There’s an old saying: “Make your house a home.” You may wonder exactly how to achieve that, especially if you’ve just moved into a new apartment. Enter the concept of “hygge,” a word that’s taken the home decorating world by storm in the past few years. A hygge home is a lot of things, all of them inviting.
What is hygge?
Hygge is a Danish word that native speakers pronounce somewhere between “hoo-gah” and “hue-gah.” Forming your lips in the right shape helps you say it and embracing its spirit helps you achieve it. Today’s understanding dates from around the 1800s, but it may go back as far as the Middle Ages to a similar Old Norse word that means “protected from the outside world.”
The modern definition can’t be summarized in a single word, but takes the form of coziness, warmth on a cold day, communion with beloved friends and family, and seeking contentment and joy in life’s simple pleasures.
Where does the idea of hygge come from?
Writer Signe Johanssen says the idea comes from a time in history when life in Scandinavian countries was more difficult. Cold winters and darkness meant people needed to look for simple pleasures to counteract the harsh environment. “For a long time the Nordic region was quite poor, and we had limited access to vital resources,” she says. Historically, it’s about slowing down and taking time to appreciate something soothing. It becomes a state of mind to overcome anxiety or uncertainty.
Even when the nights are long and cold, a bird’s-eye view of Denmark would reveal a collection of dwellings filled with candles, warm fires, and conviviality around food and drinks that contributes to the national embracing of hygge.
In 1957, an American writer named Robert Shaplen wrote in The New Yorker that Danish people were overcome with hygge, raising their hats to each other in the street. They regarded strangers with a kind earnestness and the possibility of being invited into an inner circle of coziness and friendship.
Modern hygge
When hygge was added to the Oxford English Dictionary in 2017, the concept had already taken the world by storm. For Danish people, it’s organic as they light candles or start the fire, eat a lingering meal at home with dear friends and family, discuss meaningful topics, enjoy a picnic outside in the long days of summer, and sip on warming mugs of mulled wine.
From a scientific perspective, neuroscientist Dr. A.K. Pradeep says humans constantly seek the brain chemical serotonin that helps with mood, sleep, digestion, and desire. Lots of things in the modern world disrupt consistent serotonin levels, and Dr. Pradeep says hygge concepts like friendship, physical contact, and inviting spaces can help boost those levels. Embracing hygge can become a ritual to help overcome depression and isolation, and appreciate the warmth of human interaction.
An attitude of hygge
Your surroundings are a vital part of embracing hygge, but you can also work on seeking happiness internally as you incorporate elements of hygge into quiet moments of your day. A certified life and wellness coach, Carolina Ghosn calls herself “The Hygge Mama” on her blog. She suggests that incorporating nightly intentions into your life can help align your focus with things that you value. Nightly habits of tidying, food or clothing preparation, screen-free quiet self-care, and creating an environment for peaceful rest are hygge.
Hygge in the home
Lots of home-focused companies have jumped on the hygge train as the concept gains popularity. Social media like Facebook and Instagram are natural places to curate and inspire others with a hygge lifestyle, with products like blankets, candles, coffee table books filled with relaxing photos, and even card games.
Big box stores and self-employed artisans are filling shelves with objects for the home that fall in the hygge and Scandinavian-inspired color palette. These colors are the warm white or greige of rumpled linen fabrics, gray-blue that evokes the cloudy Scandinavian sky, soft pinks of a summer sunset, or earthy greens that evoke lichen on taupe rocks. Natural textures, visible weave patterns, and rounded edges fill the homes of the hygge faithful.
How to hygge your new apartment
One thing’s for sure: you don’t need to spend a lot of money to achieve hygge in your new apartment. As you look around at piles of boxes and furniture, the first place to start is in furniture placement. Imagine yourself coming home from a long day. What is the first thing you’d like to see? Hygge seeks to invite you in and embrace you in warmth. Try to arrange your furniture to achieve that feeling.
Incorporate soft fabrics into your space, with cozy blankets and bedding, throw pillows and items that bring you comfort. If painting your apartment, choose colors that are calming such as beige, white, soft greens, and blues.
Next, try to bring the natural world inside. When you live in an apartment, an outdoor garden may not be possible, but you can grow houseplants. Unlike the outdoors, many houseplants can live and thrive all winter long. Here are some tips for plant-growing success:
- Choose plants according to light. Some plants are touted as “low-light” but all plants need light to thrive. Most plants are happiest in an eastern or western exposure window, but don’t let the leaves touch the glass.
- Water when the soil is dry. Most common houseplants need to dry out. Stick your finger in the soil and water when it feels dry to your second knuckle.
- Resist the urge to repot. When you bring home a plant, keep it in the plastic nursery pot set inside a pretty outer pot for a little while. Let it adapt to its new surroundings.
It’s hygge to spend time caring for other living things. Time spent on plant care can contribute to great contentment and calm.
And finally, surround yourself with objects that bring you happiness. There is no right or wrong way to hygge your new apartment. A pink fuzzy blanket might be right for one, and a hand-crocheted afghan might be right for another. Hygge can be achieved when the pressure to have things look a certain way is removed. Your new apartment is hygge when you feel content there.
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