The things that go with it are not complicated: candles, a warm drink, a blanket, a long dinner, a book. What they share is that they slow you down. A hygge home is one that makes that easy.
What is hygge?
A Danish word for a feeling: cosy, safe and at ease, often in good company. It is used for an evening, a room, a meal or a walk.
How do you make your home feel hygge?
Turn the big light off. Light the room low and in several places: candles at different heights, a lamp beside a chair.
Choose materials that are warm to touch: wood, wool, linen, a soft upholstery. Make one seat you can stay in, with light over your shoulder and a table for a cup. Then take things away. A clear surface feels calmer than a styled one.
Candlelight in more than one place
Light at three levels, floor, table and sill, makes a room feel warm in a way one bright source never does. Glass near the sofa and where people pass; an open flame only where the air is still. Never leave a candle burning unattended. More in the guide to candle holder types.
| Place | Holder | Height | Flame |
|---|---|---|---|
| A corner of the living room | Thomas, a group of three | 95, 105, 115 cm | In glass |
| Dining table, windowsill | Tom | 17, 20.5, 24 cm | In glass |
| Hall, fireplace corner | Vera | 75, 85, 95 cm | Open |
Solid wood you can touch
Wood is the material hygge rooms are made of, and solid wood more than anything: it is warm to the hand, it marks and wears in, and it looks better at twenty years than at one.
Our Ann dining table is solid oak, top and legs, in Oak, Dark Oak or Black Oak. Melker, Diana and Luna put an oak top on a black steel frame. Einar is an armchair on a solid oak frame. The solid oak furniture guide explains solid oak, veneer and oak on steel, and the oak dining table guide covers care.
A chair to read in
A deep seat you can tuck your legs into, a back that holds you to the shoulders, arms low enough to rest a book on. Put it where a lamp or a window gives light over your shoulder, with a side table at arm height beside it: 45 to 55 cm for arms at 49 cm.
Our armchairs Kent, on black steel, and Einar, on solid oak, come in bouclé, velvet and vegan leather. The reading chair guide has the measurements and the corner layout.
A table people stay at
Hygge is often a long dinner. That needs a table with room for everyone and a middle you can see across: candles in glass, kept low, and the tall light on the floor beside the table.
Our Christmas table guide covers the low table and seating guests at the ends, and it works the rest of the winter too.
Can you buy hygge?
Not really, and a room full of hygge decor is the opposite of the idea. What you can buy is fewer, better things: a candle holder you keep lighting, a table that gets better with use, a chair you actually sit in.
We make those in our own factory in Sweden, welded, joined and powder-coated by hand, with a 10-year warranty.
Low light, warm wood, one good chair
- Floor
- Thomas, Vera
- Table
- Tom
- Side table
- 45-55 cm
