Tidylife

Interior & Lifestyle

  • Home
  • Shopping
    • My Directory
  • About
    • Work With Me
  • Home Inspiration
    • Kitchens
    • Bathrooms
    • Bedroom
    • Flooring
    • Furniture
    • Home Office
    • Lighting
  • Home Improvements
    • Furniture Makeovers
    • DIY
  • Lifestyle
    • Beauty
    • Cars & Motoring
    • Eco
    • Family
    • Fashion
    • Finance
    • Fitness/Running
    • House Plants
    • Kids stuff
    • Money Saving
  • Home Maintenance
  • Nav Social Icons

  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

General, Home Improvements · January 12, 2017

How to Stay Warm at Night in a Cold Bedroom

I don’t consider our home to be a particularly cold one, as it’s not big and draughty, so I was surprised when our eldest son mentioned he’d not slept well recently because his bedroom was a bit chilly.  I thought being the smallest room it would get quite cosy, but perhaps it’s location at one corner of the house makes it more exposed and therefore susceptible to getting cold.

So I got thinking about what we could do to make sure the room stays warmer in future and decided to share some of my ideas here, in case others are trying to remedy a cold bedroom:

Layer Soft Furnishings

In my son’s room there are painted floorboards rather than a carpet, so one thing we did immediately was add a rug to stop draughts coming through the gaps between the boards.  Adding carpet, maybe a cosy wool rug or a sheepskin like these here is one way to help insulate the room and give your room a nice new look.  Thick curtains with thermal linings at the window would really help to prevent heat loss – close them as dusk falls, but keep them wide open during the day to try and capture and store as much solar warmth as possible.

Prevent Draughts

A draughty window frame can make a bedroom feel very cold, but you can fill in any gaps with expanding foam or add self-adhesive insulating foam tape around the window’s edges to help fix the problem.  Keeping internal doors closed as well will help the warm air stay inside. If you have traditional windows, with a single pane of glass, it would make sense to upgrade to a double or even triple glazed window – you’ll really notice the difference in terms of comfort and reduced heat-loss, making the room feel much more cosy, especially on a cold night. You’ll also notice a lack of condensation on the glass which is another benefit.

Get a Portable Heater

Another thing we did was buy a small electric radiator that can be left on low at night without consuming too much energy.  We don’t tend to keep the central heating on at night, because it would get costly and its also not very comfortable to sleep in a really toasty room; instead what we have done is adjust the time that the central heating switches on to slightly earlier than normal during this cold spell, making getting up in the morning that bit easier!

Try an Electric Blanket or Throw

The idea of electric blankets used to scare me a bit when I was younger, but they have definitely come on a lot since I was a girl.  You can get gorgeous fleecy underblankets or overblankets now with different heat settings and features like auto shut off.  There are even heated mattress toppers, faux fur throws and cushions nowadays!  Guaranteed to take the chill off at night, modern electric blankets like these are great for adding welcome warmth and a luxurious feeling.

heated faux fur throw

Tog Ratings and PJ’s

It seems obvious now, but I realised our son was just wearing cotton shorts and a t-shirt to bed, so we made sure that we got him some long pyjamas and we also added a warming brushed cotton top sheet to his bedding that can be tucked in to prevent draughts.  Also, check the tog rating of your duvets, which is an indication of the duvet’s ability to trap air, so the higher the rating the warmer the duvet.  Marks & Spencer has a handy duvet buying guide here and you should probably look at a tog rating of 13.5 to be suitable for the cold weather.  You might also want to add a knitted blanket or fleece/faux fur throw for an extra layer of comfort.  And why not wear a pair of bed socks?  Not particularly sexy, but they do work!

Cotton bed throw Blue Wayfair

Hot Water Bottles

My youngest two boys love it when I fill them a hot water bottle each and they’ll snuggle with them whilst sipping a hot chocolate on a cold evening!  Cheap and quick, this retro solution definitely helps toes stay cosy for at least a couple of hours.

Add Insulation

If your walls are lacking insulation, that ‘s a problem you could look at having fixed professionally, with some cavity wall insulation which fills the gap between the inner and outer layers of brick.  There are sometimes grants available to help with the cost, or you may be able to claim back some of the expense, as you are taking steps to be more energy efficient – check your local council’s website for more information.

Another thing you could do is DIY some loft insulation.  It can be bought in rolls that you lay down between the joists.  You could also try putting insulating foil (or even good quality kitchen foil will do), behind the radiator in your bedroom, as this helps reflect the radiator’s heat back into the room, rather than letting it escape through the wall.  And don’t block the radiator with large items of furniture.

I hope these suggestions help you to stay cosy!

This post contains some affiliate links, which means that if you purchase an item through one of the links, I will receive a small income.  Thank you for supporting the brands that support #tidylife!

© Copyright 2017 Antonia, All rights Reserved. Written For: Tidylife

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)

Posted By: Antonia · In: General, Home Improvements

How to Clean Roof Windows like A Pro
Painting our living room in Farrow & Ball Stiffkey Blue

You’ll Also Love

How to Pass your Driving Test First Time
Moving_House_PrintablesTop Tips for a Smooth House Move
Business Maintenance Essentials to Action This Year

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Emma says

    April 21, 2017 at 1:13 pm

    Hi Antonia, I love reading your blog, and my DS recently complained that he felt cold at night so your blog post got me thinking! Can I ask, did you end up getting an electric blanket for your boy and if so how did it go? My son (14) feels the cold and I’ve been wondering about getting him an electric blanket to warm his bed up, but I’ve also wondered if I might then have trouble getting him out of bed in the morning!! Any advice appreciated about whether they’ve worked well in your family or not! x

    Reply
    • Antonia says

      April 23, 2017 at 6:08 pm

      Hi, thank you! We bought a small plug in radiator in the end – an oil filled one rather than a fan heater. Makes the room really nice and cosy 🙂

      Reply
  2. Sally Collingwood says

    January 14, 2021 at 10:58 am

    Subtle lighting is always warmer than a full on light bulb.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

CommentLuv badgeShow more posts

Primary Sidebar

Hello! I'M ANTONIA I launched Tidylife to provide interior, garden & lifestyle inspiration. Love home decor and budget friendly improvements? Me too! You'll find them all here. Plus decorating, styling & upcycling ideas. I also love to share fitness, fashion & beauty features, so I hope you enjoy visiting Tidylife.

Subscribe to my newsletter

Name

Email


Copyright © 2025 Tidylife · Theme by 17th Avenue

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish.Accept All Read More
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT