What is Hygge? Maybe you already know. I didn’t. Just learned about it a few weeks ago from a new friend. If you don’t know about hygge, let’s begin with the basics: How on earth do you pronounce it? “Hygge” is a Danish word, with its phonetic pronunciation something close to “HOO-guh”.

The technical fancy definition of hygge is, “a quality of coziness and comfortable conviviality that engenders a feeling of contentment or well-being (regarded as a defining characteristic of Danish culture)”.

Yeah, I think that sounds a little fancy. When I think of hygge, words like “comfort”, “cozy” and “content” come to mind. Being in my jammies, curling up on the couch with a soft blanket and watching The Crown. Maybe drinking a hot chocolate with tons of marshmallows. Or sitting out on my patio in warmer weather with the cafe lights on drinking Moscow Mules and listening to great music while visiting with friends.

But I wanted to see if I could find other photos of hygge. Nesting With Grace has a wonderful post about lighting and creating more hygge in your home.

While we all have different ideas of what’s cozy, I think we all already try to implement it into our lives, even if we didn’t know there was a Danish word for it.

Another friend sent me this short YouTube Video that explains not only the definition of hygge, but its history as well.

I’ll be writing more about this cozy concept and even some links to some great kids’ gift ideas for the holidays that bring out the hygge for all of us. Until then, create some hygge of your own this week. It could be a small thing. Anything that makes you feel that warm fuzzy feeling of contentment and coziness.