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It’s easy to start an Inexpensive Hygge Starter Kit. You don’t need a lot of money. You just need to consider what makes you feel warm, cozy, safe, and nostalgic. The word Hygge is Norwegian and comes from the root word “HUG.” No wonder filling your space with Hygge feels so good.
Hygge is not just an idea but an entire movement that started in Denmark, the second happiest country in the world. (In case you are wondering, Finland is number one.) After the interesting happenings of 2020, the whole world caught on to Hygge in a big way.
At Enchanted Perspectives, we think of Hygge as “Comfort and Joy.” Anyone can start their Inexpensive Hygge Starter Kit by asking themselves, “What feels like Comfort to me?” Then ask yourself, “What brings me Joy?” It sounds like simple stuff, but it takes most people longer than you would think to answer the questions.
Still thinking? Let’s give you some examples and ideas of where to start bringing Hygge into your life. You’re gonna like these ideas because they are simple and fun. But it’s your own details about what brings you Comfort and Joy that make the whole thing all about you and what makes you smile. The 10 Principles Of Hygge That Will Change Your Life
Idea For An Inexpensive Hygge Starter Kit #1-Think Soft.
What’s the first thing you think about when you think “Soft?” It’s probably blankies, warm socks, pillows on the floor, Grandma’s afghan, and that perfect soft shawl. So, where do you start?
The first place to start is your own closet. You know about the blankie you keep on the back of the couch, but what else do you have around the house? Do you have blankets pushed to the back of closets and new socks you got for Christmas that are still in the drawer? Have a scavenger hunt in your own home.
You might have a warm sweater that feels warm and relaxed in a box under the bed. Did Grandma give you a quilt or throw that you’ve been saving for someday? She didn’t put hours of work into that beauty for it to be in a garment bag on the back of the bedroom door (a friend of ours had her’s stored there). The 10 Principles Of Hygge That Will Change Your Life
What If “Soft” Is A New Idea For You?
You may have never done soft before, but you want to start. Thrift stores and yard sales are a terrific place to start your collection. Plenty of secondhand stuff is out there without rips or stains, just waiting for a new place to call home.
All those stores that start with the word “Dollar” have isles of inexpensive blankies, socks, and mittens. Places like TJ Maxx, Target, and stores that start with “Home” have rows of pillows in every color and shape that would make great piles on the floor or your bed.
Then don’t forget about your favorite (it’s ok, we won’t tell anyone) STUFFED ANIMALS. They are at all the above places whispering, “I’m soft and snuggly…Pick ME! Pick ME!” When one of them looks at you with “Please take me home” eyes…well…take them home.
If you like the one in the above picture, that’s Penelope. She’s one of our favorite Enchanted Perspective buddies. Perfect soft, cute and sweet-click here to get your very own purple unicorn.
Idea For An Inexpensive Hygge Starter Kit #2-Think Creative.
You don’t have to be an artist to think or be creative. You only need to see something you want and make it. Think out of the box. When you write a sentence in your journal that truly expresses where your head is right now, get a $1.00 frame (from one of those stores where the name starts with dollar) and hang it where you can see it. If a song lyric keeps playing in your head, write it out in your handwriting. Then get a frame for it, too.
Hit the sales at the local craft store (coupons are usually online) and try a new creative outlet. All kinds of YouTube videos walk you through how to draw, watercolor, and work with clay that doesn’t need a kiln and scrapbook. Try something new. Approach it like a kid. Kids don’t worry about whether something is good. They only think about whether they enjoy doing it. Start with that. Good will follow with practice.
But I’m Not Creative.
What if you believe you don’t know how to make stuff? That can’t be true but that’s another blog. So start simple. Did you love coloring when you were a kid? Then you probably would love it now. There are so many adult coloring books out there and even free printables on our Free Stuff Page (Just click here to jump over there!) Do you like doodling? Get some colored pencils and doodle away just like you did on your high school algebra notebook.
A great creative project that you just follow the directions is painting with diamond kits. This is a pretty one and a nice size for easy framing-click here for yours. Allow yourself to play and make something. The 10 Principles Of Hygge That Will Change Your Life
Idea For An Inexpensive Hygge Starter Kit #3-Think Nostalgia.
Something that can be said for everyone is that they have a past. Another thing we have in common is that no matter what that past consisted of, there were some good times in there somewhere. This is where the Comfort and Joy of Nostalgia comes in. Your inexpensive Hygge Starter kit needs something that reminds you of a sweet time in your life.
A friend put her mother’s cookie jar in her bathroom, filled with little happy notes and quotes for guests to take with them. This created a two-fer in the sweet nostalgia game because the cookie jar made her think of her Mom (who really did make cookies). But it also made her think of the lovely little quotes and thoughts and where they had come from.
There Is No Nostalgia In My World, But I Would Like There To Be.
If you don’t have nostalgic notions in your home, Mom’s house (or other significant adults in your life) can be an excellent place to start. Think of the grown-ups that mattered to you. What makes you think of them? Look around your childhood home and ask if you might have or borrow little trinkets that you played with as a child (or you coveted but weren’t allowed to play with as a child). Often, Mom is glad to let you take something home that she has been dusting for 30 years. If not, hit the junk shops and see if you can find one just like your memory.
Maybe it’s not an actual item from your sweet nostalgia but a feeling. Does a porch swing just make you feel at home? Then start hitting yardsales and find one. Do you love the idea of horseshoes and badminton in the backyard, every garage sale seems to have a set. Whatever feels like home will also feel like Comfort and Joy. The 10 Principles Of Hygge That Will Change Your Life
It’s Never Too Late To Have A Great Childhood.
If there isn’t an adult from your childhood to pilage, think about the things you adored as a child and go get you one of those. We both have things in our house like Slinkies, Etch-A-Sketch, Silly Putty, Bubbles, and Play-Doh. Not a kid in sight, but that doesn’t mean we don’t have toys. Was there a toy you always wanted? Hit Ebay and see if you can find one on the cheap. You are the grown-up now, and you can buy 7-year-old you a treasure if you want to. Click here to get one of our favorites and we really do play with it.
Idea For An Inexpensive Hygge Starter Kit #4-Think Natural.
There are several scientific reasons why walking in the woods makes us feel good. The biggest one is because trees are just cool! The earth’s electromagnetic field comes up through your feet when you walk in the grass barefoot. (also very cool). Sunshine fills you with much-needed vitamin D, and flowers and birds just make everyone smile. Your fur baby on the couch is that same kind of sweet, natural Comfort and Joy. Don’t Have any pet family? Go outside and enjoy the squirrels and maybe the occasional deer or bunny.
You may live in the city with a concrete patio on the 4th floor and no fur friends on site. Then, some potted plants on the terrace, a walk in the park, and a visit with the neighbors’ Shitzu will work just fine. Your Inexpensive Hygge Starter Kit just needs some natural and living things in life besides yourself.
Idea For An Inexpensive Hygge Starter Kit #5-Think Light.
Everything about light and fire is warm, comfortable, nostalgic, romantic, and joyful. It’s an easy thing to add to your Inexpensive Hygge Starter Kit. Again, stores with “Dollar” in their name have entire departments full of candles with or without batteries that glow in the dark. Twinkle lights are inexpensive and easy to find. Put them on everything that will hold still. A potted plant or a fake palm from a yard sale looks enchanting with white lights.
It’s interesting how many people have fireplaces but don’t use them. If you don’t have a fireplace, find a firepit at a yardsale. Get a few bricks at a home store and make a fire ring for an old-fashioned fire on the ground. The 10 Principles Of Hygge That Will Change Your Life
Back to that balcony on the 4th floor, find one of those giant candles with 3 or 4 wicks, and make your own little outdoor fire feature. Is open flame a no-no with your landlord? They’ve come a long way in the inexpensive battery-operated candles. Think enchanted fairy forest, and you have the right idea.
Idea For An Inexpensive Hygge Starter Kit #6-Think Yummy.
Some food and drinks make every occasion feel Hygge-ish, even if the only guest is us. Rich and hot coffee in your favorite giant mug and herbal tea in a sweet china cup is on most people’s list of Comfort and Joy. Buy a fancy wine glass at a yardsale (especially when a whole set would be crazy expensive.) Cheap wine in a pretty glass can make a sophisticated, romantic, comforting evening (especially in front of the fire, candles, or twinkle lights we were talking about.)
Think of Grandma’s cookies, that cheap comfort meal from college, or something very simple (but there was a day it was your biggest treat). What about chocolate? Isn’t that the universal feel-good food? That’s how you bring “Yummy” to your Inexpensive Hygge Starter Kit. You know what comfort tastes like to you.
It could be microwave popcorn in that bowl you bought when you first left home. It could be peanut butter sandwiches and homemade lemonade because that was your “feel better” food when you were a kid. Whatever tastes like Comfort and Joy” for you is what comfort and joy tastes like.
Idea For An Inexpensive Hygge Starter Kit #7-Think Meaningful Connection.
The last item for your Inexpensive Hygge Starter Kit doesn’t fit in a bag, box, or cabinet. The last item is people, people who matter, fun people, your people. What counts is your connection with those people.
You know…those people you visit with. Then you look up, and hours have passed. The people that you laugh till you cry and cry when it hurts, all because…you can. It’s also the people you might not talk to for a while, but when you do, it’s like they just went to the bathroom and returned. There are no awkward starts. You just pick up where you left off. The 10 Principles Of Hygge That Will Change Your Life
That’s what meaningful connection looks like and feels like. Those moments don’t cost anything, but they add to the Comfort and Joy of your life, which adds to the Hygge of your home. Who are your people?
So, Where Do I Start?
We gave you a lot to work with, and all of it was inexpensive or had no expense at all. But they all work. So, where do you start? Start wherever it feels good. Start with what you have, or start with a yard sale this weekend. Stop by a store with “Dollar” in its name or anywhere that sells “Everything Must Go.” Hit second-hand stores and junk shops.
How do you put all of this together? Well, here’s our rule for decorating and collecting. You put this one thing that you really love next to this other thing that you really love. Stack this one thing that feels like comfort and makes you joyful next to the thing that makes you remember a sweet moment in your life. The 10 Principles Of Hygge That Will Change Your Life
Gather things that are tasty treats and share them with the people in your life who make you feel like you belong somewhere. Do it all while enjoying a bonfire or an inexpensive string of twinkle lights. You can bring Hygge into your life. It doesn’t have to cost anything. It only requires some thought and imagination. Your Inexpensive Hygge Starter Kit is waiting. You’ve Got this!
Pixi-Pebbles For Creating Your Inexpensive Hygge Starter Kit.
Pixi-Pebbles are songs, quotes, videos, interviews, movie references, and books that we each personally pick for you.
We’ve used these little Pixi-Pebbles to move ourselves from a feeling we’re not enjoying very much…to a feeling that helps us discover our vision of intention, awareness, and direction.
They lead us to hope, possibilities, and a fire under our butt to live life by design instead of default.
In our blog, Get Cozy Right Now With 7 Easy Ideas For An Inexpensive Hygge Starter Kit, here is a Pixi-Pebble that came to mind…
Just a little inspiration to get you from here to there…
This may seem like a weird place to mention tv show theme songs, but one of our favorites when we think of nostalgic inexpensive hygge is listening to a playlist of our favorite tv shows of old. Here’s one of our favorites…Click here to check it out… Newhart TV Show Theme Song.
Give it a listen, and then make your own playlist of your favorite TV show theme songs that just make you smile.
