How to Create a Hygge Home

There’s no place like home. And if your home isn’t giving you the warm and cozy vibes that you’re looking for, it might be time to bring in some hygge.

Hygge (pronounced “hoo-gah”) is an interior design trend that has picked up a lot of speed over the past several years—and for good reason. At its heart, hygge is all about making your home a place that you truly love to be, and it’s an attainable trend that you can enjoy regardless of your budget or broader personal style.

If you just moved and you’re looking for ways to bring charm into your new space, or if you simply need some help making your house feel more like a home, read up on the practice of hygge below and learn about all of the different things you can do to turn your home into your favorite place in the world.

What is hygge?

Hygge is a Danish design concept that’s centered around making your home as warm and cozy as possible. It’s rooted as much in feeling as it is in items and practices, and encompasses details both small and large in your space. Likewise, true hygge is incredibly personal. It’s about the things that make you feel comforted in your space, as opposed to a one-size-fits-all design approach that can be replicated over and over again. That being said, there are definitely unique hygge elements that define this style and that you can put to use in your home for instant cozy results.

The history of hygge

Hygge is a cultural idea and design trend that first appeared somewhere around the early 1800s in Denmark and Norway (though the concept is much more central to the Danish lifestyle). It’s thought to come from one or more of a few Old Norse terms: hyggja, which means “to think,” hugga, which means “comfort,” and hugr, which denotes the soul and the mind and ultimately became the word “hug.”

Despite its long history, it wasn’t until the 21 st century that hygge really crossed the Danish border. It picked up major steam around 2016 and 2023, when more than 30 books—and countless articles—were published on the topic. In 2016 it also made it onto the shortlist for Oxford’s Word of the Year, illustrating just how powerful this comfy concept was once it gained more widespread popularity.

How to get more hygge at home

We all know that home is meant to be a comfortable place, but hygge is about more than fluffy bedding and a couple of throw pillows on the living room couch. Everything from a favorite pair of fuzzy slippers to a string of lights on the patio contributes to a hygge home, as do the smells, sounds, colors, tastes, and textures that you surround yourself with.

Because it’s a feeling, hygge can also extend beyond purchased items. It’s the cat curled up on your windowsill and the favorite book you look forward to snuggling up in bed with every night. It’s personal and meaningful, and wholly dependent on the specific things that bring you joy.

Only you know what brings you an inner feeling of hygge at home, but there are certainly some widely recognized shortcuts that you can take to embrace the hygge lifestyle if you’re not quite sure where to start. Here are some ways to create a hygge home and bring more coziness to your every day.

Go for warm lighting

Say “so long” to white lighting and swap out those abrasive bulbs for warm yellow bulbs instead. Warm lighting feels more natural to the eye than artificial white lighting and connotes feelings of early mornings, late evenings, and rainy days stuck inside with a movie and a blanket.

Light candles

Scent is a huge part of a hygge home, and particularly candles since they also emit a warm glow. (This probably helps explain why the Danes are Europe’s biggest consumers of candles, burning an impressive 13 pounds of candles per person per year.) Stick to seasonal scents to mimic the general mood around you and aim for high-quality, low-smoke candles whenever possible.

Fire up the fireplace

Speaking of a warm glow, lighting the fireplace on chilly days is another great way to create a cozier home. Just be sure to winterize your fireplace first before lighting it up in cold weather so that you don’t accidentally let a cold draft in through the flue.

Sip a warm beverage

Hot chocolate, tea, and steaming lattes obviously taste good. And as a bonus, they’re also inherently part of a cozy at-home lifestyle. Best enjoyed in your favorite comfy sweats and a pair of wool socks, of course.

Keep it clean

Mess and clutter can interfere with your ability to really relax. Make a point of tidying up on a regular schedule and using simple organization techniques to ensure everything has its place. You may also want to adapt the principles of minimalism—including the “less is more” philosophy that is also central to the Scandinavian home.

Indulge in creature comforts

Think of the things that make you feel most comfortable and then bring more of them into your home. Examples include certain fabrics like chunky knits or warm fleece; comfort foods like bowls of soup or a fresh-out-of-the-oven pie; and pieces of décor like brass antiques and overstuffed chairs. Basically, if it makes you feel like you’re being wrapped in a hug, you want as much of it as possible in your home.

Use hygge colors

The hygge color palette is about warm neutrals. White, taupe, beige, sage, and rich yellows all fit the bill and can be used singularly and together to make every room in your house feel just a little bit more welcoming.

Other “cozy” design concepts

What sorts of styles does hygge naturally pair well with? If you’re interested in going all in on the concept of comfort, then try out hygge as part of—or in addition to—one of these other warmth-driven design styles:

    • Wabi-Sabi – A Japanese interior design philosophy centered around minimalism and grateful acceptance of the imperfections in our space. The term wabi-sabi comes from two words: wabi, which means a simple and spiritual solitude, and sabi, the lifecycle of all things and the celebration of flaws and impermanence.
    • Lagom – A Swedish concept based on both minimalism and being satisfied with exactly what you have—nothing more and nothing less. The word lagom means “enough” or “sufficient,” and is part of the famous Swedish adage Lagom är bäst, or “the right amount is best.”
    • Japandi – Japandi merges Japanese and Scandinavian design into one concept that’s focused on tranquility and functionality in the home. Hygge itself is a central tenet of Japandi design, making these two concepts quite interconnected.

    What all of these concepts (hygge included) have in common is that home is a place where you should surround yourself with things that make you happy. If you feel like the items in your home are weighing you down more than they’re lifting you up, consider going room by room and editing down your belongings until you’re left with just the things that bring you peace and comfort—or that serve a designated function. From there, you can work on adding in items that give you that oh-so-important cozy feeling, embracing life’s simple pleasures in the pursuit of a more hygge home.