7 Simple Ways to Bring More Hygge Into Your Home

Have you heard about the concept of hygge yet? When I first learned of it, I remember turning to my husband and saying, That’s it! THAT’S the word for what I love so much! I felt like I finally had come across the exact way to describe what I strive for in my mentality and my home. It was refreshing and comforting to finally have a term for it!

In case you’re new to the idea of hygge (pronounced more like hue-gah or sometimes hoo-gah), it’s a Danish/Scandinavian term that means a sense of cozy wellbeing – with a focus on the simple pleasures in life. (Now, doesn’t that sound lovely?) If you follow along with me on Instagram, then you know I share little bits of the hygge in my life all the time! Especially in my Instagram Stories…you’ll see a lot of cozy moments! I’m all about finding happy corners of our home, soaking up peaceful simple pleasures, and creating intentionally happy moments in the midst of everything else that’s going on.

The neat thing about hygge is the fact that you can incorporate it anywhere! It just takes a bit of intentionality and a heartfelt desire to create those cozy moments. While hygge is a detailed concept you can really delve into deeply (like in this book), today I’m excited to share some simple, easy tips for infusing your home with a little extra hygge.

7 Simple Ways to Bring More Hygge Into Your Home

Cozy textures. // An easy way to create a comfortable sense of wellbeing is to first focus on the comfort aspect! I’m a huge fan of heavy sherpa blankets (this sherpa blanket was our new fave last year) and fuzzy pillows. I usually throw an extra soft blanket on our bed this time of year, since it gets cold and snowy here in Minnesota, so it’s a wonderful feeling to be curled up in a blanket in our warm house as I look outside at the snow. 🙂

Peaceful music. // Music, sounds, and noise all affect us more than we might think! I’ll be having a more negative day sometimes and then realize I haven’t switched on any music yet – so I’ll turn on some happy or peaceful songs, and it acts as a beautiful reset button for the day! My all-time favorite music is my Peaceful Evening Spotify playlist. It’s full of quieter, more mellow acoustic-y goodness. Psst – I don’t just play it in the evenings. It’s perfect for incorporating hygge into any time of the day.

Intentional lighting. // For that ideal hygge feel, you definitely don’t want just an overhead light switched on. When it comes to hygge, multiple smaller lights are more ideal than one giant bright light on the ceiling. Invest in a couple smaller lamps, or move the lighting options around in your home to create cozy hygge-filled corners (a cozy nook is called a hyggekrog).

My favorite hyggekrog I put together recently is a corner of our bedroom where I have my OttLite floor lamp set up! I have an OttLite desk lamp in our guest room/office as well (isn’t it pretty??). Both of my OttLite lamps are from their Wellness Series, which are as close to natural daylight as you can get!! These Wellness Series lamps are so great – the lighting is crisp and clear, and it truly does feel like natural daylight! 🙂 These winter months can get so long, and healthy lighting is very important.

Incorporating neutrals. // Obviously, everyone has different style preferences, but I’m trying to take my cue from Scandinavian design when it comes to creating a hygge home. I naturally gravitate towards neutrals (give me all the grays!!), so that helps me make peaceful decor decisions, but basically, calmer colors will help create a more peaceful feel overall.

Cozy scents. // This is an especially easy one. Light a candle or get some essential oils going in a diffuser! My favorite candle right now is a candle from Bath & Body Works’ White Barn collection called Snow Mountain Lodge. It’s amazing! (I don’t like crazy strong fragrance and I’m a fan of that scent!) Another thing I often do, particularly while cleaning or right before we have people over, is to diffuse the Young Living Purification Blend in my diffuser! It’s mellow but such a cool scent.

Hosting readiness. // Hygge doesn’t actually mean sitting inside alone all day (even though those times can definitely be nice!). There is an element of hygge that involves spending quality time and having special memories and meaningful conversations with others! I like to see my downstairs area of our home as always having the potential of having people over. Sure, toys and stuffed animals get strewn around during the day (and that’s good and fine!), but all that’s required is a bit of tidying and wiping things down either throughout the day or later on, and then I feel our living area is reset and ready to invite friends and family over! 🙂

Tidy space. // It’s incredible what a quick tidying of a room (or even a quick cleaning of the house!) can do. Not everyone is naturally tidy, and I know that some people feel they aren’t bothered by mess or that it doesn’t affect them. However, I honestly do believe that a tidier space will make a difference for anyone’s mood and mental comfort! Taking the time to “reset” the home in the evening, or scrub down the bathroom, or even catch up on dishes in the sink, is always worth it! If you’d like more resources on tidying, I have a free 20-minute housekeeping checklist available to my subscribers. You can also read about my evening routine of “putting the house to bed” in this post!

There you have it! I have even MORE hygge-related tips bouncing around in my mind, but these are some of the more simple, easy ones to get started!

Please let me know if you’d like to see more content about the concept of hygge – that would help me so much!

You can read more about hygge in this book as well. I hope these tips have been helpful to you, and are easy to implement! In the meantime, go have yourself a beautifully cozy, “hyggeligt” day!