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Easy house tips | cosy up to Zetetick to make your home a haven this season
The summer is well and truly behind us now but there’s still plenty to look forward to as the cooler and most colourful season of the year approaches. As well as heading outdoors to enjoy nature at this time of year, creating a cosy home is another great way to embrace the season.
Prioritising comfort and warmth will mean your living spaces will be welcoming, relaxing and reflective of the season. Zetetick believes that, especially for our tenants, home should be a haven where you can be yourself and recharge.
Here are some simple house tips to make your home cosy this Autumn.
Roll out the rugs
Why not start the insulation process as early as possible as temperatures fall, and make your home extra cosy in the process?
Adding some thick rugs to your living areas means you’ll retain more heat in your home and save on energy costs. You’ll also add layers of comfort that everyone will enjoy as the weather turns colder.
With energy prices still on the rise, why not give it a go?
Have a read about how we’re becoming a greener charity by doing things such as ensuring we are using renewable energy in our properties.
Fill the house with yummy smells!
There’s nothing better than a bit of baking when the evenings start to draw in. Make use of those in season apples with a Dorset apple cake! A classic British apple cake with a cup of tea on a cool autumn day is one of our house tips that is hard to beat.
We love this simple recipe by Ravneet Gill – full of warming spices and tangy apple, dusted with crunchy demerara sugar. Delicious!
Ingredients
- 150g/5½oz unsalted butter, softened, plus extra for greasing
- 75g/2½oz caster sugar
- 75g/2½oz soft light brown sugar
- ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
- ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp fine salt, plus a pinch
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 3 free-range eggs
- 175g/6oz plain flour
- 35g/1¼oz wholemeal flour (or wholemeal spelt flour)
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 2 medium Bramley apples, cored, peeled and cut into 1cm pieces
- 1 tbsp cornflour
- 15g/½oz demerara sugar
Method
Preheat the oven to 190C/170C Fan/Gas 5. Grease and line a 20cm/8in cake tin with baking paper.
Beat the butter, caster sugar, light brown sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon, salt and vanilla extract together in a stand mixer with paddle attachment, until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Mix the flours, baking powder and a pinch of salt together in a separate bowl, then gradually mix into the butter, sugar and egg mixture with a spatula or wooden spoon, stirring well to make sure there are no pockets of flour. Mix the apple pieces together with the cornflour until well coated, then combine with the cake mixture.
Tip the cake mixture into the prepared tin and sprinkle with the demerara sugar. Bake for 45 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely in the tin before serving with a cup of tea or a drizzle of cream.
- Devour!
Picture perfect
A bit of wall art is one of the easiest house tips to completely transform a room – look out for pieces that make you feel at ease, relax your mind and make you smile whenever you see them. Alternatively, print out some photographs of your family and friends and proudly display them in some colourful frames. What makes you feel cosier than the beaming faces of your loved ones?
Make an entrance
Battling with the elements when Autumn and Winter rolls around is never fun, but you can create a stark contrast to the harsh outdoors when you first step in the door.
Constructing a dedicated space will give you easy access to dispose of your shoes and coat. As you step foot through the front door, pop your tootsies into some wool slippers. You’ll feel so welcome when you arrive home!
Change up those colours
The atmosphere you wish to create in your home will often be dictated by the colour palette you choose. One of the house tips we love is to mimic the colours of the season and bring them indoors – you could give the walls a lick of paint or play around with accented colours for upholstery and furniture.
What are your cosy house tips?
Let us know in the comments below!!
Zetetick Housing Charity specialises in providing high quality supported living properties so that vulnerable adults with disabilities, learning disabilities, autism and mental health issues can live independently in their own homes with the support they need.
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