Hygge Your Home Office
In the spirit of hygge, I’m sharing my tips on curating a cozy home office for all your work-and play-from home desires!
What does hygge mean?
The Oxford Dictionary defines hygge as
“a quality of coziness and comfortable conviviality that engenders a feeling of contentment or well-being (regarded as a defining characteristic of Danish culture).”
Global awareness for hygge has dramatically increased over the past decade and I can’t help thinking it’s because we need hygge and like most of us, you’ve only just stumbled onto it.
How do I find hygge?
Take these images as an example reference of what hygge might include. What are the recurring elements you notice? (P.S you can do this exercise with all your home, wedding etc design inspiration photos)
Here’s what I see (and some insight to what I see when I review my clients’ wedding inspiration photos):
Content synergy - tea/hot beverage, fuzzy, woven and knitted linens, house interior, winter-vibe
Texture - fuzzy, furry, woven, mottled, wood grain, dry - these are the words I would use to describe the textures of the content in the photos
soft, glazed - this is how I would describe the overall aesthetic of the actual photos
Color - creamy, cool
Shape - circles, rounded rectangles, slouchy lines, horizontal surfaces, piles
Layers & Visual weight - (chair)legs + window, table + couch, basket on floor + chair + couch, hot wispy steam against cold solid glass, linen pile on table, fuzzy throw on plastic chair, soft pillows on soft couch, ceramic kettle on wooden coaster… these are examples of the relationships you can notice between each piece
Materials - wool, faux fur, ceramic, glass, painted wood, natural wood, rattan, chrome, plastic, paper, organic/floral
steam/smoke - this is a common element for hygge vignettes because it really drives home the concept of warmth
Let’s focus on one photo as an example.
soft pillows on soft couch, cool color palette; fuzzy throw with warm tones on plastic chair; paper book grounds the space to your desired function; surplus of soft linen stored in organic vessel in white and warm tones; chair marries three materials and colors tying in the room's palette
Living hygge
The beautiful thing about hygge is that it isn’t very strict on parameters, and even if you’ve heard that it is- you get to decide what resonates with you. Not everyone’s calm color scheme is what we’ve looked at so far.
Think of it like this
After you investigate your own inspiration photos, start collecting, purchasing and arranging your space so that it resonates with you.
Aside from the tangible aspects of hygge, there’s also the intangible side, leaning into the experiences of life and how you function on a daily basis within your space.
Here are a few of my favorite hygge activities:
cuddling
wearing fuzzy socks
reading
burning candles
decluttering
arranging flowers
dressing for comfort
My Hygge Home Office
To prepare you, my personal style of hygge is not in the same color palette of the photos above. Instead, it’s vivid and Scandinavian-leaning and to me, that’s comforting. I do play with the layers, textures and other elements we’ve discussed so far.
So here it is, my hygge home office.
Ratan table - Target
Acrylic/wood/metal chair - Baxton Studio
Hand woven rug & throw pillows - Ikea
Custom textile art installation - Black Candy Design
Wood desk - Target
Custom wood pegboard shelving - Becky Built It
Takeaways
Breakdown your inspiration photos for
Content synergy
Texture
Color
Shape
Layers & Visual weight
Materials
Curate your own hygge home office by piecing together the elements that resonate with you
Enjoy your space!
Photos by Pexel and Rebecca Pope
