8 Ways to Create a Hygge Atmosphere at Home

Dread winter? Take a tip from the Danish: Welcome the spirit of hygge into your home like an old friend.  Hygge (hooo-gah) is the Danish word for a concept that has no English equivalent and

is even a bit hard for a Dane to define. Think of it as a sense of cozy, comfortable, congenial and connected.  “If you Google it, you get a whole lot of pictures of fuzzy socks in front of

fireplaces with a cup of hot cocoa and candles on the side. And that’s certainly it, but it’s not,”  says Susan Loschenkohl, a member of the Board of Directors of the Danish American

Center in Minneapolis, whose parents immigrated to America from Denmark. She says hygge influences home design but goes beyond candles and woolly throws. It’s also about cozy relationships

(and not just the romantic kind). Her teenage cousin in Denmark, for example, would host friends for tea and cookies before heading out to the movies — creating a time to just sit and chat

in a welcoming space.  The feeling of a cozy space sets the mood for connection, says Myquillyn Smith, a North Carolina blogger, decorator, workshop teacher and author of _Cozy Minimalist

Home_ and other books. This isn’t about perfection, says Alexandra Gove, co-owner of Hygge Life, a store in Avon, Colorado, and the author of _Dwell Gather Be: Design for Moments_. Hygge,

she says, is “about finding things that speak to you, inspire you, remind you of wonderful moments and that you can share with all the people you love in your life.”  How can you adopt the

intention of hygge to create an atmosphere that helps you get through winter? Here are eight suggestions for hygge at home: DO MORE WITH LESS. Amber Brandt, a Michigan decorator known as the

Coziness Consultant, suggests clearing a room, then being intentional about what you put back. “Scandinavian design is all about creating simple, clean, warm spaces — so sometimes the best

thing you can do is ‘quiet’ your space, by removing anything unnecessary,” she says. You can go whole hog and clear off surfaces, remove art from the walls and empty the shelves; then

replace things with a specific purpose, such as creating a reading nook, she says. “This will require a little bit of time and energy, but it costs nothing, and it can help you reimagine

your room with no financial investment.”