10 Easy Tricks To Making Your Home Cozy
10 ways to add some coziness to your space with the help of our free Hygge Checklist!
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If you’re anything like me, you love having people walk into your home and say “oh this is so cute!” or “your place always feels so cozy and inviting”. I eat that shit up. Both my roommate and I do, really.
As soon-to-be architects, something we often talk about is how spaces should feel and my opinion has always been that architecture is not just something physical, it’s also emotional and philosophical. I think architects should not only think about the exterior but also the interior design of a space. It’s not just the physical space itself, but how it feels. It’s the whole experience.
What is Hygge? Let’s Find Out!
Today’s topic – Hygge! Pronounced “hooga”, Hygge is as Danish as pierogi are Polish. It isn’t a design style, it’s a concept. A way of living, if you will. It’s a great way to make your home extra cozy.
It’s about experience and atmosphere. It’s the feeling you get when you’re around a campfire with your friends. Or that first sip of coffee while reading a good book. It’s a feeling of homeliness. A feeling of belonging at any given moment.
How I Found Hygge
A book that I absolutely adore is “The Little Book of Hygge – The Danish Way to Live Well” by Meik Wiking. Wiking works at The Happiness Research Institute in Copenhagen, “an independent think-tank focusing on well being, happiness, and quality of life.” They study the causes of what makes people happy and how they can improve their day-to-day lives.
As someone who lives in North America, where life always feels like it’s moving at the speed of light, I was hooked the moment I read the first page. Having a Polish background but being brought up in Canada has always created this weird dynamic where my parents often understood when it was time to “hit the brakes” and “stop and smell the roses”, but I didn’t.
Or, at least, I thought I didn’t…
Incorporating Hygge Into Daily Life With Interior Design To Make Your Home Extra Cozy
I think designing spaces has helped me find that sense of stopping because there’s something about creating atmosphere with certain design elements that can really bring a room to life. In his book, Wiking introduces a Hygge wishlist for the home. The list goes into detail about 10 simple tricks to make your home feel extra cozy. Extra Hygge!
Being that we’re recent grads, spending a lot of money on making our space to look a certain way isn’t really in the cards. We love finding inexpensive ways to bring some cozy aesthetic into our home.
Now, I’m no expert on happiness, but I like to think I know a thing or two about design; and today, I’m going to give you some design ideas and inspiration based on Wiking’s book in hopes to bring a little bit of Hygge into your home and into your life. At the end of this post, you’ll be able to download our Ultimate Hygge Checklist to make sure your space is as Hyggellig as it can be!
So without further ado…
Get in loser – we’re going hygge’ing!
10 Easy Tricks To Make Your Home Extra Cozy
1 | A Hyggekrog (A.K.A – A nook)
My roommate Matt and I are obsessed with making pockets of coziness both inside and outside the house (big shout out to my better half who has let us cozify every inch of the home without questioning it).
Like the Danes, we think having small spaces that you can sit in and be content can help bring a moment of peace and relaxation.
Matt’s room (pictured in this post) is the perfect example of how you can create a super cozy and Hyggelig room.
The first thing you want to look for is a hyggekrog. This is roughly the equivalent of a nook. If you don’t have a cubby area, find somewhere by a window, or between a wall and some furniture.
In Matt’s case, he added a couple poufs from Walmart between the wall and his dresser, and boom! Hyggekrog : check.
2 | A Fireplace
Ok so we live in the city and unless your house is old, you likely won’t have a wood-burning fire place.
30% of homes in Denmark have fireplaces and I have to say, I’m very jealous. There’s nothing better than the crackle of a fire in the background while you’re drinking hot chocolate in the dead of a very cold Canadian winter.
Now if you don’t have access to a gas or wood-burning fireplace or stove, you can always throw on a 10 hour fireplace video from Youtube and call it a day. We actually do this around the holidays to add some ambiance to the living room.
3 | Lights
This section on Wiking’s wishlist is, believe it or not, the shortest one. Why? Because all of Chapter 1 is about lighting in the home.
So what does lighting entail? It could be candles, string lights, lamps, and the list goes on. Any light source that offers a warm glow is the perfect accompaniment to your Hyggelig space.
Matt’s room has 2 wall lights from IKEA, the Aroma Glow diffuser from Saje (unfortunately was a limited edition), another Ikea lamp above his hyggekrog and a BUNCH of candles (scented and not) from various places like Chapters, Amazon, IKEA, the dollar store and more. Don’t be scared to mix n’ match different kind of lighting to get the effect you want!
Are you enjoying this post? Want to deck out your yard this year? Check out my 5 Small Backyard Design Ideas to get your FREE downloadable planning guide!
4 | Wooden Things
This part is really up to you in the items you pick and the possibilities are endless. Wooden things can be anything from furniture to wood canvas art to an old wooden train set you had as a kid.
Wooden objects offer people a closeness with nature and help warm up a room.
All of Matt’s furniture is wood furniture from IKEA and given our crafty nature, there’s always a DIY piece of something everywhere you look in our house.
5 | Nature Components
Now that you have some wooden pieces to feel closer to nature, we need to add even more. MORE I SAY!
You can choose anything you like. It can be twigs, branches, leaves, dried herbs, animal skins, and perhaps most importantly, plants!
You guys… we love plants in this house and it isn’t safe for us to walk into any store that sells them. I have 5 in my room alone. And like me, Matt also has many plants in his room, offering the space a pop of colour.
There’s something about having plants in a space that makes it feel more alive.
6 | Books
Who hasn’t at some point cozied up with a good book and a cup of tea either in bed or at a café?
We’re a household of readers and what makes it fun is that we all like reading different things so there’s never a shortage of interesting content to read.
As people working towards being architects, it’s no surprise that many of the books Matt and myself own are design and architecture related.
If you don’t have a bunch of shelf space to store dozens of books, put up just one shelf so that you can showcase your favourite books; making sure they’re ready to go when you decide to have a moment of Hygge in your Hyggekrog!
7 | Ceramics
This one can sound tricky off the bat, but it really isn’t when you think about it. When Wiking says ceramics, he doesn’t mean fancy cups and mugs that’ll cost you an arm and a leg. He means any ceramic piece that you would deem as your favourite. It can be a plant pot, a tea pot, your favourite mug, a vase, anything!
If you’re like us and have a lot of plants, you might already have many funky pots laying around the house. Or if you’re a big coffee drinker, maybe you have a cute mug that you always drink out of.
8 | Textures
Texture is a critical design element both in Hygge and general design. Whether it’s a brick wall or a faux fur blanket, textures help the atmosphere of a room feel more tangible.
Think about the way glass or wood grain feel. Soft and rough. Cold and warm. Adding textures to your home not only brings an element of touch, but also dynamic visual design.
Matt’s room is FULL of different textures. The fur blanket, the glossy and textured plant pots, the cotton bedding, the wood art on the wall, and even the variety of texturally different plants all add to the overall Hygge of the room.
9 | Vintage Items
Turns out vintage things are a big deal in Danish homes and it’s something I feel we lack in our home.
Vintage items range from furniture, to old cameras, an old lamp or framed photos. Maybe you have a vintage throw that would fit perfectly in the space. Or an old bench that was handcrafted by your great great grandfather. Whatever you can get your hands on, add it to the space and show it off.
10 | Blankets & Cushions
The last thing you’ll want to have are some cozy soft furnishings. Make your home extra cozy with blankets, cushions, rugs, etc.
Our home is no stranger to blankets. I have three on my bed, and even our living room has two at all times. I find that having blankets dotted around makes guests feel more comfortable in our home. You associate a blanket to your bed which is usually where you relax so having them around makes people more at home (this is a big deal for me).
If, for some reason, you don’t have any of those, throw on some thick reading socks and you’ve got yourself some Hygge!
You’re done! Congrats! You’ve created a Hyggelig space to hang out in when you just need to disappear for 5 minutes or even 5 hours. Enjoy it!
The Ultimate Downloadable Hygge Checklist To Make Your Home Extra Cozy!
Go forth my Cozy Urbanites! Be free to Hygge for as long as you can Hygge with the help of this checklist! It has everything you need to make your home extra cozy!
Even when life gets busy, always remember to take some time for you. Whether it’s grabbing coffee with a friend or getting cozy with a book for 15 minutes, do yourself a favour and find your inner Hygge.
xo
