What Is Warmth?

By Nichole LeBeau

I’ve always been obsessed with being at home and having a place to unwind, entertain, and simply be. I make it a priority that everything I add to my home be intentional, or items that make me happy to surround myself with. Warmth was created to introduce a new approach on a lighter to fit into any type of atmosphere that you create, but what exactly constitutes a ‘warm’ space?

Being in a place that feels like home to me became an even bigger obsession after moving into a place I could call my own. Months before making my first big move, I compiled decor for each room. I’d select items and put together the pieces that fit nicely into the aesthetic I envisioned in my head. This vase and dried flowers would look great in the bathroom, and this shelf would fit perfectly near the entryway, were the type of thoughts that consumed my mind. 

I’d always have a candle, sometimes more than one, in every room. I’d have friends over to drink wine, make dinner while our small dogs played and would drink coffee after making myself breakfast in bed on a Saturday morning. It was the first time I discovered I thrived off of having a space that felt like mine. 

As time passed, I became immersed in design, whether or not I was aware of how much I had an interest. I’d collect older pieces of furniture alongside new. As I entered into a relationship, the history of our persons blended. I had the opportunity to recreate a home for us both, all the fun and quirky things we owned. The artwork that matched the throw blanket on the couch, to that random painting I made to match the chair. 

We would pick out items together, slowly adding to our projects or ideas. This eventually turned into comments from friends about our home looking like an interactive museum. There are things to look at, read, drink, and touch. The first time the word Warmth crossed my mind, I knew that it had to do with creating a warm environment within a home. 

To create a warm place, I recommend keeping a few things in mind:

Surround yourself with things that make you happy

Your sense of community with family and friends, fresh picked flowers from outside, a book from your childhood, anything that makes you happy. 

Create a mood with lighting

Lighting can make the largest impact on a room and determine how exactly to make it feel. A room can be bright, light, and airy or dim, moody and intimate all in a way that’s created by added lighting.

Colors are everything 

I believe we allow ourselves to relate color to how we feel at certain times. Happy, sad, calm, there is a color that ties into your experiencing of these emotions. By introducing palettes that radiate feelings of peace, joy, or comfort, you can create the space you want.

Create inner peace

To be at peace with who you are, taking time out of your day to do something for you is crucial. Be it singing and dancing to a song you remember all the words to from high school or taking a long hot shower in the morning before functioning, you do you.

Do what you enjoy 

The idea that we are creative beings was instilled in me long ago. This often translates to things we would do as an innocent child, painting, coloring, building things, doing puzzles, planting greenery (or playing) in the dirt. I encourage you to follow that creative passion as well as making the space to do it. 

Warmth is a feeling. It’s the feeling you get when you walk into your grandmas and smell her infamous cinnamon bites in the oven. It’s remembering the time you took that photo at your friends wedding that now sits on your shelf. It’s the plant you brought home from that shop you drove by on that road trip. It’s the ashtray you bought because even though you don’t smoke, it’s absolutely breathtaking and you had to have it. Warmth is about how you feel when you get a night in to relax, do a hair mask, and take a bath. It’s the feeling of friends surrounding your coffee table while holding cocktails. Warmth embodies the things we do or should take the time to do, all in a place we call our home.