Inside:
Is the room warm or cold? How does it smell? How does it feel emotionally? Is the setting soothing, or does it cause anxiety?
Outside:
The weather. So often overlooked. It's usually sunny or raining, which is fine, but the smells in the air / humidity / temperature are different.
Some areas are arid. What is that like? I live in the desert. When it's hot here sweat doesn't stay on your skin. It evaporates. It's hard to breathe. Nostrils and throats get dry. I've been to Seatle. It rained a lot. The air was always moist. My skin was softer while I was there, my hair got wavy. If there are hills or valleys in the area where you're setting the story, make sure you mention them.
Now, we always want to avoid clutter. Filling up a couple of paragraphs with all of this description would most likely be unnecessary. But a sentence or two can do a lot to ground the reader firmly in your world. It can also help the characterization.
In BAD BOYS AHOY! (sorry to use my own work, but it's the first thing that came to mind) one of the characters (Hugh) is very irresponsible. Orphaned at the age of ten, he became an earl raised by a matronly aunt and an older sister. He's not comfortable in his own skin and seriously doubts his ability to do service to his title. When another character meets with Hugh in his office we see the dark decor in some detail and the visiting character thinks to himself that the somber study is nothing like the irresponsible man who owns it. It was one way of showing how Hugh didn't fit into the legacy his father left behind.
Don't forget clothes and transportation! All of this setting detail is especially important in romance. Why? Because in romance the goal is to show how two people find each other, become attracted to each other and then fall in love with each other. It's not just physical details that make us love someone, but the whole of the person. Where they live, what they drive (or ride), how wealthy they are (or aren't) are all factors that are taken into consideration when we choose our mates. The settings of your story should reflect this attention to detail, because a person in love pays special and minute attention to the things that are important to their loved one.
You know what your SO likes to drink, eat, wear. So should your protagonists. This is all setting the stage for your story.
HOMEWORK:
#1 Find a scene in your ms where you can describe the weather. Remember, more than just sunny or rainy, hot or cold. Try adding a sentence, just one, that gives a bit more detail. If you can't find one, don't worry. I don't want you to clutter your WIP. You can do #2 instead.
#2 Find a scene in your WIP where you could use the setting to reveal something about one of your characters.














