Aberdour and the Hygge Hut

A friend of mine had told me about a shop that she thought I would like, the Hygge Hut in Aberdour. So one afternoon I headed there for a look. It also turned out to be the first day in weeks that it hadn't rained, and, in fact, it was gloriously sunny!

I don't remember having looked around Aberdour before, so it was lovely to have a look at somewhere different that's not far from home. I parked then headed along part of the coastal path towards the harbour area where the Hygge Hut is located.

The Hygge Hut is in a really cute wee building right at the harbour. It's quite modern and Scandinavian looking, so it's the perfect setting for a shop based on the Danish idea of hygge. 

And it's a lovely contrast to the old building opposite that houses the boat club. The Hygge Hut was lovely inside too, with lots of things I'd love to have bought. I ended up buying a notebook with a really retro print design on the cover, and a scented candle in a tin.

Along my way I saw some amazing houses, to add to my list of dream houses to live in! The beach area was lovely too, and I managed to gather a few pieces of sea glass and pottery there.

I really enjoyed my afternoon. I didn't have time to go and have a look at the castle, so I'll have to go back and do that another time!

Scandi cushion

When I got my porch done up a few years ago I was really looking forward to sitting there and enjoying the view of my garden. I then saw an amazing high-backed wicker chair and this was the only place I could think of to put it. But the chair is not very comfortable to sit on! During the Christmas holidays I had the great idea that I could swap it with the rocking chair in my bedroom, which is only used to throw clothes on anyway!

Once I moved the rocking chair to the porch I decided it was in need of a cushion, and I remembered this lovely fabric I'd bought last year with the intention of making some sort of cushion for the porch area. I quickly sewed up a cushion, and stuffed it with an old pillow!

The cushion goes really well with the Scandi-style Christmas decorations that I haven't taken down yet - they will do just as well for Valentine's Day and beyond!

Hygge books

There are so many great books out at the moment about hygge, and I wanted them all! But I made myself wait until after Christmas as it was the sort of thing I thought someone might buy me - and I was right! In fact the theme of my Christmas presents in general was hygge!

I got The Little Book of Hygge by Meik Wiking for Christmas, and it is a really interesting and in-depth read on the subject, with lots of statistics on happiness. The illustrations are lovely too. The only complaint I'd have is that the text is a little small - I think that the book would have been better in a bigger size (but then the name would not have been as appropriate!).

After Christmas I ordered How to Hygge: The Secrets of Nordic Living by Signe Johansen and Hygge: The Danish Art of Happiness by Marie Tourell Soderberg. I went for books by Scandinavian sounding named authors only, as I presumed they should have the best personal knowledge of Hygge!


How to Hygge was there by the time I returned from my parents' house to my own house! It's by the same author as the Scandilicious Baking book that I love, so I was interested to read some more of her recipes and hear what she had to say about hygge. I actually think this is the best book of the three for practical ways to introduce hygge to your life, and I found it really inspiring. I liked the fact that it covered things like summer picnics as well as winters in front of the fire.


I haven't got properly started on Hygge by Marie Tourell Soderberg, but it looks like it has a lot of quotes from different people on how they experience hygge in their lives. Again the text is quite small (but maybe my eyes are just getting old!). There is a lot of white space around the text so it really could have been bigger. It looks like this book also has recipes.

20 Ideas to bring hygge to the winter months

This month I'm going to be indulging in some serious hygge, both here on the blog and in real life! Hygge is the word for a Danish concept of cosiness and togetherness. Not being Danish, I hadn't come across the concept of hygge until a few years ago, but it fits in very well with the things I enjoy in life, especially in winter - warm socks and cosy blankets, hot drinks and comfort food, a pile of books to enjoy, comfy cushions, and, more importantly, getting a sense of contentment from the little things in life. 

As someone who has always enjoyed a Friday night at home better than one out clubbing, I can definitely relate to the idea of hygge! And now the concept's become fashionable, I don't have to feel embarrassed about admitting that I am going to have a quiet weekend relaxing! We rush around so much in life these days, and sometimes it's good to take things at a slower pace.

The Danish have a word hyggekrog, which means a cosy, cushioned reading nook. But I've also found another great word recently, hibernaculum, which is the place an animal goes to hibernate. So I think of my settee piled with blankets and cushions as my hibernaculum.

Although I've always had a few candles around my living room, this is the first year that I've been using them almost every evening, and, in fact, one large candle that I've had for all the years I've lived here is now finally coming to the end of its life!

Often at this time of year I feel like going to bed as soon as it gets dark. But now that I have embraced the idea of hygge, and surrounded myself with candles, I find I'm not going to bed at a ridiculously early hour.

Another thing I've really been indulging in this year is hot chocolate, and I've been trying to mix it up by making some different variations. So far my favourite has been adding some red wine - sounds weird, but it makes the hot chocolate so rich! I've also been adding some Baileys or Amaretto on other occasions, using different mugs and cups to make each cup of hot chocolate an individual and special experience, and adding chocolate curls or chocolate sauce on top of the obligatory whipped cream! I've even been doing a bit of baking too.

Here are some of my ideas for adding some hygge to your life!

1. Wear the cosiest socks you can - whether you make, buy, or receive them as a gift (my mum knitted me these ones).

2. Wrap up in a scarf, hat and gloves, and take a cup of your favourite hot drink out to the garden so you can admire the frost.

3. Add some mood lighting with candles, fairy lights, or small lamps.

4. Make a pile of inspiring books next to your sofa or bed, so that you can pick them up whenever the mood strikes.

5. Make a cosy area to sit with lots of cushions, blankets (I just got this amazing M&S one and it's the softest thing ever!), and a footstool.

6. Get (or make) some nice postcards and some stamps, and sit and write them to some friends.

7. Go on a walk and pick up some pine cones, acorns, stones etc, then display these in a bowl.

8. Do some crochet - it's easy to do while huddling under a blanket or hanging out with friends or family, and the repetitiveness can be quite hypnotic and relaxing.

9. Get a book about baking out of the library and try making some bread.

10. Get the slow cooker on the go and cook something warm and satisfying.

 

11. Switch off from social media and read a book or listen to some music.

12. Have a Scandinavian-style brunch of open sandwiches.

13. Get your favourite childhood cuddly toy out of the attic and keep it by you on the sofa to cuddle.

14. Buy some lovely pastries and eat them from your favourite plate.

15. Have a long and relaxing bath, especially if you usually take showers.

16. Create your own hyggekrog or hibernaculum with lots of blankets and cushions. 

17. Wear your favourite knitted jumper and embrace your inner Sarah Lund.

18. Use neutral colours and lots of textures in your decor.

19. Read books that encourage you to appreciate the little things in life.

20. Allow yourself an afternoon or early evening nap, without feeling guilty about all the other things you should be doing. Just remember to blow out the candles first!

A Scandi Christmas

Last winter I searched in vain for a white Christmas tree that I liked and that wasn't too expensive, both before Christmas and in the sales, and didn't find anything. This summer, I found one at a car boot sale for only a few pounds!

This is the first time that I've had a full-sized tree! Since my student years I've had a little green tree a couple of feet high, in a burlap sack base, and I've been happy with that up until now. But it's great to have a bigger tree to decorate.

My only worry was whether I would have enough decorations to fill the tree, and, if I did, whether the decorations would match. Luckily I found a bag of silver and red decorations my mum had given me a few years ago, then I added various other matching decorations - a crocheted owl by my friend Ingrid and knitted Dala horse by my friend Jane, my Scandinavian-style red and white Hama bead decorations, a few Japanese dolls, some Ikea heart decorations, and a couple of decorations I got in Austria many years ago. On top of the tree I put a paper geisha that I made. I love that the tree has some items that have sentimental meaning but still has a coherent colour scheme.

I decided to position the tree in my porch area, which was renovated last year, as the white tree looked so good there and would be the first thing I see when I come in the door. I added a white Dala horse with a decoration around its neck, some tiny dolls that I made this year from a kit from Tiger, my Ikea tree that I painted white, with some red heart lights that were in the bag of decorations from Mum, the stocking I've had since I was wee, and a Scandinavian doll I found in a charity shop years ago.