‘HYGGE IS A LOT OF LOVE’
We made sure our hygge fashion shoot is as authentic as possible – even our lovely model, 20-year-old Eva Yardley, is from Denmark. She moved to the UAE three months ago.
What is your interpretation of hygge? Hygge is something you create. For me, hygge is being with my closest friends and family. It’s spending time together. It’s my cosy home with my cute little lamps, my candles and my blankets. In Denmark, we say you have a hyggeligt home; or today was hyggeligt; or do you want to come to my place and hygge? It describes a place or feeling that is very warm and filled with love. Hygge is, for me, a lot of love in the same place. How would you explain it to someone who doesn’t know what it is? Imagine sitting in a warm home. It’s dark outside and cold, very cold. Around you are candles and cute little lamps and you’re sitting on your sofa filled with pillows, wrapped in blankets and wearing your favourite pyjamas. You’re drinking hot chocolate and eating biscuits and you’re surrounded by people you enjoy being with. How do you achieve hygge in Dubai? Making my home my safe place. It’s important for me that everyone who comes to my home feels like it’s their home, too. My sofa is filled with pillows and blankets. My shelves have lots of candles and flowers. Every corner of my room has a lamp. What would you wear? Big fluffy socks and sweaters, never anything tight or uncomfortable. It has to be something I could fall asleep in. What are your top hygge tips? If you have a big light bulb in your ceiling, change it to three small lamps around the room. Fill your sofa with colourful soft pillows and blankets and cover your floor with carpets. Put candles and flowers anywhere there’s room. Decorate with mirrors, family pictures and funny memories. Most importantly, open up your home for the people you care about. When you have dinner, don’t hurry and get it over with. Talk to each other and enjoy it. In Denmark, when we eat dinner, it can take hours because this is the time of the day you actually have time for each other.