How to Make Your Home Cozy: 15 Simple Ways to Embrace Hygge In Your Home

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Meijer. The opinions and text are all mine.

How to Make Your Home Cozy: Looking for ways to make your house cozy and add some hygge? The Danish tradition of hygge (pronounced hoo-gah) is defined as quality of coziness that promotes a feeling of contentment.” So while the days may be getting shorter, our home is getting cozier! Here are 15 simple ways to make your home cozy that your whole family will love!

HOW TO MAKE YOUR HOME COZY

 

AMBIENT LIGHTING TO MAKE YOUR HOME COZY

1: LIGHT CANDLES: 

There’s a reason that restaurants use candles–everyone loves the candlelit glow! This fall is the perfect time to light a scented candle like this Yankee Candle available at Meijer which has an array of seasonal fragrances perfect for this time of year. I love staging a seasonal vignette with a candle on a coffee table. That way, after we put the kids down at night, Evan and I can light some candles and pull out our laptops. So romantic, I know 😉 But, this little tradition makes working late at night a whole lot better! And it makes it feel like a little treat! 

fresh gourds from Meijer/ Yankee Candle 

Designer Tip: Corral items on a beautiful tray–it will make the grouping look more deliberate and it provides functional storage!

 

2: ADD LAYERED SOFT LIGHTING

Instead of overhead lights, employ soft layered lighting with a combination of lamps. Overhead lighting gives the harshest light, so stick to warm soft lights that make your home feel even cozier. 2700 Kelvins is the most flattering lighting temperature–pick some up on your next shopping trip to Meijer!

Ideally, every room should have multiple sources of lighting–ultimately a mix of overhead (not necessary in my opinion), table lamps, and task lamps, and I’d posit one more–either candles or… 

himalayan salt lamp from Meijer/ fuzzy white pillow/ yellow square pillow / hygge cream pillow/

Yankee candle/ weighted blanket

3: SALT LAMPS 

I love using himalayan salt glow lamps all around our house to make it feel warm and cozy. Listen, our winters are LONG in our part of Wisconsin. Spring really doesn’t come until at the earliest the end of April. So, I make our own sunshine in the home! 

Each room has its own salt lamp whether it be a mini outlet plugin, or a full-size salt lamp (you can pick one up at Meijer like I did!) Salt lamps are said to improve the air quality in your home. Now, I’m sure they have some effect on it; but what I like most is their glowing light quality. It’s like having candles constantly lit (and it’s child-friendly since there is no fire hazard!) We use one in each of my children’s rooms as a nightlight, and I have one in the playroom, one in the living room, and plug-ins in our family room! Our house glows with them all day long! 

Yankee candle/ fresh gourds from Meijer/ fresh leaves from our yard/ salt lamp from Meijer

COZY ACCENTS IN YOUR HOME

4: LAYER THOSE BLANKETS

Listen, Denmark is cold! While Wisconsin is nowhere near Denmark’s level of cold, we get pretty darn chilly! So, we have an abundance of blankets in our house (plus they double as pretend fort materials for the kids!) 

Recently, I’ve been loving using a weighted blanket to wind down at night. I use the 12 pound one, which I picked up at Meijer.  They also carry a kids weighted blanket as well (we don’t use it because our kids are too little; but, they have one for ages 10 and over)! 

You’ve probably heard of weighted blankets and their amazing calming effects already; so I was thrilled when I saw it during my weekly shopping trip at Meijer. I curl up underneath it at night when I’m working, and it helps me relax and settle down. The gentle pressure is reassuring, and it makes our home feel even cozier. 

5: EMBRACE A VARIETY OF SOFT TEXTURES 

Speaking of blankets–make sure all your textiles are soft and cozy! Adding different types of soft and cozy fabrics with your throw blankets and pillows like this aptly named hygge cream pillow from Meijer will make your existing furniture feel updated, warm, and your house even more comfortable! There’s nothing better than curling up under a soft weighted blanket resting your head on a soft pillow, and reading a good book!

 6: SWITCH UP YOUR PILLOW ARRANGEMENTS 

Embrace the change of the seasons with new pillows. Consider adding warmer and neutral tones like warm yellows (snag the exact yellow square pillow here), and beiges, and even some creamy whites! With any pillow arrangement play with different sizes, textures, and patterns–this polar bear pillow is insanely soft and is a great texture to weave in! 

yellow square pillow here/ polar bear pillow/  hygge cream pillow/ fresh gourds from Meijer/ Yankee candle

7: SEASONAL TABLESCAPE

he Danes have the right concept–make your house cozy as can be during the long winters, but bring some nature inside with you! Add natural elements using some colored gourds, wood tones, and greenery (see how I made a beautiful largescale seasonal tablescape here). Meijer has an amazing plant selection in store (I have a black thumb, so I stick with items I don’t have to water a.k.a. colored gourds, and leaves and faux greenery), so if you are so inclined, pick up a houseplant and incorporate it into your decor.

8: HAVE COMFORTABLE & FUNCTIONAL FURNITURE

This is one of those hacks really for just making your house function better overall. Having a soft place to put up your feet (like this neutral square storage ottoman)), and a dedicated place to put your magazines and books (like this magazine rack table) can make all the difference! Each piece of furniture should not only look nice but also serve a purpose for making your house work better. 

1- himalayan glow plug in/ 2- polar bear pillow/ 3- yellow square pillow / 4-  hygge cream pillow/

5- Yankee candle/ 6- neutral square storage ottoman/ 7- adult weighted blanket/

8- magazine rack table

FOSTERING HYGGE IN YOUR FAMILY LIFE

More important with the aesthetics of your house is embracing hygge in your family life. Although I certainly love making a beautiful home for my family, it’s our family life that makes our homes special. Create a cozy home atmosphere by incorporating these hygge principles into your home. 

 

9: MAKE A FAMILY TRADITION 

My kids thrive on routine, and while most routines aren’t very fun (brush your teeth, go potty, put on pajamas…) our family routines are–and that’s what I want my kids to remember! I want them to remember Friday afternoons baking cookies, taking long baths, getting in pajamas, eating pizza dinners (my husband always brings home a Meijer Take-n-Bake pizza on Fridays), and having movie nights with fresh popcorn. It’s the perfect way for us all to wind down from a busy week. 

10: BAKE COOKIES

You can guess my favorite part of our Friday routine…baking cookies! I let the kids help me and even though it takes twice as long and it’s twice as messy; it’s their favorite activity! Plus, it’s the perfect hygge activity because it warms up the house and makes it smell amazing! We get all of our ingredients at Meijer “perpetual item” on our grocery shopping list). Just remember, whatever you do, not to take Brooke’s cookies 🙂 

11: LIGHT A FIRE

There’s nothing like lighting a fire in the fireplace that warms up a room and makes a house feel cozy. While our fireplace is gas, and it’s mostly ornamental (since it doesn’t really warm up the room), the aesthetics of it and the slight warmth really bring everyone together. 

12: TURN ON SOME MUSIC

“Music tames the savage beast” is a motto I laughingly say to myself when I turn on some calm music and watch the level of activity in our house mellow. Playing some calm music really does slow everything down and brings my kids’ level of activity down a notch. Plus, it instantly puts me in a better mood and I love showing my kids that it’s ok to be silly, to have kitchen dance parties, and to sing the lyrics loudly even when you don’t know them! But the best part is seeing the kids’ dance moves– I love seeing the kids dance moves! Jack has some pretty epic ones that I can’t wait to show him one day at his wedding! 

13: READ BOOKS TOGETHER

Our kids are all so little that reading books together means reading them aloud all on the couch. Bowe is starting to read and is actually quite good at it (plus if she is stumped, she will make up any story with a few contextual clues and pretend she’s reading). Nevertheless, snuggling on the couch and reading books is one of my favorite activities to do. 

Every week, I put 10-15 picture books on hold at the library. Then we pick them up either after school or when we go for toddler storytime. Having a fresh supply of books provides screen-free weekday entertainment, and it’s a great way for the kids to unwind after school. I tell them they need to look at some books for twenty minutes, and put on a timer to let them know when it’s good to stop. The best part? They never stop because the timer went off, and just keep reading!

I also love picking up new books at Meijer (it’s right by the toy section.) I had to nurse Caroline in the middle of a grocery trip the other day, so I wheeled our shopping cart over to the book aisle, gave Brooke a book, let Jack and Bowe pick their own, and nursed Caroline. 10 minutes later, when I finished nursing, the kids were still happily absorbed in their new books, which they got to take home! It was a win all around! 

14: LISTEN TO AN AUDIOBOOK TOGETHER

Growing up, one of my favorite memories was listening to an audiobook of a certain famous young wizard in the car with my family. I remember driving all the way from Chicago to my grandma’s house in Michigan (4 hours) only to make my mom drive around the block so we could finish the chapter! While we aren’t there yet with my kids (it’s a little too scary for the younger ones,) we are dabbling with listening to audiobooks and podcasts as a family. 

We have a couple of go-to kids podcasts that we always have downloaded to my phone. I occasionally supplement the podcasts with some audiobooks I can rent from our local library. We started listening to them in May when we drove to Colorado (see my tips for road trip with kids), but then we fell out of the habit over the summer. Now that it’s fall and we are looking for indoor activities, we are back at it! 

Mom Tip: If your kids are young and have trouble focusing on a long audiobook, try starting with a short story they already know or a podcast. Have them color or play with playdough while they listen to keep their hands busy!

15: INVEST IN COMFY COZY SLIPPERS AND LOUNGE WEAR

Is there anything better than getting home and putting on a soft sweater and sliding your feet into some cozy winter slippers? Each fall I treat myself to a new pair of slippers (I’ve tried buying really expensive ones in the hopes that they will last several years, but I wear them out too fast!) So now, I buy a reasonably priced pair and I don’t worry! On your next shopping trip, make sure you check out Meijer’s selection of slippers! My husband picked up some Sorel slippers there last winter that are so cozy (don’t tell him I’ve been stealing them!)