Add Touches of Comfort to Make Your House a Home

  It's amazing how a few touches of comfort can transform your house into a home, with just a little effort and expense.

Fresh flowers are always welcoming. If you have a table in your hall, try to have a vase of fresh flowers adorning the table at all times. The dining room is another place in which fresh flowers can be appreciated. Flowers picked from your garden are a good choice, because they provide a showcase for your gardening talents at no cost.

A pleasantly fragranced home can be easily achieved by placing air fresheners unobtrusively in strategic places throughout your home. Plug-in air fresheners that enable the room to be filled with bursts of fragrance throughout the day are particularly useful if your home is unoccupied in the daytime.

Hardwood and tiled floors are great to look at and easy to keep clean. However, they are not as comforting as carpet. Add a plentiful supply of soft rugs to your wooden or tiled floors, especially in places where people's bare feet are likely to touch the ground, such as at the sides of beds and in front of sofas.

Cushions always make life more comfortable. Ensure that your dining room chairs are well cushioned, especially before a dinner party. Add soft cushions to sofas, armchairs, beds, hall seats and other areas of the home where people may sit.

In the winter months, it's great to snuggle under a blanket or throw whilst reading or watching television on a sofa, chair, bed, or window seat. Ensure that a throw is always within reach in each of the rooms where your family or friends chill out in the winter.

Place a pump of moisturizing hand wash soap and a tube of hand cream next to the sink, the wash basin in the bathroom, the downstairs cloakroom, and everywhere else in your home where people may wash their hands. This makes life easy and comfortable for your family and guests.

If you have a guest room, ensure that the bed is always made up with freshly laundered linen, so that an unexpected overnight guest can be quickly and easily accommodated. Place at least two clean towels on the bed and ensure that there are some books and magazines in the room. A basket of sample-size toiletries gives a hospitable finishing touch to the guest room and, when you are expecting guests, add some fresh flowers as a final flourish.

With just a few touches of comfort, your family and your guests alike will notice and appreciate just how welcoming and hospitable your home is.