Brrrrr
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Yeah hasn’t it been awful, I keep dreaming of the sun. Is it March yet?! x
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i need to get a heater! It looks like your getting well prepared! We put throws on the sofa to snuggle under in winter!
Angela
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Haha, get one! I need to get one too, as soon as I wrote this post, my pink heater stopped working, can you believe it?! x
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I was actually going to get a draught stopper, I never thought about the blanket under the door instead – BRILLIANT.
Will totally be using that idea.
Thanks hun
Charlotte x
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Hee hee, the blanket does works, and it was only a cheap fleecy one I had lying around at home! x
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