How to Make the Most of Cosy Season: Simple Ideas for Autumn Evenings at Home
As the evenings become darker, I begin to look forward to spending more time at home. Summer encourages us to keep going until late, but autumn gives us a good reason to finish the day earlier, make something warm to drink and settle down with a book, a story or something interesting to listen to.
Creating a cosy atmosphere does not require buying a collection of new things or completely rearranging the house. It is usually the familiar details that make the greatest difference: warmer lighting, a favourite mug, a blanket within reach and something you have been meaning to read.
Change the lighting
Bright overhead lights are useful, but they rarely help a room feel comfortable in the evening. I prefer lamps placed around the room, with a candle on the table or mantelpiece when I am staying nearby to keep an eye on it.
The simple act of turning off the main light helps to mark the end of the working day, particularly if you work from home or spend much of the day looking at a screen. Battery-operated candles are a sensible alternative in homes with children or animals, and they still produce a softer pool of light.
Make a proper pot of tea
A warm drink is one of the easiest ways to settle into an autumn evening. Our new Pumpkin Spice Tea launched this week, after October Almanac subscribers received it first inside their boxes.
It is caffeine free, so it works particularly well later in the day, with the familiar autumn flavours of pumpkin and spice without being too sweet. I like to make a pot rather than a single mug because it encourages me to sit down for a while instead of drinking it while doing several other things.
We also have our smoky black Autumn Tea, with Lapsang Souchong.
Keep something ready to read
Cosy evenings are much easier to enjoy when you already have something waiting for you. Leave a book beside your chair, borrow something from the library or return to a story you have read before and know you will enjoy.
Short stories are especially good when you are tired and do not want to commit to several chapters. October is also the right month for ghost stories, local legends and old folk tales, particularly those connected to familiar landscapes and places.
Reading does not need to become another target to meet. Ten pages with a cup of tea is still time well spent.
Find a podcast for darker evenings
If I am drawing, packing orders or doing something with my hands, I often listen to a podcast instead. At the moment I am enjoying Uncanny, presented by Danny Robins on BBC Sounds, which examines accounts of strange and apparently unexplained experiences.
It is a good choice for October because it has the atmosphere of a ghost story while still allowing different explanations to be considered. The listener is left to decide what they think happened, which usually gives you plenty to think about after the episode has finished.
Sit by the fire if you have one
A fire changes the way a room is used. People naturally gather around it, and it gives you somewhere to sit without feeling that you should be doing something productive at the same time.
If you do not have a fire, a warm lamp, a blanket and a hot-water bottle can make an ordinary chair just as comfortable.
Put the phone somewhere else
It is difficult to become absorbed in a book, film or conversation when a phone is lighting up beside you. I find it easier to leave mine in another room for a while rather than repeatedly deciding not to pick it up.
You do not have to abandon the digital world for the entire evening. An hour without notifications is enough to make time feel less scattered, and you can still use a radio or speaker for music and podcasts without having the screen constantly in front of you.
Choose something to do with your hands
Drawing, knitting, sewing, mending, writing in a journal or sorting through photographs all work well on autumn evenings. The activity does not need to produce anything impressive. It simply gives your hands something to do while your attention settles.
This is also a useful time to record what is changing outdoors. You might sketch a leaf, press a fallen flower, note the first frost or write down the time it becomes dark. Small observations made over several weeks eventually form a very personal record of the season.
Let cosy season be simple
The most enjoyable autumn evenings are rarely the elaborate ones. Make the room warm, turn down the lighting, prepare a pot of tea and choose one thing you genuinely want to read, watch, hear or make.
Some evenings I will listen to a ghost story while I work; on others I would rather sit by the fire and do very little. Both are valid ways to make the darker part of the year feel enjoyable rather than something to hurry through.