The Science of Cosiness: Why Winter Feels Better With Warm Light, Soft Sound and Ritual

4 December 2025

Paul Francis

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Somewhere between the first frosty morning and the second early sunset, many of us start craving the same things: warm light, hot drinks, familiar films, thick socks, and the sense that home is a refuge from the outdoors. We call it “cosy”, but the feeling is not just aesthetic. It is physical, psychological, and surprisingly practical.

Woman in a cozy sweater sits on a sofa holding a stuffed animal, near a decorated Christmas tree. Warm lights create a festive mood.

Cosiness is what happens when your body senses safety and steadiness. It is comfort, but with a particular flavour: warmth, softness, predictability and a gentle lowering of demands.

What “cosy” really is

Cosiness is often described like a mood, but it behaves more like an environment. It is created by a combination of signals that tell your nervous system, “you can relax now”.

Those signals tend to fall into a few familiar categories:

Warmth (temperature, blankets, hot food)
Softness (textures, cushions, knitted fabrics)
Low glare lighting (lamps, candles, fairy lights)
Low threat sound (quiet music, gentle voices, rain on windows)
Small rituals (tea at the same time, lighting a candle, a film tradition)

In winter, these cues work harder because the outside world feels harsher, darker, louder and colder. Cosiness becomes a way of counterbalancing.

Why winter makes us want it more

In the UK, winter hits in a very specific way: damp cold, short days, and long stretches of grey. Less daylight can affect energy levels and mood, partly because it disrupts sleep timing and daily routines. Even if you do not feel “sad”, you can still feel less motivated, a bit flatter, and more easily tired.

Cosy settings offer a gentle solution. They reduce stimulation, encourage rest, and help you slow down without needing to call it “self care”.

The comfort of warm light

Bright overhead lighting can feel harsh when it is dark outside. Warm, low lighting tends to feel safer and more flattering, but there is something deeper going on too. At night, the body is more suited to calm light rather than intense glare. Lamps and warm tones mimic firelight, which humans have used for thousands of years to signal rest and safety after dark.

If you want a quick cosy upgrade, change the lighting first. Even a single lamp can shift a room from “functional” to “inviting”.

Soft sound and the “safe noise” effect

Silence can be peaceful, but it can also make a home feel empty. Cosy sound is rarely loud. It is predictable, soft, and steady. Think: gentle playlists, radio voices, crackling fire videos, rain sounds.

This kind of audio does something important. It fills the background so your mind stops scanning for surprises. If you have had a stressful day, soft sound can make it easier to come down from that heightened state.

Texture is emotional, not decorative

Texture is one of the fastest ways to create cosiness because your skin reads it instantly. Rough, cold or synthetic textures can keep you feeling slightly “on guard”. Soft, warm fabrics can do the opposite.

You do not need to redesign a room. One throw, one thick hoodie, one pair of warm slippers can change the entire feel of a winter evening.

Why rituals feel powerful in December

Many cosy habits are rituals. A ritual is not just a routine. It has meaning. It marks a moment as special, even if the act is small.

In winter, rituals help because they provide:

Predictability when days feel rushed or chaotic
A sense of control when the outside world feels uncertain
A cue to rest, especially when you struggle to switch off

This is why seasonal rituals catch on so easily. The first mince pie, the first film night, the first tree decoration. They are small anchors that make the month feel structured.

How to build cosiness without buying loads

Cosiness can become a shopping trend, but it does not have to be.

A simple “cosy checklist” looks like this:

One warm light source (lamp, fairy lights, candles)
One comforting texture (throw, thick socks, soft hoodie)
One safe sound (quiet playlist or spoken radio)
One warm drink or meal
One small ritual you repeat

The point is not perfection. The point is signalling to yourself that you are allowed to slow down.

Cosiness is not laziness, and it is not just decoration. In winter, it can be a quiet form of adaptation. A way of restoring energy, lowering stress, and finding warmth when the season asks us to endure cold and darkness.

In a world that rarely stops shouting, the cosy moment is often the moment your body finally believes it is safe.

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Should employees take a pay cut for working from home?

Diane Hall
Aug 29, 2024
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The original Post was Published Nov 15th 2021

I’ve seen posts on forums from both employers and employees suggesting that remote jobs, when advertised in the future, should offer a lower wage than similar positions fulfilled by someone physically present in the workplace.

The argument is that employees who commute have to fork out travel and petrol costs, which remote workers don’t have to do—and that this isn’t fair.

I can imagine this topic will divide opinion, though I can see both sides of the coin. I find commuting not just expensive in comparison, it’s also an ordeal—what with the sheer amount of traffic on the roads, train/bus delays, getting through crowds of fellow commuters, and the British weather to battle (this might be just my opinion).

Homeworkers do have costs to meet that their office-based colleagues don’t, such as extra heating costs. A bigger electricity bill to run their laptop. They’ll use more water from extra toilet flushes and as they boil the kettle numerous times during the day. These extras may not equate to the high cost of fuel or public transport fees, but it’s still extra expense that an office worker wouldn’t have to pay.

A recent survey showed that this suggestion is being taken seriously. 61% of those questioned would agree to a pay cut if it meant they could continue to work from home. Though finances are a consideration, the freedom, autonomy and work/life balance of homeworking appealed to many people during lockdown and they’re seemingly in no rush to give it up.

Older lady working from her coffee table in her white living room.

The homeworker vs. office worker distinction could become even more divisive when it comes to choosing people for promotion. Already there are numerous people in the public eye who have warned that employees could face stagnant careers if they continue to work remotely. Economist Catherine Mann believes women are particularly at risk of not getting ahead. She said, ‘Difficulty accessing childcare and pandemic-related disruption to schooling meant many women are continuing to work from home, while it’s been easier for men to return to the office. There is the potential for two tracks; there's the people who are on the virtual track and people who are on a physical track. And I do worry that we will see those two tracks develop, and we will pretty much know who's going to be on which track, unfortunately.’

A BBC survey shows that a quarter of all women working from home agree with Ms Mann, but that they’ve made their peace with the potential damage to their careers in favour of a happier, calmer and slower-paced working life that fits flexibly around all their other commitments and those of their families.

Working from home setup on a wooden dinning table.

Danielle Harmer, Chief People Officer at Aviva, thinks that remote working could be better accepted in our society without it having any negative impact on a person’s career opportunities. She suggests that it just takes some thought and future planning and a commitment from employers that home workers will not be an afterthought. She says, ‘I think if organisations leave it up to their employees, you could have a potential situation where those with caring responsibilities, who tend to be female, tend to work from home more often, and we look back in two years and think: hang on a second, why has the gender pay gap widened? Or why are female promotions slowing down a little? It's taken us a long time to make progress on things like the gender pay gap, and I think it would be terrible if we went backwards on it.’

If you look at figures released by the ONS, this situation isn’t playing out as widely as you may think. 60% of workers are reportedly back at the office or workplace they left when the pandemic began. One in six employees who have opted to work from home for the foreseeable are exercising a hybrid approach, with some time in the workplace and some time working remotely—perhaps the best of both worlds, it could be argued.

Some people see those who have chosen to continue working from home as benefitting from a pay rise of sorts, and it begs the question whether this will breed resentment within companies. A pay cut cannot be enforced by an employer without notice, and (I would imagine) lots of legal advice and input from HR. The country faces a transition now that technology allows us to work anywhere at any time; this has been on the cards for a while, the pandemic only propelled the situation.

Whether there really will be a financial divide between home/office workers is yet to be seen. Any impact on careers, if employees remain remote, may take longer to become apparent…