Ten of the cosiest living rooms for November: deep blue walls, mustard velvet and a rug that covers almost the whole floor

November is the month when the living room stops being a corridor and becomes a shelter. It's dark at five, there's fog outside, and the hours at home multiply. Ten projects from Spanish interior design studios show that a room's warmth doesn't come from square metres, but from the choice of fabrics, light and colour - and that many of those ideas are easy to copy.

The opener comes from Coblonal Interiorismo: a room ready for the colder months, with a fireplace built into a low wooden bench, a wide cream sofa, a heavy honey-coloured throw and a paper floor lamp that glows like a lantern. Nothing shouts, everything warms.

Fireplace, wood and stone. In the Cerdanya Interiors project, featured in Raquel Redondo's book "interiorISMO", natural materials carry the whole story: wood, stone and a large fireplace, a deep corner sofa with greyish cushions and a rug that marks out the seating area. In the El Corte Inglés Home autumn-winter catalogue, a terracotta sofa, layered rugs and textured fabrics with a crafted feel show how boldly warm colours can be mixed for a refreshed rustic style.

Deep blue walls. The boldest proposal comes from Maria Buira Interiors: walls in deep blue, a mustard velvet sofa, a dark wood chest of drawers and cushions in different textures. The intense wall colour doesn't shrink the room - it wraps it, and makes it as intimate as a room in an old townhouse.

A reading nook. Luzio Studio makes a spot for afternoon reading next to a classic fireplace: a light sofa, a faux-fur throw in intense orange, a soft rug and a bookshelf. No fireplace? A nook like that works just as well by a window. Ritual Lifestyle goes even further and proves a fireplace isn't required for a winter room at all: cream and sand tones, bouclé and fluffy cushions, wooden side tables, floor-length curtains and a rug with a discreet pattern.

Wood as an ally. IKEA's proposal clads the ceiling in wood and adds decorative panels in wood tones, with orange cushions, a blue throw, a geometric rug and small lamps that create islands of light instead of one strong ceiling light. Pia Capdevila, styled by Mar Gausachs, shows that even a white room can be warm if the textures vary: full upholstery, cushions in mixed fabrics, a rug that covers the floor and wooden details.

Grey without the chill. Studiomac, styled by Cristina Rodríguez Goitia, builds a contemporary room in grey tones that is still warm: wood, a large textured rug, a fireplace and a wide sofa placed to invite conversation rather than TV watching.

The floor is the fifth wall. The Room Studio covers almost the entire seating area with an oversized rug, over a wooden floor and next to a wood-panelled wall, with a light sofa and cushions in toasted tones. And finally, Pilsferrer's Casa Gallo project: a white base, with winter coming in through the textiles - brown, caramel and burgundy, floral prints and olive-green accents. The room isn't repainted, it changes its clothes.

So what's left for the living room in an ordinary Skopje flat, with no fireplace and no interior designer? A throw in a strong colour, two or three lamps instead of one ceiling light, a bigger rug and floor-length curtains. None of it needs a tradesman. The only question is whether we'll spend another November in a room we use but don't enjoy.