I recently read about “hygge”, a very au courant decorating trend, and realized: Howdy hudee, midcentury modest and granny ranches deliver the hygge galore. “Hygge” — pronounced hoo-gah — is the Danish word for cozy. I quickly counted 11 things in my own house that wrap me in a warm fuzzy blanket — errr, afghan — of hygge. Can you help me to identify more?
Hygge features and decor in midcentury modest and granny ranch houses:
My list for midcentury houses — including from a few categories:
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- Braided rugs — Any woven textiles are hygge, I think. Braided rugs are so old school. They are super durable. And get them in medium-dark-natural colors and they hide dirt and stains like nobody’s business. Here’s a source for braided rugs made in the USA.
- Pinch pleat curtains and sheers, too — To be cozy you must be warm. Cover up those windows to cut down on drafts! Cover them up with pinch pleat draperies on traverse rods and open and close the drapes every morning and night. Such a lovely ritual. We do it every day! Welcome, morning! Goodnight, moon!
- Wallpaper — Wrap yourself in comforting pattern. I will suggest: The renewed popularity of wallpaper in mainstream decorating today is a hygge thing. Our wallpaper category is full of ideas and resources, vintage and new.
- Low ceilings — The high ceilings so in demand in contemporary houses are, to my taste, overrated. Low ceilings are cozy. They make you feel protected. I speculate that the feeling is built into our DNA. In cave man days, high ceilings would be skary. Ya know what’s up there: Dirty, disease-ridden rats! Give me low ceilings most any time!
- Natural wood including the EPITOME of hygge, knotty pine — The wood wainscoting, trim and cabinetry in my living room dining room was always painted. Now, I am faux-bois painting it. That is: Painting it to look like wood. The transformation has been amazing. My husband loves it. He immediately could feel the rooms were much richer, yes: much more cozy and inviting to sit in. If you have natural wood trim and/or cabinetry, please think twice before repainting it.
- Wood-burning fireplaces — We put in a gas fireplace downstairs, because we really needed to add a heat source to your basement family room that could be flipped on and off with a switch. But upstairs, we have a wood fireplace. There is nothing to compare with the smell and crackling and you-*must*-sit-in-front-of-it-til-it’s-burned-out-or-you-might-burn-down-your-house loveliness of a wood-burning fireplace. Warming drinks and snacks and board games may also become involved, and these home-based activities that force you to slow down and laugh and play and talk with friends and family are very hygge, too.
- Pastel-colored bathrooms — Soft enveloping color is cozy. (Large expanses of white tile are cold, and who wants a bathroom to be cold?) 18 places to find pastel-colored bathroom tiles.
- Percolators — Slowing down and savoring is hygge, I’d bet.
- Afghans — My #1 favorite hygge item: Afghans. The granny square above was made by my grandmother for me when I was about 10. It’s beloved, and I sleep with it every night, summers included. Over the years I’ve also collected a number of afghans from estate sales. The creativity! It’s even better when you get a tag that says who made it.
- Pretty much anything handed down from parents or grandparents — Beloved family treasures keep us connected to the past and remind us to take care of what we have.
- Patina: Lots of things that may have lasted from your original midcentury house — Old stuff is hygge. *BUT environmental and safety hazards are not hygge: so be sure to Be Safe/Renovate Safe, of course*
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Read more:
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Claims to be the original book about Hygge that started it all:
dan says
I love the way low ceilings, when used properly, can help to demarcate spaces within a home that uses an open floorplan. Ask Frank Lloyd Wright about that technique! Low ceilings in Fallingwater are used in the hallways where bedrooms are located, but large, open spaces with high ceilings are used in the great room, dining room, and other spaces used for entertaining.
ineffablespace says
The notion of compression and release, which FLW and other modernists were fond of has been lost in much current architecture. In fact many builders seem to do the opposite:
Instead of leading you down a path to a door that may not be readily visible from the street and into a small vestibule, only to direct you to the much larger and open (and more “important”) living spaces–now houses have a great deal of emphasis placed upon the front door so there is a large architectural signal that says Here Is the FRONT DOOR, as if you would never be able to find it otherwise, and then you are led into an, if not large, often very tall entry hall which then leads to a number of rooms with ceiling heights that seem rather ordinary by comparison. It’s backwards.
Heart says
“The notion of compression and release, which FLW and other modernists were fond of…”
Yes! My 1927 house has that!
With 9ft ceilings, Picture rails were dropped in the cozy spaces (Bedrooms/private Hall/Lvrm/Dngrm/BreakfastRm) & absent in the utility spaces (Ba/Kit/laundry).
Nancy L says
Wow! I have them all except for the knotty pine. However, I do have wood paneling and beams in my den and sunroom original to my home.
Patricia says
A clothes line in the back yard, used often
Missy says
I consider outdoor clothesline-dried bedding to be the ultimate in luxury! The brisk stiffness of bedsheets that have been naturally dried (without artificial scents) by Mother Nature instantly makes me feel pampered and relaxed!
Lynne says
Curious..is only material, physical things that contribute to Hygge? What about smells, aromas? Coffee freshly brewed-in the percolator? The aroma of mom and dad’s house when they’re making chicken and noodles?
I will recall the smell of my Aunt Dar’s house until the day I die. (It was a good smell!)
The lingering aroma of my mom’s Windsong cologne
Is this Hygee as well, or no?
Pam Kueber says
Sure! Smell is a super powerful emotion! If you can call it an emotion… 🙂
Chocolate chip cookies.
Apple pie.
Anything homemade from scratch, I’d say!
Robin, WA says
Sure! Senses can totally be hygge. For me, it’s the smell of fresh mowed grass or how the rain smells in the desert. In my current mid century ranch, it’s sitting on my huge covered patio hearing meadowlarks in the field across the way.
At my grandma’s house it was the screechy sound her metal screen door would make. Kind of weird, I know, but it was something I always associated with her house, along with the smell of burnt toast and coffee. Lol.
Heart says
“how the rain smells in the desert” Love that!
AnnF says
I was just thinking about smells, and though I enjoy essential oils and potpourri as much as anyone, I love the “real” smells of coffee brewing, spring and summer flowers, peppers & onions frying, hamburgers frying, fresh fruit, etc. much better. I think Hygge brings us back to our childhood.
Brian T says
Not just the low ceilings—also the walls! I’ve been following the hygge trend and have read two books about it. To your list I would add the fact that our homes usually have individual rooms (dining room, living room) instead of open floor plans. Hygge is all about nestling and feeling contained in a sheltered space (especially when you can see a harsh cold wide-open space by looking out the window). If you have anything that could be called a nook, that’s hygge. I think it’s easier to have hygge if there’s no chance that someone could sneak up behind you. 🙂
Also: the current taste for stainless steel and for granite countertops is anti-hygge. Too cold and hard.
Pam Kueber says
A hygge expert in our midst! 🙂
Lynn says
I love my walls and separate rooms too! Plus, more walls mean being able to put against them more things that make you feel cozy!
Mary Elizabeth says
Yes, Brian, I I love window seats for that reason. And inglenooks or anything inglenook-y.
Mary Beth says
I would add to the hygge textile list – all the trims and fringe details for those kitchen/kitchy curtains – especially pom-pom trim in bright colors..same with that heavily trimmed apron Granny/Mom wore while turning out overly sugared pies & cakes or the ubiquitous jell-o recipes. 🙂
Mary Elizabeth says
Hi, Mary Beth. Yes, trimmed aprons and tea towels, especially in rickrack!
Mary Elizabeth says
You mentioned afghans, but not quilts as sources of hygge! We have hand-made (by me) quilts in our granny ranch, one in the guest room and one in the living room (for taking naps on the sofa). Also the cats have small quilts that I made for them, as I discovered that whenever I completed a quilt square and left it on the ironing board for a minute, it would suddenly be occupied by a cat.
Another source of hygge for me is the small size of most of the rooms in some mid-century modest homes. Especially in the winter, I appreciate the cozy separate living room with the fireplace going and am glad I don’t have “open concept” everything.
Also, teapots and casserole dishes say “hygge” to me.
Rick S says
Pam,
I like the “nostalgic” factor in my 1978 home. It starts at the white wicker chairs on the Colonial/Victorian porch and wooden gingerbread trimmed screen door.
Heavy wood crown molding in front formal living room and dining room and foyer.
Lantern shape fixture in foyer, Williamsburg fixture with ceiling rosette in dining room and leaded glass Tiffany style fixtures in Dining area and Kitchen.
Brick fireplace with rough hewn mantle and wood beamed ceiling in Family room.
Surrounded with photos and memories of family and nothing too nice to enjoy.
Home should make you smile whenever get there or when you think about it 🙂
rick
PS a few African Violets like Grandma grew helps too.
Pam Kueber says
Hi Rick, I love your list. I think you mean “nothing too nice not to enjoy”? If my brain is processing the double negative properly. Which, arghhh, I am very confused: Is it? or are you 100% correct? Wait. I think you are correct! Mary Elizabeth, can you help? In either case, I know what you mean, and I LOVE that sentiment! Mary Elizabeth, can you help?
Carolyn says
I think both ways are correct. Marie Barrone’s LR furniture was “too nice” so she covered it in plastic = too nice to enjoy. Why not teach her boys to behave this way here (LR) and that way there (rumpus room)?
The handed-down china that’s brought out for holidays and every few years dwindles by a piece or two. Too nice not to enjoy.
I was going to say African violets and geraniums plus other houseplants AND outside: tulips & daffodils, irises, lilacs, rhubarb, backyard garden, filled Ball/Kerr/Mason jars…
Teri says
I think it makes sense what Rick wrote– nothing too nice to enjoy. My take is that some things are too nice where you don’t really enjoy them because they are too fancy to feel homey (which is the whole point of this post) and possibly so pricey that you spend your time worrying that they’ll get ruined. It makes me think of this quote from Ferris Bueller when he’s speaking of Cameron’s house: “It’s like a museum. It’s very beautiful. And very cold. And you’re not allowed to touch anything.”
Rick S says
Pam you all have the idea my fuzzy head was thinking.
I love surrounding my self and family with history. Everything had a story.
The quilts, Crochet, Tatting, Rope Bed, Grandpa’s rocker, and the relish tray that was mom and dad in-laws wedding present.
Pam, you would also be welcome to enjoy iced tea on my 1957 Woodard Chantilly Rose table and chairs in Mamie Pink too 🙂
I guess I have a name for this affliction now. I hope it is incurable.
rick
Pam Kueber says
There is no cure for hygge — it is the goal!
Pam Kueber says
I think you were correct, I was wrong: Nothing too nice to enjoy!
The opposite would be: Everything too nice to enjoy.
te says
If it’s your stuff, enjoy it! Enjoy it NOW while you can, it’s just stuff after all.
Mary Elizabeth says
Mary Elizabeth, Grammar Granny, to the rescue! I am weighing in late with this, but I think Rick’s original phrase “nothing too nice to enjoy” is indeed correct. However, it might be clearer if we expanded the comment. There is nothing so nice that we should be afraid to leave it out and enjoy it every day, rather than save it for “best”! When my husband and I downsized, we agreed not to keep anything (dishes, etc.) that we weren’t going to use all the time. And that includes antique dishes, old lamps, etc. There are a few things, though, that the kids want to inherit but can’t take immediately, and those are boxed up in the attic.
Amber says
Growing up, I always thought a hutch filled with chotchkies made a home feel cozy. I have the smaller version of the Christmas Story leg lamp in my hutch.
Stacia says
The scale of mid-century homes is more cozy. Even larger homes that weren’t the granny style are not as large as now. The furniture is of a smaller scale, the kitchen counters, the light & plumbing fixtures, etc…