by Meik Wiking
HOW TO DRESS LIKE A DANE
Danish fashion is sleek, minimalistic, elegant, but not highly strung. In many ways, it is a sweet spot between hygge and minimalistic functional design.
SCARVES
A scarf is a must. This goes for men as well as women. While it is predominantly for the winter, people suffering from scarves withdrawal symptoms have been observed wearing scarves midsummer. The golden rule is: the bigger the better. So pile that stylish, thickly wrapped scarf on, just one step short of risking neck injuries. The Danes love scarves so much that some Brits have been referring to the Danish TV drama Borgen as “Scarf Watch.”
BLACK
Once you get out of Copenhagen airport, you may think you have walked onto the set of a ninja movie. In Denmark, everyone wears black. You want to aim for a look that would be fitting for Karl Lagerfeld’s funeral: stylish but monochrome. In the summertime, you are allowed to go for a wider range of colors, even something crazily flamboyant like gray.
TOP BULKY
A combination of hand-knitted wool sweaters, jumpers, cardigans, and pullovers on top, and black leggings for girls and skinny jeans for boys will give you the balance between hygge and fashion. Sweaters can be bulky but never sloppy—and don’t forget the scarf.
LAYERS
The key to surviving four seasons in one day is layers. You should always bring another cardigan. You can’t hygge when you are cold.
WOOLEN SOCKS
Ally yourself with a nice pair of woolen socks as a hygge insurance.
CASUAL HAIR
The Danish hairstyle is casual to the point of being borderline lazy. Wake up and go. Girls can put their hair in a bun, the higher the better.
THE SARAH LUND SWEATER
Perhaps the most iconic sweater is the one made famous by Sarah Lund in the Danish TV drama The Killing. The Guardian even featured an article entitled “The Killing: Sarah Lund’s jumper explained.” The sweater became so popular that the company producing it in the Faroe Islands couldn’t keep up with demand.
It was the actress Sofie Gråbøl who chose the sweater. “I saw that sweater and thought, that’s it! Lund is so sure of herself. She doesn’t have to wear a suit. She’s at peace with herself.” The sweater is also a reminder of her childhood in the seventies and her hippie parents, who wore similar sweaters. “That sweater was a sign of believing in togetherness.”
HYGGE TIP: HOW TO BUY
Link purchases with good experiences. I had saved money for a new favorite chair but waited until I had published my first book to get it. That way, the chair reminds me of something that was an important accomplishment for me. We can apply the same thing to that special sweater or that pair of nice woolen socks. Save for them—but wait until you have that really hyggelig experience: you want to be reminded of it when you pull them on.
CHAPTER SIX
HOME
HYGGE HEADQUARTERS
Danish TV dramas such as Borgen, The Killing, and The Bridge are, by people abroad, sometimes referred to as “furniture porn.” Most scenes are shot in beautifully decorated houses and flats furnished with Danish design classics.
And yes, Danes do love design, and walking into many Danish homes can be like walking into the pages of an interior design magazine.
The reason for the Danish obsession with interior design is that our homes are the hygge headquarters. Home is central to social life in Denmark. Whereas other countries have a culture of social life predominantly taking place in bars, restaurants, and cafés, Danes prefer hjemmehygge (home hygge)—among other reasons, to avoid the high prices charged in restaurants. Seven out of ten Danes say they experience most hygge at home.
Danes therefore tend to put a lot of effort and money into making their homes hyggelige. They enjoy the most living space per capita in all of Europe.
One December while I was a student, I spent all my spare time selling Christmas trees. It was a cold winter, but working with the trees kept me warm. I spent the entire salary I earned that month from carrying, sawing, hammering, chopping, and selling trees on a chair: the Shell Chair, a beauty designed in 1963 by Hans J. Wegner. Mine was walnut with dark brown leather. Two years later, my apartment was broken into. They stole the chair. Needless to say, I was angry that my beautiful chair had been stolen. But at least the burglars had good taste.
Perhaps the Danish obsession with design is best exemplified by what is now known as the Kähler Vase Scandal, or simply Vasegate. The Kähler vase was an anniversary piece that was sold in a limited edition on August 25, 2014. More than 16,000 Danes tried to buy it online that day—most in vain, as the vase quickly sold out. The website crashed and people queued in long lines outside the stores that were stocking the vase. The company that produced the vase was hit by a public backlash over the limited supply. Was this a little too much hysteria over an eight-inch-high vase with copper stripes, even though it would complement most Danish homes nicely? Perhaps, but Danes have relatively short working weeks, and get free health care and a university education on top of five weeks of paid holiday per year. Not getting that vase was the worst thing that had happened to them in years.
HYGGE WISHLIST:
TEN THINGS THAT WILL MAKE YOUR HOME MORE HYGELLIG
1. A HYGGEKROG.
2. A FIREPLACE
3. CANDLES
4. THINGS MADE OUT OF WOOD
5. NATURE
6. BOOKS
7. CERAMICS
8. THINK TACTILE
9. VINTAGE
10. BLANKETS AND CUSHIONS
1. A HYGGEKROG
The one thing that every home needs is a hyggekrog, which roughly translates as “a nook.” It is the place in the room where you love to snuggle up in a blanket, with a book and a cup of tea. Mine is by the kitchen window. I’ve put some cushions, a blanket, and a reindeer hide there, and I also sit there to work in the evenings. In fact, many of these pages were written there.
Danes love their comfy space. Everyone wants one, and hyggekroge are common in Copenhagen and throughout the country. Walking on the streets of the city, you will notice that many of the buildings have a bay window. On the inside, these are almost certainly filled with cushions and blankets, providing the people who live there with a cozy place to sit and relax after a long day.
Your hyggekrog does not need to be by the window, however, even though that is really hyggeligt. It could be a part of a room. Just add some cushions or something else that feels nice to sit on, have soft lighting, maybe a blanket, and you will have your own hyggekrog, where you can enjoy a good book and something to drink. To furnish hyggeligt is a big deal in Denmark. Some real estate agents even use a hyggekrog as a way to sell houses.
Our love of small spaces may, if we look back in time, go back to when we lived in caves and it was important to pay attention to your environment in order to protect yourself and your group against dangerous animals and other threats. Living in small spaces was preferable, since the warmth generated by the inhabitants’ bodies did not disappear as fast as it would in a larger one; in addition, small spaces were great places to hide from predators. Today, one of the reasons we like to sit in a hyggekrog could be that it makes us feel safe; overlooking another room or the street gives us the advantage of spotting any potential threat. We feel relaxed when we’re in a hyggekrog. We feel that we have control over our situation and do not feel exposed to the unpredictable.
2. A FIREPLACE
I was a fortunate child. My childhood home had an open fireplace and a wood-burning stove. As a kid, my favorite chore was to stack the firewood and light the fire. I am sure I am not the only one. According to the Danish Ministry for the Environment, there are around 750,000 fireplaces and wood-fired stoves in Denmark. With a little over 2.5 million homes in the country, that means that three out of ten homes in Denmark have a hygge advantage. In comparison, around a million homes in the United Kingdom have installed a wood stove, but with a total of 28 million British homes, that’s o
nly around one in twenty-eight.
In this regard, the US is well-positioned for hygge today. According to the National Association of Home Builders, 60 percent of new homes have at least one fireplace, compared with a third of homes built forty years ago. It is also one of the favorite amenities for potential buyers.
So what’s the reason for the Danish obsession with burning logs? You’ve probably already guessed the answer to this one, but surely it can’t only be about hygge? Well, according to a study conducted by the University of Aarhus, that is true: Danes have wood-burning stoves because they are considered a cheap heating option, but this is only the second biggest reason for having one. Once again, it’s mostly about hygge. Sixty-six percent of all respondents in the study specifically addressed hygge as the most important reason for having a wood-burning stove. And if you ask Danes, 70 percent will agree that fireplaces are hyggelig. One respondent to the survey even called fireplaces the most hyggelig piece of applied art ever made.
It is fair to say that a fireplace may just be the ultimate headquarters of hygge. It’s somewhere we sit by ourselves to rest while experiencing ultimate feelings of coziness and warmth, and it’s somewhere we spend time with our dear ones to intensify our feeling of togetherness.
3. CANDLES
No candles, no hygge. If this is a surprise to you, you need to revisit Chapter 1.
4. THINGS MADE OUT OF WOOD
Maybe we hanker after our roots, but there is just something about wooden things. The smell of burning wood from a fireplace, or even a match, the smooth feeling of a wooden bureau, the soft creak of a wooden floor as you trip across it to have a seat in the wooden chair by the window. Wooden children’s toys have become popular again, after years of plastic toys. Kay Bojesen’s wooden monkey is an excellent example of this. Wood makes us feel closer to nature; it is simple and natural, just like the concept of hygge.
5. NATURE
Wood is not enough. Danes feel the need to bring the entire forest inside. Any piece of nature you might find is likely to get the hygge greenlight. Leaves, nuts, twigs, animal skins . . . Basically, you want to think: How would a Viking squirrel furnish a living room? Be sure to smother those benches, chairs, and windowsills in sheepskin to give them an extra layer of hygge. You may alternate between sheep and reindeer, while keeping cowhides for the floor. With the Danes’ love of candles and wooden and other flammable things, it is no surprise that Copenhagen has been burned to the ground on several occasions. Make sure fire precautions are taken.
6. BOOKS
Who does not like a shelf filled with thick books? Taking a break with a good book is a cornerstone in the concept of hygge. The genre does not matter—romance, sci-fi, cookbooks, or even horror stories are welcome on the shelves. All books are hyggelig, but classics written by authors such as Jane Austen, Charlotte Brontë, Leo Tolstoy, and Charles Dickens have a special place on the bookshelf. At the right age, your kids may also love to cuddle up with you in the hyggekrog and have you read to them. Probably not Tolstoy, though.
7. CERAMICS
A nice teapot, a vase on the dining table, that favorite mug you always want to drink out of—they are all hyggelige. Two of the most iconic Danish ceramics are Kähler, which goes back more than 175 years and made a big impression at the Universal Exposition in Paris in 1889—the year the Eiffel Tower was inaugurated—and of course Royal Copenhagen, founded in 1775 under the protection of Queen Juliane Marie, which has had a revival in popularity in recent years with the Blue Fluted Mega range.
8. THINK TACTILE
As you may have discovered by now, a hyggelig interior is not just about how things look, it is just as much about how things feel. Letting your fingers run across a wooden table, over a warm ceramic cup, or through the hairs of the skin of a reindeer is a distinctly different feeling from being in contact with something made from steel, glass, or plastic. Think about the way objects feel to your touch and add a variety of textures to your home.
9. VINTAGE
Vintage is a big deal in Danish homes, and you can find pretty much anything in a vintage or antiques shop. Often, the challenge is to find diamonds among a lot of coal. An old lamp, table, or chair is considered really hyggeligt. One can find everything one needs to create a lovely home in a vintage store, and the fact that all the things there have a history makes them even more interesting and hyggelig.
With many of these items, narratives and nostalgia come into play. Objects are more than their physical properties; they hold an emotional value and a story. I think my favorite pieces of furniture in my apartment are two footstools. My uncle and I made them together. I am sure I could find something similar in the shops around Copenhagen, but nothing that would mean the same to me. When I look at them, I remember that afternoon ten years ago when we carved them out of a branch of a hundred-year-old walnut tree. That is hygge. They allow you to sit comfortably with your legs up, plus they’re made of wood and hold nostalgic value. They are, essentially, the Kinder egg of hygge.
10. BLANKETS AND CUSHIONS
Blankets and cushions are must-haves in any hygge household, especially during the cold months of winter. To snuggle up with a blanket is very hyggeligt, and sometimes one does it even though one is not feeling cold, simply because it is cozy. Blankets can be made out of fabrics such as wool or fleece, which are warmer, or cotton for a lighter feeling.
Large or small, cushions are also hygge essentials. What is better than leaning your head against a nice cushion while reading your favorite book?
At this point, you are welcome to go Freudian on the Danes and point out that hygge seems to be about comfort food and security blankets. And perhaps you are right. Hygge is about giving your responsible, stressed-out achiever adult a break. Relax. Just for a little while. It is about experiencing happiness in simple pleasures and knowing that everything is going to be okay.
HYGGE EMERGENCY KIT
You may also consider building a hygge emergency kit, stored up for those evenings when you are low on energy, have no plans, don’t feel like going out, and are in the mood for some quality time alone.
Have a box, cupboard or suitcase filled with hygge essentials. The list below might give you inspiration as to what you put in it, but of course it is completely up to you to decide and discover what you need for a fast track to hygge.
1. CANDLES
2. SOME GOOD-QUALITY CHOCOLATE
Why not visit the closest chocolatier and bring home a little box of high-quality chocolate? It doesn’t have to be expensive, just a little treat to savor every now and then. If you are like me, make a contract with yourself that you can have one piece per day or per week;—otherwise it tends to disappear rather quickly. Having it as a weekly or daily ritual will give you a little pleasure to look forward to each day.
3. YOUR FAVORITE TEA
(Mine is currently rooibos).
4. YOUR FAVORITE BOOK
What book makes you forget the world and disappear in between the pages? Find out and put it in the emergency kit for those hygge evenings. If you have a job like mine, where you need to read a lot of stuff and quickly absorb the key points, you may tend to rush through the pages when you finally pick up fiction. We are tempted to turn immediately to the last page of the John le Carré spy novel: “Ah, what do you know? He was a double agent all along.” Remember: this is a different kind of reading. Read slowly and see the story play out. My go-to book is A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway.
5. YOUR FAVORITE FILM OR TV SERIES
Mine is Matador (Monopoly), a Danish drama shot almost forty years ago, portraying life in a small town in Denmark from the Great Depression and through the Nazi occupation of Denmark. The series has become part of the modern self-understanding of Danes, and most Danish people will know at least a few of the lines.
6. JAM
There is something hyggeligt about jam, especially if you or someone you know has made it. So spend the summer conserving the fruit. Your hygge
kit will thank you for it.
7. A GOOD PAIR OF WOOLEN SOCKS
8. A SELECTION OF YOUR FAVORITE LETTERS
The spoken word ceases to exist the moment it is born, but with the written language we are able to hear words from centuries ago or the words of loved ones far away. Rereading old letters is a hyggelig way of relaxing, remembering and reconnecting.
There is something more hyggeligt about a letter on paper than a letter on a screen. If you grew up in the last century, as I did, you’ll have those handwritten letters safely stored away, but letters written in the Internet age may be printed and stored as well.
9. A WARM SWEATER
10. A NOTEBOOK
Keep a nice notebook in your hygge emergency kit. We may call this your hygge journal. The first exercise is to note down some of the most hyggelige moments you have experienced in the past month or year. This will allow you to enjoy them again and make you mindful of which experiences you enjoyed. For the second exercise, think of what kind of hyggelige experiences you would like to have in the future. A bucket list of hygge, if you will.
