5 Ways to Adopt Hygge at Home
I love my book club. I don't always love the books we read, but I appreciate our group and the experience. To start this year, we read the book The Year of Living Danishly by Helen Russell published in 2015. It's an interesting read about all things Danish and how one might experience living in Denmark. (This is not a book review, I promise.) I was fascinated with the first chapter and the concept of Hygge, pronounced WHoo-Guh. Think the band formed by Roger Daltrey and Peter Townsend, The WHO, paired with the start the word describes that shallow trough that collects rainwater, gutter, "Guh." WHoo-Guh, Hygge. Now you are speaking it correctly.
I did learn that Denmark is one of the happiest places to live in the world. Currently, in 2019, they rank 2nd in the world just behind Finland. The US nearly closes out the top twenty countries for the happiest places to live, pulling into the 19th spot. I do believe that Hygge has a lot to do with happiness. There is so much to learn about the subject, but here I'll focus on the principles discussed in my book club. We had the additional benefit of a former inhabitant of Denmark as part of our conversation as well, so we received some first-hand knowledge on the matter!
What is Hygge? First, it's not one thing. It's many pieces and parts: it's a design style, it's a lifestyle, and it's also a psychological state. What I most connect Hygge with is the words surrounding it: comfort, peace, and connection. I resonate with these words, so whatever Hygge is, it must be something generally good, right?
Let's tackle the design side of Hygge first. In the book, our protagonist was learning about Hygge from a Danish designer, who described the need for five elements in the home to achieve Hygge. Here are the five key elements and my impression on why they are essential to attaining comfort, peace, and connection.
1) Find a Wood Table That You Love
Danes are attracted to natural materials like wood and leather. Recall all the Scandinavian design furniture stores? IKEA is obviously the largest of these and brought the style mainstream. Nod if you have ever owned a piece of furniture from there, whether it fit your décor or not. That's not exactly what I am prescribing here. I do believe the use of natural materials makes us feel good and creates some connection to natural flow and cycles. That's a subject for another day. The Danes encourage a large wood table that would seat at least eight people for easy entertaining and gathering. Think of times that you have experienced joy and happiness around tables, Thanksgiving tables, Grandmother's tables, picnic tables. There's our word: Connection. This is Hygge.
2) Own a Handcrafted Chair
There were great chair designers in Denmark like Hans Wegner with the Wishbone Chair and Arne Jacobsen with the Egg chair. Many Danes have at least one excellently handcrafted and well-designed chair in their home. To me, the style of these chairs most resembles Mid Century Modern. Goodness, the popularity of Hygge spreading right on time! Mid-Century Modern is a style that many people are adapting to and not just the Millennials.
Recently, my 81-year-old father decided his "man-chair" recliner needed to be retired after 15 years of service. My mother and I whole-kindheartedly agreed. After months of online research and consulting his designer daughter, he surprised me with a request to visit the Scandinavian store in my town and to check out a modern recliner called the Stressless Recliner, which was developed in the early '70s in Norway, another northern lights country just north of Denmark.
I was delighted that my father wasn't immediately gravitating toward an oversized, plush La Z Boy! So we went to the store. He reclined, sat, touched the leather, discussed wood options, and with permission for full design authority from my mother, he custom ordered his new "man chair." The perfect man chair is also another discussion with layers of thought and review but the essence; it's one of the most basic places we can call home. Comfort!
3) Love Your Lighting
In the book, the instruction is to own a "designer lamp." I agree completely, lamps are the way to go! Avoid overhead lights unless this is the only option. Use lamps to create soft cascading pools of light in your room. Here are my secrets to "loving my light," and I do love lights. Do these simple things.
Make sure all your light bulbs are all the same "color" in one room. Buy them from the same package. Ensure that they are Soft or Warm White. Avoid lighting that says Bright Light or Daylighting.
Use a dimmer. Yes, you can find dimmer switches for lamps, check this one out. Even put a dimmer on your front porch lights. Decide when you want to create a soft alluring light whispering a sweet invite into your home, then you dim!
Go one step further and put your lamps on a timer. Especially in the winter, it's not inviting to walk into a dark home. Make sure you have a lamp on a timer that is brightening your favorite space to greet you at home.
4) Strike a Match
During the long cold winters, you stay inside. Candles go with Hygge just as scarves go with winter. It's just part of life. The Danish people burn more candles per person than any other country in Europe. Lighting candles not only improves the effects of SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) but also adds a beautiful lighting ambiance. Don't be shy, light candles in the morning, and as you close out the day. That's Hygge. To give you an idea, Danes burn about 14 pounds of candle wax per person. This translates to about 4 hours of candle burning a day. These candles are organic and natural, free of fragrances. We share a fire in many ritualistic manners and ceremonies from birthday candles on a cake to singing songs around a campfire. So in many ways, we check two Hygge boxes when using candles: peace and comfort.
5) Pass a Pretty Plate
Somewhere in a Danish home, you will find a Royal Copenhagen plate. The hand-painted and glazed porcelain plates were first introduced in the 1770s. The color blue is distinctly Danish for two reasons. Firstly, it immediately marks the beautiful craftsmanship. Secondly, it's the only color that withstands the extreme temperatures to produce this type of porcelain.
My Hygge suggestion is really to focus on the plate. Purchase a set of plates that you'll feel good about passing to your friends and family around your dining room table. When you are picking a plate, select one expresses you, your likes, and your style. Let the plate tell your guest a little bit more about who you are and share your inner expression. If you are overwhelmed with those decisions, start simple, and focus on basics such as size, shape, and weight. Find the size plate you like, pick up the plate and make sure it's one that feels right, and lastly make sure you love the color! My personal choice of plate is white, heavy, no-frills, and well crafted. I love to look at many plates, but for me, the one that I picked makes me happy every time.
As we approach winter's shortened days of sunlight and longer inside time, think about Hygge. It is about slowing down and being more mindful of whom you want to spend time with and how you want to spend that time. Create a little more comfort around yourself with uplifting warmth and layers of cozy. In the book, the designer is asked "if you do these things, does it really create happiness?" The response was, in essence, "being surrounded with great design does influence our mood and makes us feel cozy and safe. In turn, this makes us happier." I can't agree more.
Take the time to select things that you love. It's not about quantity; it's about the quality and the joy of great design. Be sure to then share because Hygge isn’t just for your home; it’s for your life as well. Happy Hygge. And remember, you don’t have to be in a book club to cozy up with a good read and some candles this winter and get your Hygge on.