The main reason many of us feel blue in winter is the lack of light. Now is the time to assess the quality of the lighting in your home. There are three types of lighting to consider: general lighting, task lighting, and accent lighting. General lighting is what lights up the room overall, and it usually comes from ceiling fixtures like chandeliers and recessed lights. These can be put on a dimmer switch, which enables you to control the level of light to suit your needs. I recommend halogen or full-spectrum bulbs for recessed lights, as their clean, white light reproduces the effect of natural light and reveals the true colors in your fabrics and paint. Task lighting is what you need for reading, sewing, playing music or paying bills. Make sure you have lamps where you need them and that they are suited to shed light directly on your work. Incandescent bulbs work well in lamps and have the added advantage of providing a cozy, inviting look to a room. Directional recessed lights, up lights and the many styles of portrait lights make good accent lights and can be used to highlight artwork, plants or special collections and to add drama to a room.

Understanding the “psychology” of colors can also be helpful when you don’t know where to begin and are overwhelmed by all the possibilities. In general, the warmer colors like reds, yellows, golds and oranges are stimulating, and the cooler colors like blues, greens and violets are soothing. It makes sense to choose from the warm colors for your dining room, kitchen and foyer and from the cool colors for your bedroom and any other room where you want to create a calming environment.

Whether you use bold oranges, reds, eggplant, or chocolate brown, high gloss finishes, or neutral tones with depth like taupe, sage, camel or amber, you’ll get the biggest bang for your buck by adding color to your walls. Perhaps the best thing about this is that it’s only paint and thus relatively inexpensive to do over if you’re not happy with the results. So take the plunge; be daring; indulge your wild side! When trying to decide on a color, look at the colors in a favorite rug or work of art, and if that fails, look in your closet. Your clothes can be a good clue to the colors you’re happiest with.

Layering is an important technique to use when putting the finishing touches on a room. This can range from changing the furniture to accessorizing. A relatively inexpensive way to change the look of your furniture is to slipcover it. I don’t mean that you should ever use those "one size fits all" slipcovers that look sloppy on everything. You can get a look that’s very close to upholstered by having a custom slipcover made by a skilled craftsman. Adding pillows and a throw can also give a fresh look to your furniture. Choose fabrics that are durable and welcoming to the touch like chenille, leather, corduroy or ultrasuede. Whether you have hardwood floors or wall to wall carpeting, adding a beautiful area rug can add depth to your room. It can be an oriental in rich colors or a simple sisal or textured wool rug in neutral tones. And don’t forget your windows. You can layer curtain panels over natural roman shades in the winter and remove the panels in the summer for a lighter, breezier look. The shades can be raised for light and to reveal the beauty of the natural landscape and lowered for privacy. Whenever possible stick to natural materials for your shades, and avoid plastic and metal.

Color, lighting and layering are the keys to giving your home that welcoming look that is especially important in winter. Even a simple and elegant black and white palette can be improved with good lighting and a little layering.