**Turn it on
**Use fairy lights to create a gentle, romantic emphasis around the favourite collections in your home. If you bought some in the post-Christmas sales, don’t wait until December. Get them out now and let them add a magical glow to your cosy winter home.
**Herbal help
**Some sticky contact paper or even sturdy wrapping paper can be used to add a splash of colour to plain herb pots. You can also use empty, washed tin cans but they are inclined to go rusty. Using the plastic lined kind can help this.
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Fancy foliage
**Make a simple glass candleholder come alive with some punchy green foliage, such as a fruit salad plant leaf. Another idea would be to put a collection of dainty shells at the bottom of the water well. You can also adapt this idea as a simple, inexpensive floral arrangement in one of those big round glass vases.
**Cosy corner
**When the days are short and going outside doesn’t appeal, why not retreat to your very own cosy corner? Choose a place that gets lots of sun, then all you need is a nice comfy chair or couch, lots of soft cushions and some snuggly warm rugs and throws. Make sure you tell your family that this special place is for you alone (and maybe for the cat too!)
**More of the same
**Making an arrangement of frames, containing pictures centred around a theme, can look really sharp. There’s a certain cohesion in this collection that’s kind of relaxing. Other themes could include flowers. We love the idea of a painted trompe l’oeil on the wall behind too. You can buy similar scenes at wallpaper shops if you don’t have suffi cient artistic skills to paint your own.
**One for the littlies
**The simple, yet effective, addition of pretty coloured ribbons to the handles of a plain chest is so easy and inexpensive, but the finished look is great. Adapt this idea for children’s rooms, helping them to identify the different drawers for various clothing items.
**Get ahead
**A simple piece of plywood can be painted in the softest pinks to make a cheap-as-chips, oh so pretty headboard. Another option could be to make a padded headboard, which is ideal if you’re the type that reads in bed.
