Design Line: Warm glow if you re set for winter

Winter is all about sitting back and enjoying the time.

I think winter has finally made up her mind to settle and stay for a while.

She has taken her time but I think we were probably all thinking after a long, dry, hot summer and mild autumn that she would be here cold and harsh when it happened.

One consolation, we are now not far away from the shortest day and we will be heading back into summer. As I'm a summer kinda gal, that is what I like to think. It makes for a short winter.

As a friend recently said, the winter isn't really that long but it does depend on how prepared you are for it and your mind set.

As long as the wood is dry for those wood burners or if you are like me and have a gas burner that looks like a wood burner the jets are clear so you can actually start it. All too often we are so busy enjoying the lovely weather we forget about a few basic things to make our life a little more comfortable over the cooler months.

Maintenance over the summer is important, cleaning down your homes, getting rid of those nasty little spiders that party all summer on your house. In my case I have mason bees nesting on my cladding and the wasps eat off my stain, not sure why they would do that but I have little dents on the cladding where they sit feeding, leaving the timber exposed instead of the dark brown.

A good wash over your home can do wonders to the cladding and spouting, bringing it up like new.

We regularly wash our cars, mow our lawns but often neglect the cleaning down of the exterior of our homes.

Spouting is a continuous problem unless you have leaf guard on them. With autumn they often become blocked very quickly and when we have a deluge sometimes it is too late to clean them out and issues can arise from water backlogging and leaking into the house. Internal gutters and valleys can be a continuous problem with debris collecting.

It is not only the autumn that causes problems. If you have evergreen trees overhanging your home, or nearby, they shed continuously throughout the year so gutter cleaning is an all-year maintenance issue not just seasonal.

So with the firewood dry you were organised over summer and had it stacked and drying and those other outdoor chores done, time to let the garden rest and lawns slowly grow and enjoy the warmth of inside.

So much heat can be lost through our windows with the older style homes but if you draw the curtains early to retain heat caught during the day then it is easier to maintain the temperature at night. Good curtains with separate thermal backing rather than thermal backed fabric work best. Pockets of air get trapped between the layers helping to keep the winter draughts out. A single layer on the windows just isn't as cost effective. It may be a cheaper option initially but long term the benefits of having good linings far outway not.

Winter is about feeding the senses, comfort food, warm dry rooms, long evenings and rugging up. What better way to do that than to change from your crisp cotton sheets to either flannelette or stonewashed sheeting? Warmer to get into and if you are not into using an electric blanket they warm up with that cuddly hottie. I hate that first cold snap and the sheets are cold to get into and seem to take forever to warm.

Feather duvets and pillows are best with feathers plumped and dry. Throw them out in the sun and the feathers will swell and make for a more comfortable night's sleep. The lighter the bedding feels on the bed and the more air that can circulate hopefully the better you will sleep. I like to put my feather pillows in the dryer on a very cold night. They plump up and are so warm to sleep on.

Check out electric blankets and make sure they are still safe, especially if they have been stored. And it is a good idea to check out the hot-water bottles. The neck of a hot-water bottle can perish and waking up in the morning to a cold, wet bed due to a leaking hot-water bottle is no fun. But of course winter is now upon us and you have done all of the above and can sit back and enjoy the chilly winter nights and days because you prepared over summer and autumn.

Terry Lobb is a /kitchen designer and personal colour and style consultant who takes a holistic approach to living with colour, texture and style.

terrylobb.com