How to Cultivate a Little Bit of Hygge Each Season

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I love the hygge aesthetic that you are seeing on Pinterest and other visual places! Since I share about slow and seasonal living, I wanted to share ways to cultivate a little bit of hygge in your life each season of the year.

What is Hygge

Hygge is a Danish word that we don’t have an equivalent single word translation in English. I have been to Denmark, yet I don’t know if this word is within Denmark as popular as we have all made it outside of the country.

From my understanding, the word hygge captures the essence of a comforting, warm and cosy atmosphere that brings contentment. That is beautiful! Exactly what I love to create in my home and my days.

There is a book on my reading wishlist called Holy Hygge: Creating a Place for People to Gather and the Gospel to Grow. I’m very keen to read this one as a slow living advocate but also because this brings the gospel into hygge living.

When it comes to slow living, much of what we do is about bringing appreciation to the simple items every day. That could be, your morning coffee, watching the sunrise, pottering in your garden, reading with your children, baking. Whatever it is, it’s appreciating the mundane tasks that make up the bulk of our days.

As nature goes through the different seasons, we crave different comforts. Hot and cold, daylight and night, socialising and quiet time, these all influence us through the seasons. Here are some simple ideas for how to cultivate hygge in your life based on the season.

Spring Hygge

Spring is a lovely season for hope, renewal, the spark of new life and growing. We emerge from our winter slumber and want to tend to our gardens and the outside world.

Once spring arrives I’m very excited to tend to my garden and see new flowers bloom. For me, spring hygge will be gently incorporating the outside world again after a cold winter while still creating a cosy atmosphere inside.

Here are a few ideas for cultivating hygge in spring:

• Display fresh cut flowers in the kitchen and other places you spend a lot of time inside your home.

• Grow lots of fresh herbs! You can take cuttings from others, put in water for a couple weeks and the roots will start.

• Camping trips with a camp fire.

• Roasting marshmallows over a bonfire.

• Enjoying afternoon tea outside in the garden, patio or balcony.

• Adding a couple drops of fresh citrus scents to your laundry wash! I love adding mandarin or orange essential oils.

• Getting your hands and feet connected to the earth while you garden.

• Bring out colourful tea towels and placemats.

• Have a diffuser going inside your home with fresh scents.

Summer Hygge

Now comes summer and this is the time of year many of us have lots of social plans. Some even go away on trips to visit family or explore while children are on school holidays. If you seek to live a quiet life, like I do most of the time, you can still incorporate a little bit of hygge in a busy or social summer. 

Here are some summer hygge ideas:

• Make homemade ice cream or sorbet for summer hygge, then eat it outside in the sunshine. I use a Ninja Creami Delux to make all of our ice cream and sorbet!

• Grow sunflowers. They are very quick to grow and love the warm weather!

• Grow cherry tomatoes. These are lots of fun with children and if they pick them, they will often want to eat them.

• Create a picnic rhythm, perhaps each Saturday afternoon.

• Eat breakfast outside.

• Star gazing after sunset. Look for the first star to appear each night (the planet Venus)!

• Bike riding.

• Spend as much time as possible barefoot when you are outdoors.

• Swimming in a lake or the ocean.

• Brew iced tea and use your homegrown mint for a fresh flavour.

• Make homemade ice pops by freezing fresh seasonal juice or smoothies. I use these silicon molds to create ours.

• Always aim to eat dinner while the sun is still up.

Autumn Hygge

The easiest season for hygge is autumn! This season has hygge all over it. Many of us are excited for the weather to cool a little after long summer days. That means we can have more candles, the cosy blankets can make an appearance and the fluffy socks.

Here are some autumn hygge ideas that I love:

• Bake bread then enjoy while still warm with butter and honey. This is one of the most enjoyable things you can do that is so simple! My heart warms at this. Sharing with loved ones to top off.

• Brew apple cider with cinnamon. Check out my hot apple cider recipe here! This recipe is children friendly and they love the process.

• Make preserves with end of season fruit.

• Practice a cosy hobby like crochet.

• Watch the sunrise with a hot beverage tea or coffee.

• Candlelight dinners.

• Read a book while wearing reading socks. Dreamy! Added bonus, read a book at night instead of looking at a screen and enjoy a hot chocolate drink.

• Magnesium salt bath.

Winter Hygge

Without a doubt, winter is the easiest season for us to be indoors. So naturally, we seek warmth. 

• Wear thick and cosy warm socks.

• Work on an analog hobby.

• Enjoy warming morning porridge with stewed fruit.

• Create an evening hot cocoa drink ritual.

• Slow down and enjoy the stillness of the season.

• Watch the sunrise under a big blanket with a hot coffee or tea.

• Read a book with a hot water bottle and candle.

In Closing

Let me know your thoughts in the comments below which season you love the most for hygge? You can also save the images below to Pinterest for future inspiration!

Thank you for stopping by and reading my post. Wishing you cosy hygge year-round in your home.

For all of the autumn lovers, stay around and read my post on how to celebrate the season of autumn.

Rachael x

About the Author

Hello, I’m Rachael. I create about slow, seasonal living. Here on my website you’ll also find cosy homemaking and some cottagecore.

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