Blogs often talk about hygge in the context of interior décor. But it turns out that it extends into all aspects of life. Like minimalism, it’s something you can apply to pretty much anything, once you understand the basic principles.
Hygge comes from Danish culture. It developed to help people survive and enjoy the long, hard Scandinavian winters. It basically means doing cozy and comfortable things to enhance your well-being and make your life more enjoyable. It’s kind of an older take on the idea of being “kind to yourself,”
Psychologically, the idea of being more hygge around this time of year makes sense. The autumn months are always about a retreat from the summer and slowly getting ready for the colder months ahead. It is a sort of primordial mimicking of hibernation but to a lesser extent.
So how do you make hygge a way of life? Let’s take a look.
Start Reading Hygge Books
One of the best ways to get into the hygge mood is to start reading books that evoke feelings of hygge. The more you can whisk yourself off to some fantasy realm, the more likely you are to feel cozy, well, and warm.
Hygge books come in all sorts of shapes and sizes. For some, it might mean reading something geographical, like an atlas of the world. For others, it could be a fantasy novel. Whatever it is, hygge gets you in the mood for it.
Embrace Fur-Lined Style
Another way to start feeling more hygge is to embrace fur-lined style. The more clothes you have featuring faux fur, the better!
For instance, you might want to experiment with wearing fur-lined slippers, coats, leggings, crocs, and jean jackets. Adding this volume to your clothes will make you feel warmer and cozier, even when you leave home.
Get A Special Mug
You can also start feeling more hygge by adding a special mug to your hygge adventures. You want something you can wrap your hands around and feel connected to all winter long.
Fortunately, you have a lot of choices. There are all sorts of mugs you can embrace on your hygge journey. If you’re someone who loves big cups of tea and coffee. But you could also get a more unusual mug with a symbolic shape that appeals to you, or one that simply makes it easier to hold. Having a mug with a custom photo or personalized lettering can also help to make it special and easier for you to feel attached to.
Leave Work On Time
Hygge is also something you can incorporate into your daily routine. While staying in the office until late might be fashionable and could potentially help your career, it’s not a great way to embrace hygge.
Danish people are wealthy and work productively, but they don’t embrace the 70-hour work week. Instead, they keep their working hours to around half that figure yet still manage to get everything done. Hygge is about knowing when to work, and when to rest. You can have both in balance to live a fulfilling life, the philosophy believes.
Spend An Evening With TV And Takeout
Another option to be more hygge is to simply enjoy an evening with family in front of the TV with takeout. Enjoying a simple meal of delicious food can be an excellent way to bring everyone together and feel nested in your home.
Why is this activity hygge? Simple. First of all, it’s cozy. But it also involved taking some of the burden of preparing food after a long day at work off your shoulders. Embracing hygge means that it’s no longer your responsibility. Instead, someone else can do it for a change.
Get A Roaring Fire Going
Okay, this idea is vaguely related to interior design, but it is also a lifestyle feature that everyone should embrace. While electric fires are trendy, one that’s real and produces the crackling sound of logs and the faint smell of burning wood is truly unusual.
Many people who embrace hygge start preparing for the winter in the spring. Enthusiasts chop and split the wood early in the year and then leave it to dry over the summer until autumn arrives. This way, it is ready to burn by October and November after several months of higher temperatures.
Don’t worry, though, if you don’t have pre-dried wood available. You can purchase it from many stores.
Bring It Into Your Jewelry Collection
You can also embrace hygge in your jewelry collection, which is something you can find out more about online. The basic idea is to buy jewelry that evokes a sense of comfort and warmth. Naturally, gold is a great color for this.
Being hygge also means feeling more relaxed about your jewelry. Not everything has to be color-coded.
Listen To Music On A Record Player
You can also add hygge to your family weekends together by playing music on an old-fashioned record player with a turntable. Somehow, the sound is more analog and natural than a digital CD player or computer.
You can ramp up the coziness by playing older vinyl. These often have an old-time feel about them that immediately transports you back several decades to a simpler time.
Go To An Indoor Swimming Pool
If the weather is unrelentingly miserable outside, you might also experiment with going to an indoor swimming pool. Why? Because these are usually warm and are essentially a giant greenhouse that totally escapes the cold, harsh weather outside. You can just float around or have fun like you do in the summer without having to buffer yourself against the outside cold.
Go Ice Skating
Another hygge idea is to go ice skating while wearing your furriest, fluffiest clothes. Sure, the ice rink itself might be cold, but when everyone is wrapped up warm, it can be an exceptionally fun thing to do as a family or with friends.
So, there you have it: some of the ways to make your life more hygge. We hope you enjoyed that!