Category: Hygge House
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My favourite Candles
If you’ve read anything about hygge, you’ve almost always seen a photo with a candle attached to it. Candles and Denmark became synonymous after the second world war: “After having been occupied by Germany since 9 April 1940, Denmark became free again on 5 May 1945. When the liberation was announced in the 8.30pm BBC…
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Selsø Slot (Castle), Denmark
Note: The photos are from various times from 2007-2017 and the camera quality varies. But they tell the story of Selsø Slot and also reflect all my visits there. Selsø Slot is a very traditional example of a Danish Castle – plain, simple, purposeful – with a history going back to 1100s although its current…
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What Hygge Really Looks Like
Hygge isn\’t what\’s shown in glossy magazines or top 10 lists and it\’s not what\’s sold in stores. This is what real hygge is and looks like.
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Living well is more than organic fruit.
Please go out there and do. Live. Don’t be the same as yesterday. Don’t live vicariously online. Don’t use language that has no meaning or talk ideas you don’t really live. Don’t hide. Don’t copy others or live their ideas or life. Don’t fear doing your thing. Don’t fear doing. Instead of reading another decorating…
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Karen Blixen’s Danish House
A visit to the life-long home of one of my favourite authors and inspirations, Karen Blixen. Her charming, cosy home in Denmark from which she wrote Out Of Africa is beautiful both inside & out. Read more about her and see her home.
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Frederiksborg Castle, Denmark
One of my favourite day trips from Copenhagen, Frederiksborg Slot in Hillerød. Built in the 17th century by King Christian IV on the shores of Lake Slotso, it’s the largest Renaissance complex in the Nordic region. Its rich history, architectural beauty, and stunning setting make it worth the 40min train trip from Copenhagen. The castle complex…
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Living Hygge
Hygge isn\’t something that can be bought – it\’s something that you feel. So if you don\’t feel hygge, you probably aren\’t using the word right. Here\’s how one out of touch hygge girl got back into it.
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Installing removable wallpaper
Photo of my home shot by Hygge & West for their book. My childhood homes all had wallpaper but my adult homes? Never. It\’s not because I had a bad 80\’s experience with floral print but because I either moved a lot or rented and found that painted walls were just easier and more cost effective.…
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Red shoes are my thing
I got my first pair of red shoes (clogs) when I was about 4 and wore them relentlessly. I think that’s where my unconscious love for red shoes began as looking back on all my photos I realised, red shoes really are my thing.
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Copenhagen Guide
If a city could feel both familiar and unfamiliar at the same time to me, it would be Copenhagen. I know the city so well from so much time spent there yet I\’ve despite all the connections, I\’ve never lived there. And while I run a site called, Hygge House, and am half-Danish, truthfully, there\’s…
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Merry, little.
Have yourself a merry little Christmas. Make the Yule-tide gay. From now on our troubles will be miles away. Here we are as in olden days,Happy golden days of yore. Faithful friends who are dear to us will be near to us once more. Someday soon we all will be together if the Fates…
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Goodbye, Grace.
One of the reasons I was most excited to return to Denmark was because my trip would fall during Easter. Despite the fact that I didn\’t grow up in a religious household or belong to any Church (my father was French Catholic and my mum was Danish Lutheran – very different!), Easter was something that…
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Home is where the head is.
‘Home’ is a very subjective word for me. Having moved a lot as a child and having lived all over the world since I was 18, home has either meant nothing, a house, a cottage, a mansion, an estate, a bed, a backpack, a desire, a hotel, a beach, a tent, a greyhound bus, a…
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Love Notes
When I left home at eighteen I had two suitcases – one filled with clothes and the other filled with books and stationary. My fountain pens, inks, cards, envelopes and other bits were more important to me than anything else because that\’s how I communicated with people – by mail.In every country I lived, in…
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Hat’s off On!
Today\’s agenda consisted of running errands around town on foot in blustery, cold, misty weather. Having worked this morning I was pressed for time in getting things done and didn\’t want to take the time to wash and fuss with my hair. The solution for warmth, style and manageability was a hat. Luckily, I\’ve about…
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Danes just bike
She doesn\’t know how much it weighs. Nobody she knows or has ever met could tell you how much their bike weighs. Likewise, she doesn\’t know how far she rides each day. It isn\’t interesting. She rides at a good pace, not too fast to cause a sweat, and the ride is nice enough. She…
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Coffee Break
Scandinavians tend to drink the most coffee per capita although specialty, sweet, and flavoured coffees still aren\’t as popular as in North America. The coffee here is usually bold, rich, dark and always had for breakfast and after meals (even at 10PM as seen with my mum above in Copenhagen).However, I was a tea drinker…
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Hunde Parkering
All little towns and communities in Denmark have a village grocery which is often a good little walk to get to if you live out in the country. So if you have to get some milk, you end up taking your dog along for exercise which is why you see these hunde parkering spots on…