Kit L.

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8 minute read

The definitive, must-read introduction to hygge, written by Meik Wiking, CEO of the Happiness Research Institute in Copenhagen, this book is packed full of original research, beautiful photographs, recipes and ideas to help you add a touch of hygge to your life.

Notes from, “Wiking, Meik. The Little Book of Hygge (Penguin Life). Penguin Books Ltd. Kindle Edition.”

Light

There is no faster way to get to hygge than to light a few candles or, as they are called in Danish, levende lys, or ‘living lights’. (p. 12).

Hyggelige as they may be, there is one serious drawback to being crazy about candles: the soot. Studies show that lighting just one candle fills the air with microparticles more severely than traffic in a busy street. A study undertaken by the Danish Building Research Institute showed that candles shed more particles indoors than either cigarettes or cooking. (p. 15).

Some of the most beautifully designed lamps in the world come from the golden age of Danish design, for example, the lamps of Poul Henningsen, Arne Jacobsen and Verner Panton. (p. 16).

The rule of thumb is: the lower the temperature of the light is, the more hygge. A camera flash is around 5,500 Kelvin (K), fluorescent tubes are 5,000K, incandescent lamps 3,000K, while sunsets, wood and candle flames are about 1,800K. That is your hygge sweet spot. (p. 16).

Togetherness

The best predictor of whether we are happy or not is our social relationships. The question is then how to shape our societies and our lives to allow our social relationships to flourish. One answer is, of course, to focus on a healthy work–life balance. (p. 51).

On average, 60 per cent of Europeans socialize with friends, family or colleagues a minimum of once a week. The corresponding average in Denmark is 78 per cent. The art of hygge is therefore also the art of expanding your comfort zone to include other people. (p. 55).

Cuddling pets has the same effect as cuddling another person – we feel loved, warm and safe, which are three key words in the concept of hygge. (p. 57).

According to the World Happiness Report commissioned by the United Nations, ‘While basic living standards are essential for happiness, after the baseline has been met, happiness varies more with quality of human relationships than income.’ (p. 58).

Almost 60 per cent of Danes say the best number of people for hygge is three to four. (p. 62).

Hygge is a way of socializing which can suit introverts: they can have a relaxing and cosy night with a couple of friends without including a lot of people and a lot of activity. (p. 67).

Food & Drink

The high level of meat, confectionery and coffee consumption in Denmark is directly linked to hygge. Hygge is about being kind to yourself – giving yourself a treat, and giving yourself, and each other, a break from the demands of healthy living (pp. 70-71).

Getting your hands dirty by baking at home is a hyggelig activity that you can do by yourself or with friends and family. Few things contribute more to the hygge-factor than the smell of freshly baked goods. (p. 78).

Some Danes talk about their dough as if it were their baby, which they feed and care for. Sourdough is basically an edible Tamagotchi. (p. 78).

Hot drinks are what 86 per cent of Danes associate with hygge. It might be tea, hot chocolate, or mulled wine, but the Danes’ favourite hot drink is coffee… Danes are the world’s fourth biggest coffee drinkers and consume around 33 per cent more per capita than Americans. (p. 80).

How hyggelig a food is also lies in its preparation. The rule of thumb is: the longer a dish takes to cook, the more hyggelig it is. (p. 84).

Clothing

When it comes to Denmark, casual is key. Danes in general enjoy a casual tone, a casual atmosphere and a casual dress code. (p. 102).

Danish fashion is sleek, minimalistic, elegant but not highly strung. In many ways, it is a sweet spot between hygge and minimalistic functional design. (p. 104).

  • Scarfs
  • Black
  • Top Bulky
  • Layers

Perhaps the most iconic jumper 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 jumper became so popular that the company producing it in the Faroe Islands couldn’t keep up with demand. (p. 108).

Home

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. (p. 112).

Ten things that will make your home more hygellig:

  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. (p. 118).
  2. Fireplace
  3. Candles
  4. Things made out of wood
  5. Nature – 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? (p. 123).
  6. Books
  7. Ceramics
  8. Think Tactile – Letting your fingers run across a wooden table, 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. (p. 128).
  9. Vintage
  10. BLANKETS AND CUSHIONS – 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 OK. (p. 131).

Outdoors

While homes may be central station for hygge, it is definitely possible to have hygge outside the home. In fact, cabins, boats and the great outdoors are excellent places to experience hygge. (p. 142).

When we are close to nature, we are not engulfed in entertaining electronics or juggling a broad spectrum of options. There are no luxuries or extravagance, just good company and good conversation. Simple, slow, rustic elements are a fast track to hygge. (p. 145).

Ideas for how to hygge throughout the year

  • JANUARY: MOVIE NIGHT (p. 156).
  • FEBRUARY: SKI TRIP (p. 157).
  • MARCH: THEME MONTH (p. 158).
  • APRIL: HIKING AND COOKING OVER AN OPEN FIRE (p. 158).
  • MAY: WEEKEND CABIN (p. 159).
  • JUNE: ELDERFLOWER CORDIAL AND THE SUMMER SOLSTICE (p. 162).
  • JULY: SUMMER PICNIC (p. 166).
  • AUGUST: THE PERSEID METEOR SHOWER (p. 167).
  • SEPTEMBER: MUSHROOM FORAGING (p. 170).
  • OCTOBER: CHESTNUTS (p. 171).
  • NOVEMBER: SOUP COOK-OFF (p. 173).
  • DECEMBER: GLØGG AND ÆBLESKIVER (PANCAKE PUFFS) (p. 173).

Hygge on the cheap

Hygge is humble and slow. It is choosing rustic over new, simple over posh and ambience over excitement. In many ways, hygge might be the Danish cousin to slow and simple living… In short, the more bling, the less hygge. (p. 176).

If you want hygge, there is no amount of money that you can spend which will increase the hygge-factor – at least not if you are buying anything more expensive than a candle. Hygge is an atmosphere which is not only unimproved by spending more money on it, but rather, in some ways, the opposite. (p. 179).

TEN INEXPENSIVE HYGGE ACTIVITIES

  1. BRING OUT THE BOARD GAMES (p. 180).
  2. PANTRY PARTY (p. 182).
  3. TV NIGHT (p. 183).
  4. SET UP A MINI-LIBRARY IN YOUR SHARED STAIRWAY OR ELSEWHERE IN THE NEIGHBOURHOOD (p. 186).
  5. BOULES (p. 187).
  6. MAKE A FIRE (p. 188).
  7. OUTDOOR MOVIES (p. 189).
  8. SWAP PARTY (p. 190).
  9. SLEDDING (p. 191).
  10. PLAY (p. 194).

Summer

Nothing gets the hygge going faster than lighting the barbecue. This is a type of hygge which is practised in most parts of the world. Invite your friends and family over and get cooking together. (p. 245).

Building community gardens was one of the proposals recommended by the Happiness Research Institute when we were working on a town just outside Copenhagen, trying to come up with ideas that would improve the social fabric and reduce isolation and loneliness in the community. (p. 248).

In addition to hygge, Hans Christian Andersen, Lego and Danish design, Denmark is known for its love of bikes. Of course, it is easy to be a nation of cyclophiliacs when the country’s highest point is less than two hundred metres and when the city invests heavily in infrastructure for cyclists. (Car taxes of 150 to 180 per cent probably also help.) (p. 252).

We do it because it is easy and convenient. It is simply the fastest way to get from A to B. But there is an additional advantage that may be overlooked and under-communicated: biking makes people happier. (p. 252).

Five Dimensions of Hygge

Taste – If you want to make a cup of tea more hyggelig, you add honey. If you want to make a cake more hyggelig, you add icing. And if you want your stew to be more hyggelig, you add wine. (p. 259).

Hear – Actually, hygge mainly has to do with the absence of sounds, which enables you to hear even very quiet noises such as rain drops on the roof, wind blowing outside the window, the sound of trees waving in the wind, or of wooden planks that yield when you walk on them. (p. 260).

Smell – The smell of hygge is the smell that tells you to put your guard down completely. (p. 261).

Feel – Anything made by real craftsmanship – objects created out of wood, ceramics, wool, leather, and so on – is hyggeligt. Shiny metal and glass are not hyggeligt – though they can be if they are old enough (p. 264).

See – In short, slow, organic movements and dark, natural colours are hyggelige. The sight of a bright, sterile hospital or watching fast-moving vehicles on a highway is not. Hygge is dimmed, rustic and slow. (p. 265).

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