Ever heard of Hygge (pronounced “HUE-gah” or “heurgha”)? It’s high time you are introduced to Hygge, a traditional Scandinavian concept for cozy and warm living that’s taking quite a following!
Creating Hygge At Home For Cozy And Healthy Living
First, the Swedish gave us IKEA. Now, this traditional Danish Hygge concept got many of us fascinated. I’m quite taken that there’s a name for a state of being or a lifestyle, and the word Hygge is a charming word which simply means all things nice, warm, cozy, friendly or an overall sense of contentment. If you haven’t heard of this concept before, you’ll be as taken as I am with it when you find out more about hygge here. Help yourself to these tips, tricks, and ideas to create hygge in your home with friends and family.
1. Pure And Simple Home Interior
Simplistic and conventional are what defines a hygge home with natural color tones. Avoid loud and overly flamboyant tones or color scheme in your home design. The idea is to create a serene and peaceful effect in a monochromatic color scheme or a harmonious mix of earth-colored tones.
2. Create A ‘Hyggekrog’ Or Snug
A window seat looking out to a lovely view of nature, a body of water, or your garden, should be a perfect spot for a cozy nook where you can enjoy some moments of peace and quiet with a good read. Add some pillows and a blanket to create a perfect snuggly retreat.
3. Display Treasured Memories
Scandinavians are family-oriented and strongly promote an environment of happiness and affection. You can promote the same environment in your home with your family photos in frames, travel memorabilia, and stuff with sentimental value put up as decor.
4. Bring Nature Close
Anything from the outdoors is encouraged in a hygge home whether in Christmas decor, year-round decor, or as an everyday household item. We’ve long been doing this anyway, which is often attributed to our primitive nature. Natural decor ranges from antlers, fur rugs, houseplants, or wreaths. Anything from branches, pine cones, and driftwood are equally perfect.
5. Treasure Old And Rustic
Waste is antithetical to the hygge way of life. If you’re a homesteader who loves to recycle, repair and repurpose old furniture, then you’re right at home. An old family member’s favorite chair, for instance, is better repaired or repurposed for its sentimental value rather than buying new ones. It’s a new trend anyway, with more and more people going back to the classic and rustic.
6. De-Clutter
Your home need not be spic and span and shiny like a museum. It just has to be organized where things are put in their proper places. For your home to get that hygge vibe, try to invest in a storage space in your place for mess-free and clutter-free rooms.
7. Hygge Outdoors
Hygge isn’t just about being snug and comfy indoors. You can have it outdoors with your family and friends, perhaps around a fire pit or a campfire while having tea or coffee. In the summer, you can achieve a hygge vibe by camping even in your yard with some fun family activities.
8. Light Candles
Candles are an important aspect of the hygge concept of living. Make sure you only use the white unscented ones–you can even make your own homemade candles. Light a candle while reading, enjoying a meal, or relaxing in your snug. Candles create a feeling of warmth with its glow. If this is not possible for you with pets and kids around, you can use lighting with a warm glow or light tones.
9. Keep It Plush And Comfy
Warmth and coziness are vital to creating hygge at home. A fur rug would be ideal but a nice and comfy fiber or synthetic rug can suffice. Make sure to spread pillows around, in your bed, the living room and your cozy nook. You can also make your own pillows with this DIY sewing project.
10. Create A Spa-Like Sanctuary
Scandinavians are big on sauna and you can create this environment and experience in a spa-like bathroom. Transform your bathroom into more than just a place to take a quick shower. If possible, install good lighting and even a basic sound system for a relaxing and rejuvenating bath experience. Make your own DIY bath bombs and homemade soaps for an inexpensive homemade bathroom-cum-sauna.
11. Flowers And Foliage
You can also create an environment of warmth with flowers in summer. A fresh bouquet of wildflowers or native annual flowering plants in a vase indoors is enough to create a joyous feeling. The smell of fresh herbs in the kitchen is equally delightful.
12. Pleasing Home Aroma
A true blue homesteader need not worry about this aspect with all the cooking going on the kitchen and the fresh produce laid out on the table. A pleasing home aroma is not the artificial scent from fresheners but the natural homey scent, characteristic of a traditional home. A fresh bouquet of flowers, herbs, and spices in the table, the smell of morning coffee or even some freshly baked bread will surely put you in a good mood.
13. Get A Fire Going
What better sound on a chilly winter evening, than a crackling fire with the warm glow in your face. A nice warm fire with soft pillows and blankets and your family and friends huddled around it is hygge in action. There are also ideal firewoods preferred by homesteaders for their steady fire, less smoke, and even pleasant scent.
14. Calming Music
Good music can definitely set a good mood. We’ve all got different tastes in music and personally, I like sentimental movie soundtracks, especially from Horner and Badalamenti, while some like upbeat music like jazz. Well, there are no rules and what relaxes you is what you should go for.
15. Light Snack
Having something to nibble or munch while enjoying a good read or a conversation is one way to create a hygge at home by yourself or with friends. Again, it’s up to you, but the idea is to snack light and not to fill up. You can check these homemade fruit snacks both you and your kids will love.
16. Keep It Laid Back And Intimate
Trade your stiff high back dining chairs and formal table setting for a relaxed dining set. The same goes for your living room and even your bedroom. Although contemporary room design and furnishing call for straight lines or the English formal settings, I like mine where people can just huddle and be comfortable.
17. Embrace Your Home’s Unique Features
Rustic wood boards for the floor, rough log for the wall, an out of place log beam overhead are what makes your home your own. Some design elements of a home that used to be considered out of place and unbecoming are now considered rustic and charming. Embracing the unique features of your home is a hygge tradition.
18. Love Gardening
It’s no secret, gardening is good for you physically and mentally. While you cannot get down and dig the earth in winter, you can keep an indoor winter garden. In the summer, this is a great way to get hygge in your home. A well-kept garden or garden design definitely promotes a sense of peace and tranquility.
19. Hygge In Summer
Yes, you can have hygge at home in the Summer! Of course, lighting lots of candles and snuggling in pillows on a hot sweltering summer day isn’t exactly comfy, but there are always ways and means. Open up your doors to invite the cool summer breeze and lay down in a hammock instead. Some good music, light snack and a good read is definitely a hygge vibe in summer.
20. Hygge With Family And Friends
If not the most important, spending quality time with friends and family is one the most important aspect of hygge. This is not the once in a year 4th of July BBQ, Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner, but the simple get-together in a relaxed environment. This is when you sit down to a less formal dinner party with some hearty comfort food and a happy conversation.
21. Do As You Please
Finally, creating hygge is really up to you. Whether you prefer a fur rug or a quilt, the smell of coffee or tea, sleeping in winter or keeping your hands busy with simple crafts, what makes you comfortable and content is what hygge really is all about.
Find out more DIY living room decor ideas to help you create hygge at home in this video:
You don’t need to have all these elements to create Hygge in your home. A few of these, especially those that are already present at home and a positive outlook in life can create an environment of peace, quiet, contentment and happiness—your own Hygge at home!
Did you cozy up to these ideas for hygge at home? Share your thoughts about them in the comments section below!
Unpleasant household odors isn’t a character of hygge at all. Check out these amazing stinky home remedies to promote hygge in your homestead!
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