That Hygge Feeling

Maybe it is the global pandemic. Maybe it is three years of exceptionally little sleep. Maybe it is just wanting a bit of comfort. Whatever the reason, I have been on an attempt to "hygge" up our home over the past few years.

To help get some ideas, I recently employed the help a book on our Current "To Read" List, The Little Book of Hygge.

Here are a few of our favourite changes:

1. Lighting.

As pointed out first and foremost in The Little Book of Hygge, lighting is key to hygge in any space. It also turns out it can be a relatively simple and low-cost change. Adding candles to the dinner table from October through March and swapping out cooler, higher watt bulbs for lower, warmer ones (1800 K) made a lovely and instant change. I would go as far as saying it transformed some of the rooms in the house, as well as overall warming the experience of eating dinner in the winter. Also, strategically changing out a few of the lighting fixtures (bought from Marketplace) added extra elements to the change and made for a dramatically increased hygge factor of the rooms.

2. Cozy, natural fiber blankets in every room with a seat

My favourite and exactly what it sounds like. Natural fiber is a key factor. Not only does it feel more hygge, but it also has a more environmentally friendly impact. Noticing how much some of our acrylic blankets were shedding made me wonder just how many of these tiny strands had made their way into the water system through our washing machine as microplastic waste over the years. This made it easy to retire them and turn to Marketplace for very reasonable wool alternatives.