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7 practical tips for creating more hygge in your home

Embrace the winter season with cozy comfort and connection, Denmark-style.

Photo by Nav Rashmi Kalsi on Unsplash

Hygge is an aesthetic, an atmosphere and an experience all at once.

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Some people love everything about winter—the brisk air, the frosty trees, the long evenings. Others loathe the frigid winter months and have to be dragged through them, kicking their fur-lined snow boots all the way.

If you’re one of the latter, I’ve got bad news. Winter happens whether we like it or not—always has and always will. So rather than fight it, perhaps a better approach is to embrace it—or at least the good parts about it. Leaning into indoor warmth and playing up cozy comfort and connection make the dark, cold months much more bearable.

That’s the idea behind the Danish concept of hygge, which encourages slowing down, appreciating the simple things, and creating a warm, inviting haven of comfort in your home. Many of us have become familiar with hygge in recent years, but we may not know how to actually make it happen. There's no one right or wrong way to create hygge, but here are seven practical tips for bringing more of it into your home.

1. Maximize natural light—but also add string lights

string lights in front of a window

When in doubt, add more string lights.

Photo by Shashi Chaturvedula on Unsplash

We get less sunlight in the winter, so during the day, we need to maximize whatever natural light we have. Keep curtains open and keep your windows unobstructed during the day.

Then add more light! Fairy lights/string lights/twinkle lights—whatever you prefer to call them—aren’t just for Christmas and they add so much warmth to a space, even during the day. Drape them around the windows, across the mantle, along the wall or wherever it makes sense to put them. Also, once night hits, opt for lamps instead of overhead lights, which can feel cold and harsh.

2. Introduce soft, plush textures

woman reading under a fluffy blanket

The fluffier and softer the better

Photo by Cole Keister on Unsplash

Plush blankets, fur pillows, throws made from sheepskin or cotton—all the things you’d want to cuddle up with add to hygge. Decor elements made out of natural materials like woven baskets, wooden accents, and textured rugs also enhance the warm hygge aesthetic.

3. Bring the outdoors indoors

\u200bPine and pinecone sitting on a table

Bringing in plants doesn't have to be complicated or expensive.

Photo by Sixteen Miles Out on Unsplash

We bring fresh flowers indoors in spring and summer, but often neglect to think of plants as decor in winter. But bringing the outdoors in with potted plants and boughs of greenery promotes a sense of calm and well-being. Even just some simple pinecones or sprigs of pine can add a lot to the atmosphere.

4. Embrace candles and soothing scents

candles on a table

Candles warm up any space immediately.

Photo by Sixteen Miles Out on Unsplash

Candles are a hygge essential, adding a warm glow and tranquility to any space. Even battery-operated flameless candles help with hygge if you aren’t able to use real candles in your space. Naturally scented candles or essential oil diffusers in soothing scents like lavender, vanilla or cinnamon can make the hygge experience multi-sensory, enhancing the calming effect.

5. Invite people over for a cozy, casual hangout

four friends laughing and hanging out

Keep company casual.

Photo by Cole Keister on Unsplash

Warmth and coziness isn’t just about decor, it’s about well-being, and a hygge atmosphere really shines when you’re connecting with people. So have a get together, but keep it simple. Invite a few friends or family members over for a cup of cocoa. Maybe play a classic board game. Bake cookies together and enjoy them. Or just sit by the fire or the candles and chat. Invite them to come in their jammies if you want. Keep it casual and cozy.

6. Create a hygge corner for yourself

pillows, books and candle on a window seat

Make yourself a cozy personal space all your own.

Photo by allison christine on Unsplash

“Connection” also means connecting with yourself. Designate a specific area of your home as your personal hygge haven. Maybe you create a cozy reading nook, a quiet meditation spot, or a comfy armchair by a window. Fill it with books, artwork or cherished mementos that bring you joy.

7. Indulge in self-care with simple rituals

woman in sweater holding a mug

Cozy up with your favorite cup.

Photo by allison christine on Unsplash

Again, hygge isn’t just an aesthetic; it’s an attitude of embracing simple pleasures. What basic self-care rituals can you add to your daily routine? Maybe a warm cup of tea? Reading by a fireplace? A candlelight bath? Writing in a journal? Focus on self-care activities that promote peace and well-being.

Hygge isn't about accumulating specific possessions or achieving a certain style; it's about purposefully creating an atmosphere that nurtures comfort, contentment and well-being. Winter really is easier to get through when you lean into the season, which means slowing down, comforting all of your senses and giving yourself the gift of cozy, tranquil connection with yourself or with others.

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Why paws and whiskers can be the best therapy for people in need of TLC.

True
State Farm

It was Christmas 1994 when Scarlet Ross and her 10-year-old son went to get photos of their cat and dog with Santa.

Getting a dog — let alone a cat — to cooperate for such a photo op might be tough.

Not for these pets. Neither one seemed fazed by being held by a bearded stranger in a bright red suit.

Scarlet's dog, Tyler, with Santa. Image via Scarlet Ross, used with permission.

Amazedby their calmness, someone approached Scarlet and asked her if she would be interested in getting her animals involved with a new animal therapy group: the Human Animal Bond (HAB).

After all, the stranger explained, if her animals were so even-tempered with Santa, they’d probably make great therapy animals.

Scarlet was immediately intrigued.

She decided to leave the cat at home, but she took her sheltie to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, to see if he was a good fit. He passed with flying colors, and "That’s just how I got involved," she says. She remains a volunteer with HAB to this day.

Scarlet and Tyler visiting a nursing home resident 20 years ago. Image via Scarlet Ross, used with permission.

The volunteer-run organization was started by the U.S. Military Veterinary Services because they know how strong the bond between humans and animals can be.

The military veterinary services "felt that animals had a particular benefit to army families because of all the moving," explains Ruie Gibson, a long-time HAB board member and volunteer.

Snickers, a greyhound HAB therapy dog, at HAB's annual picnic. Image by Tammy Patton, used with permission.

Not to be confused with service dogs, therapy dogs can provide comfort and support to those who need it. And there is science to back it up.

Psychologists, psychiatrists, and doctors have used, and continue to use, therapy dogs with patients because they have found they can help reduce feelings of depression.

Studies have also shown that simply petting dogs can help lower people’s heart rates and reduce stress and anxiety.

The military wrote a regulation, and the animal therapy group Human Animal Bond was born to help provide this service to those in need of comfort and support.

Families that are interested in being a part of HAB can sign up their dogs, cats, and even rabbits to be therapy pets.

HAB volunteer Erika Chester and her cat, Mia. Image via HAB, used with permission.

If these animals pass the temperament test, they can join the HAB network with their family.

"I would say that 99% of the time, the people who come to us and who want to do this, or think that their pet would be good at this, pass the temperament test no problem," Ruie says. "They wouldn’t even consider it if they didn’t think their dog would like it."

Once they’re members, the families take a special training session once a year — which, Ruie says, is actually more for the owners than the dogs.

After that, the volunteers and their therapy pets sign up for and attend as many HAB events as they can with their schedules.

Two volunteers and their HAB therapy dogs at the annual Veterans Day Parade. Image via HAB, used with permission.

Sometimes the HAB therapy pets go to schools and libraries to meet students.

They even help kids who are having trouble reading practice doing it aloud.

Cobalt, a beagle mix, visits a teacher and her classroom in Leavenworth. Image via HAB, used with permission.

Other times, the pets visit nursing homes, elderly care facilities, or rehab facilities.

Goose, an HAB therapy dog, visiting a rehab facility.  Image via HAB, used with permission.

They also go to a minimum security correctional facility on the military base to visit nonviolent offenders.

"That’s a very popular program," Ruie says, adding that there is always a waiting list of inmates wanting to see the dogs.

Scarlet has now been an active volunteer with HAB for the last 23 years and has had several of her dogs join the program.

"It is very important to me," she says. "It’s very rewarding to see the joy of it."

"A couple of years ago, I had a dog that was blind, deaf, and incontinent, and we would go to the nursing home and talk about that," Scarlet remembers.

Scarlet's dog Aunt Bea was a regular visitor at the local nursing home. Image via Scarlet Ross, used with permission.

This dog, named Aunt Bea, was 12 or 13 when Scarlet adopted her, and she was also missing her teeth. When she went to the nursing home to visit, Aunt Bea "had to wear her Depends," Scarlet continues, but "many of the residents related to her health condition. ... They really enjoyed meeting her."

Today, Scarlet's two dogs — a rescued golden retriever named Josie and a wild-haired shih tzu named Phyllis Diller — are both in the program.

Scarlet and Josie, an HAB therapy dog. Image via Scarlet Ross, used with permission.

"I love sharing my animals with these people that have had animals in the past and can’t have them now," she says. "They get to hug them, they pet them, and I take photos of them with my pet and give it to them so they can have it."

That's why she particularly loves visiting the nursing homes with her dogs.

Tyler with a nursing home resident at Christmas. Image via Scarlet Ross, used with permission.

"So many need a special touch or hug that they used to get," she says.

Being involved with HAB has also helped make Scarlet feel closer to her animals too.

"I love all of my dogs, however, with my therapy dogs there is a special bond and closeness," she explains. "When you work with them like that, that’s a special connection."  

Scarlet's shih tzu, Phyllis Diller, is also a hit at senior facilities because her crazy hair makes them laugh. Image via Scarlet Ross, used with permission.

Whether it's visiting the elderly or helping kids practice reading, it's clear that HAB has been making a difference in people’s lives.

All animal lovers understand the joy their pets can bring. But sharing that joy is a step beyond.

HAB therapy dogs and member families at their 2017 annual picnic. Image via Tammy Patton, used with permission.

All it takes is one visit at a school or nursing home to know your therapy dog is making a difference, Ruie says. "Sometimes they might not even want to touch the dog, but just being in the presence, it’s amazing what a difference it can make."

HAB dog Zorro and Maj. D. Thomas at the Munson Army Health Center. Image via HAB, used with permission.

"You might not know that it raises someone’s mood right away, but after you talk to a nurse, you find out that this patient hadn’t talked all day until they saw the dog."

"It’s amazing the things that do happen in their presence," she adds, "I don’t know how long it stays that way, but at least for a short time, they feel better."

If you think your pet would make a good therapy pet and you live in the Fort Leavenworth area, check out their website for ways to get involved as a volunteer.

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How complete strangers helped this single dad decode a final message from his dead wife.

After his wife died during childbirth, Jared discovered comfort in the unfinished things she left behind.

June 16, 2016, was meant to be the best day of Jared and Sharry Buhanan-Decker's lives. It turned out to be the worst.

On that morning a few months ago, the Utah couple of 12 years drove to the hospital. They were full of anticipation for the arrival of their firstborn child.

It had taken almost three years and an expensive IVF process for them to conceive, and Sharry had excitedly blogged about their plans for parenthood during her pregnancy.

All photos via Jared Buhanan-Decker, used with permission.

As the couple was cuddling and dozing on a hospital bed, waiting for the delivery to begin, things turned horribly wrong.

"I woke up to hear one of the monitors beeping. Doctors and surgeons came out from all over and wheeled Sharry into surgery," Jared said. "I was terrified for the baby, but I didn’t ever consider Sharry’s life was at stake."

Shortly after, doctors gave Jared news he could never have prepared for: Their baby had been delivered by emergency C-section, but Sharry was in cardiac arrest.

30-year-old Sharry had experienced a rare allergic reaction to the baby’s amniotic fluid entering her bloodstream, which caused her vital organs to shut down.

"My whole world came crashing down," Jared said.

In the dark weeks that followed Sharry’s death, Jared was forced to come to terms with his future as a single father and the loss of his best friend.

Sleepless nights weeping at Sharry’s gravestone, reading her journals, and listening to old voicemails became survival mechanisms.

“I wanted to feel her in any way,” he said.

In his search for comfort, Jared came across several audio files on Sharry’s laptop, but without buying expensive software, he had no way of opening them.

He took his dilemma to Reddit and requested help to convert the files, and the response was overwhelming.

"I was hoping for just one or two responses and received dozens. The kindness and compassion of strangers has been amazing," he said.

Reddit users came to the rescue, quickly returning several mp3 files to Jared, each revealing original songs Sharry had composed and recorded herself.

In one of her songs, Sharry sings, "Baby, don’t you worry about me," urging her listener to wipe away their tears and "softly close the door."

"That is a message for me right now in my life," Jared said. "I could never have anticipated the meaning her songs would have."

Since receiving the mp3 files, Jared has kept them on his phone so he can listen to them with baby JJ whenever grief strikes.

"I still have a lot of tough nights, and JJ as a new baby has struggles to stay asleep, so I use those songs to comfort both of us," he said.

"Science tells us babies respond to their mother’s voice because for nine months that’s the main voice they hear, and Sharry was always talking to him and singing to JJ."

But Sharry’s music wasn’t all she left behind. As Jared continued to comb through her computer files and journals, he also found something else left unfinished: a bucket list.

Between items like dancing naked in the rain, traveling to India, and overcoming anxiety, Sharry’s list is full of bold dreams to help other people.

Jared said her bucket list is now a roadmap for him and JJ, compelling them to fulfill Sharry’s dreams and to honor her memory as the years go by.

"It is good for me, to push me outside my comfort zone because she was always the one to do that, and in a way she still will be," he said.

The first goal Jared hopes to fulfill is the creation of a treasure hunt scholarship fund for disadvantaged children.

"It’d be so easy, when tragedy happens, to withdraw and become cynical … but I cannot do that," he said.

"I need to lead my life as a legacy to Sharry. I need to cherish experiences, relationships, and life. I need to be a force for good and light in the world just like she always was and is."

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