When summer recedes, thoughts turn to preparing for colder months ahead. If you only have visions of tuning up the snowblower, fiddling with the thermostat and buying ice melt, you’re missing the more pleasant aspects of getting cozy in your fall/winter shelter. Getting your home ready to counter weather’s tougher elements – however you define that – is also a time to style your space into an inviting sanctuary for family, friends and even pets. Here are some of our home essentials for capturing the spirit of hygge.
CEDAR CHEST. There’s nothing like the aroma of a cedar-lined storage chest. They were in their heyday from the 1920s through the 1960s, popular for both their beauty and practicality. The hygge quotient is high, with a cedar chest being the default storage space for wool blankets and sweaters. Many cedar chests also can be used as benches, all the better for pulling on your boots.
JAPANESE TEA SET. Stoneware tea sets ruled during the granola-and-earth-shoes era of the 1970s. Today they call that style Boho Chic, and tea sets like this one once again grace coffee tables (think of the irony in that) and cozy nooks. Tea not your thing? Who says this isn’t the perfect set for serving hot chocolate or saki?
LIGHTING. If you live in the Northern hemisphere, then the amount of daylight in your life is more noticeably on the wane this time of year. That makes great lighting more important. Yet those lights are going to be in your home all year long. So make them special. Have some fun. And be sure that they bring the kind of light – general, task, mood – that you need.
SERVING CART. It’s time to tuck away warm nights at open air cafes and focus on entertaining at home. There are lots of major holidays clustered in the last months of each year, so you’re bound to have a few family members and friends over for an evening. Whether you use it to serve cocktails, snacks or tea (see above) a compact serving cart lets you take the party to your guests.
WOOL THROWS. Curled up in your favorite chair binge watching TV. Maybe reading a book or just gazing into the dancing flames in a fireplace. Nothing adds comfort like a good wool throw. We prefer vintage Pendleton and Faribault Woolen Mills offerings in plaids and patterns. For those averse to the itch of wool, there are plenty of cotton and acrylic options available.
Gather your fall/winter essentials – people with whom to share them – and have a cozy season inside.
(Sept. 22, 2019)