When it gets dark in winter at 5 PM— or earlier, depending on where you are— it’s a challenge to keep away the sundown scaries. The chill of short days, the thought of soft summer T-shirts, or the emptiness of a screened-in porch remind us that the earth is very far away from the sun. And at Haand, we take a lot of inspiration from warmer months. Look no further than our soft pink Azaelea glaze or our Stormware line to see our appreciation of spring and summer. But we’ve found that warmth captured in winter— an old wool sweater, fires, soft blankets, beeswax candles— has its own kind of comfort.
The concept of “hygge”— roughly translated as coziness from Danish and Norwegian— is specifically Scandinavian as well as universally understandable. Hygge, stemming from the Old Norse for “hug” or “comfort,” is a psychological state as well as a physical environment. A glass of mulled wine around the holidays is hyggelig; a snowstorm after a walk outside? Even more so. Hygge is the pleasure of safety, of having practical, well-made objects and doing heartening and healthful activities.
In North Carolina, we don’t get the 3 PM sundowns and arctic weather of Scandinavia. To us, hygge feels like a valiant cultural ideal of fighting the sadness and darkness of winter with a finely appointed home filled with loved ones. It’s about togetherness, weathering the storm, and appreciating the lovely, useful objects that make your day more comfortable. Hygge relates to colder weather but isn’t constrained by it. Think of white cotton sheets dried on a line or a citronella candle lit on a late summer evening. The small acts of using objects to improve your comfort happens year-round and we think Haand porcelain can be part of that ritual.
