How to Hygge Your Home

Encourage conversation.

Take the focus off the TV and create a seating area in your home just for conversation, like an old-fashioned living room, Loschenkohl says. And make sure your dining room chairs are comfy to encourage chatting after supper. “If you go and have dinner with a Danish family, don’t expect to eat at 5 and be done eating and clearing the table at 5:30,” she says. “Even simple dinners will have a little bit of a multicourse conversational turn at the end of it.”

Loschenkohl says her cousin offered pre-movie tea by setting up a full porcelain tea set in a corner of her room with a low table and comfortable beanbag chairs. “Everything was on the floor, but [we were] sharing tea and some chatter before we would go out and do something.”

Low, warm lighting using candles or a dimmer switch can bring a sense of peace and calm. ​

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Soften your lighting.

The Danes are famous for burning candles (unscented please, Loschenkohl says), but also rethink your home’s electric lighting. Make it dimmable, so you can soften the atmosphere. 

One trick is to layer your light sources, says Beth McDonough, who owns Forty Nine Interiors in Wasilla, Alaska — another place where residents understand winter. She suggests at least two lamps in each space. “It brings in light at different levels, encourages you to sit and get cozy. Sitting next to the lamp, maybe you’re getting out a book or something at that point,” she says. 

Go for comfort.

One simple trick is to put in ottomans, which are inexpensive and add seating to a room, McDonough says. “This is an easy one: small, movable ottomans. When I think about wanting to get cozy, it’s about curling up or putting my feet up.”

Use warm colors.

When you’re considering paint colors or home decor such as furniture, pillows and blankets, go for soft, warm tones. Creamy whites or gray-beige can help create a cozy atmosphere, Gove says. “Steer clear of cool tones if you’re going for a hygge atmosphere. Choose whites with a red undertone, while steering clear of blue undertones,” she says.

Fuzzy rugs and furniture made out of natural fabrics in neutral tones give your home a hygge vibe.

Hygge Life/Ali Vagnini / Chaney Fray

Choose natural fabrics.

Stick to textured, natural materials such as real wool, leather and stone, Gove says. “In the winter months, adding natural soft materials like textured pillows, soft blankets and natural wool sheepskins can bring hygge and warmth to any space,” she says.

Bring the outdoors in.

When it’s hard to be out in nature, Danes like to bring nature inside, Meik Wiking writes in The Little Book of Hygge, which helped to popularize the trend in America. Fresh flowers, an evergreen branch or a plant from the grocery store — all add a touch of what winter often lacks. Plants are one of the first accessories Smith adds when she’s decorating a room. “They do help bring life, they do help finish off a space,” she says. Don’t be afraid if you lack a green thumb. “Let’s just say you’re at the grocery store and you buy a $12 beautiful, green, fresh live plant, and you bring it home, and even if you keep it alive for three months, that’s $4 a month,” Smith says. “That’s a dollar a week to have something green in your home.” 

Remember hygge is year-round.

The intentional feelings of comfort, self-care and community are not confined to winter, Loschenkohl says, although the decor might vary a bit. Brandt says she likes to swap out her winter “cozies” for lighter linens and knits and put out fresh flowers. But the spirit of hygge remains the same. In Denmark, it can be light until 11 p.m. in summer, and friends might go hiking together or gather around a fire, Loschenkohl says.

“I think in the United States, [hygge] pops up a lot in the winter, because the candlelight and the cozy and the wool socks and the fireplace are so iconic,” she says. “But it’s definitely more transferable to other areas and other times of day and times of the season than just wintertime.”