How to make your home cosy and bright
It’s officially December, so we can all now legitimately splurge on our favourite Christmas films: Home Alone 2, Elf and, of course, Die Hard.
Or perhaps you’re a fan of the classics. And is there any better than Michael Curtiz’s White Christmas? The cosy guest house, the snowy setting and the heart-warming show…
And as the legendary Bing croons away to entertain the troops, dreaming of a Christmas that is merry and bright, at Mohsin Cooper we are focusing our minds on how we create spaces that are cosy and bright.
So, here’s our top five design tips for creating spaces that are welcoming and draw you in, and that are light and bright to combat those fleeting winter days.
Let there be (natural) light!
We designed The Denes, a one-off replacement home, to make the most of expansive, far-reaching views and wonderful natural light.
We opened up the southern elevation with large expansive glazing. Not only will this give the communal spaces awe-inspiring views of the South Downs, but it will flood the building with natural light – a quality of light that can’t be replicated with artificial lighting.
Deep reveals and recesses on the southern elevation will also help to control solar gain, so limiting excessive overheating in summer months. It’s the right response to encourage passive heating and limit the environmental impact of the building.
Carefully positioned light wells
Bringing light into a building is a common challenge in terraced properties, but even more so when it’s a back-to-back property as well.
We incorporated light tubes in a new three-storey property on Kensington Street, Brighton to bring natural light into the lower levels.
The light tubes work cleverly because they’re completely invisible from the street scene but are extremely effective at making spaces at lower levels light and airy.
Make entrances welcoming
Large buildings can feel daunting to the visitor, and the way an entrance is designed can make all the difference. In 2018 the V&A in London found that its visitor numbers were boosted when it redesigned a new entrance that was less daunting. Who knew that the previous design was putting people off?
As obvious as it sounds, the simple matter of understanding clearly where an entrance is sometimes gets forgotten in the making of grand plans. An entrance has to be clearly legible. Often this means differentiating the entrance in some way, through materials and form, and in most cases it will mean bringing the entrance down to human level, no matter how big in scale the building is.
Embrace the cosy contrasts
The Denes is a tale of two halves. Whilst the southern elevation draws in the light, the northern elevation is purposefully much more enclosed. The small openings will protect the building from the elements and control heat loss while also embracing the user.
Choose cosy materials
The Denes isn’t just cosy in the way it looks: exposed concrete floors in the ground floor living spaces will act as a heat sink during the day, releasing latent heat at night.
Triple glazing is another way to achieve a highly sustainable, passive building. High quality glazing is a key piece in the puzzle of making a building airtight to eliminate drafts.
Natural materials, used in the right way, will always evoke a cosier feel than starker, man-made options. Texture, achieved from natural timber cladding for example, can soften a building’s appearance and age naturally and gracefully, as well as being a renewable resource that locks in carbon. Our one-off backland two-bedroom house near Preston Park in Brighton did just that on a very tight leftover piece of garden.
May your spaces be cosy and bright
So, there you have it. Five design interventions to create cosy and bright spaces this Christmas. Just make sure you leave a little room for the tree.
If you’re about to embark on remodelling your home, and you want to create a place that embraces your visitor and draws in the light, we’d love to help you.