Interior design comes and goes in waves. It’s usually in parallel with fashion and the changing decades, but now and then, some crazy fad comes along and you end up stuck with some horrendously ugly chair in your living room for most of your adult life.
Although interior design will always be important, there has been a resurgence of “lifestyle concepts” such as Hygge, Ikigai, and Lagam. What are these strange and wonderful words you ask may ask? And what do they mean? Well, we are here to tell you that these are lifestyle choices. It’s not about what you have in your home, but HOW you use your home to make you work, sleep, and feel better every day.
Hygge (pronounced Hue-guh)
Hygge is a Danish word which is quite hard to pin down, but we’ll try. Loosley, it means warm, cosy, welcoming and happy. The word has been around since the 18th century and essentially means well-being.
Living a Hygge life means investing in a family dining table and making time to enjoy delicious food without distracting screen time. It also means making your home welcoming and cosy. Think about replacing your bright lightbulbs for warmer ones, watching TV by scented candlelight. Buying some large cushions and throws to snuggle up in on the couch and getting rid of all the clutter, mismatched bedding and threadbare rugs. Replace them with rugs in matching warm downs and matching bedding you’ll just want to throw yourself into.
Living a Hygge life also means creating some space for you such as a study area, or reading nook by the window.
Ikigai
Ikigai is the opposite to Hygge. It is not about snuggling up in a warm, welcoming cocoon. Rather, it’s about living with purpose in life and having that reflect in your home. What do you really love to do? Is it to write or draw? Then create the best creative space you can. Do you love to switch off from a stressful day by watching a movie, or Netflix? Then untangle all those wires and treat yourself to a screen you can lose yourself in. If you love art, choose pieces that flow through your house as if you are walking through a gallery. Declutter your home to declutter your mind. Have a clean, clear space, reflecting your passions to come home to.
Ikigai is also about thinking what the world needs from you. You can give back in many ways. Create a native Australian garden area in your backyard, or pull down and dispose of that disused eye-sore of a shed and build a beehive, or install a worm farm to chomp on your organic waste.
Lagom
Lagom is a Swedish word which quite sweetly means ‘right amount’. It’s all about making small improvements to make a difference. Ethically purchased furniture and fabrics, recycling, and finding simple ways to reduce environmental impact are important. Look at changing your lighting fittings to LED, replacing batteries with rechargeable ones, and doing a little research when purchasing white goods, choosing the more energy efficient models.
Interior wise, think along the lines of IKEA, who champion the Lagom way. space saving ideas, simple design, which doesn’t cost thousands of dollars.
So, there are three major lifestyle concepts which are growing in popularity across the world. Which one are you most likely to implement in your home?
