Get yourself slippers, a blanket and candles, now you’re living the hygge trend

The Danish approach to living is all about homeliness, simplicity, and companionship, writes Carol O’Callaghan, who unwittingly found herself in a hyggekrog as she browsed a book on the subject.

Every so often a new buzz word pops up in interior design. This year it’s ‘hygge’, a time-honoured, Danish approach to winter living, the details of which will be familiar to anyone who enjoys a cosy evening in front of the fire.

Pronounced hoo-gah, and sometimes heur-gah, hygge doesn’t have a direct translation into English. The nearest would be the word cosy, but that’s not sufficiently encompassing, as hygge is also about warm homeliness, simplicity, and companionship.