Bringing Hygge to Your Apartment

As we pull ourselves out of the cluster that was last year and onto and a newer and brighter year in 2018, there’s no reason not to bring your apartment into the new year with you! One of the hardest things about starting the new year – whether it’s as a freshman in apartment or a working professional – is leaving the comfort of your pajamas/cozy sweaters/extra warm bedding and heading out into the cold. One way to capture that cozy comfy feeling all year long is to jump on the hygge trend that has been dominating our Pinterest feeds for the last several months. With dozens of hygge-inspired crafts to choose from (arm-knit blankets, repurposed sheepskin-covered stools, homemade rugs, and more), one of the easiest forays into the DIY world is a cozy wall hanging.

 alls.

My favorite thing about this craft is how easy and customizable it is – whether you’re looking to have a small piece hanging above your desk or a large one to replace your outdated posters above your bed, you can make the piece exactly suited for your room. And if you’re like me, you’re a stickler for colors – my apartment is all about the blush pinks and creams right now – which is why you’ll love the ability to customize this one to your room’s color scheme! All you need for this one is a the base and the hanging material itself. For mine, I chose a thin wooden rod that you can pick up at any craft store (Michaels or amazon has some that run the gamut from 1/8” to 1”) and a spool of thin, cream-colored yarn to go with my room. For a cozier, luxe look, pick a thicker yarn or a spun wool. And feel free to play around with the base as well – I’ve seen pieces using birch branches to really bring that indoor/outdoor look to life.

When you’ve selected your pieces, the project is simple – cut your yarn, wool, or hangings based on the length you want them (remember to cut double the length as you’ll be folding over the base). The amount of pieces will vary depending on the size of the base and the thickness of your material, but get a good amount going. From there, take a handful of pieces (I used about 20-25 for each loop since the yarn was so thin) and loop it around the base and pulling it through until you have a loose knot. Continue these loops along the base until it stretches the length of the base. Once you’ve got enough loops to fill the base, you can cut off any extra material to even it out or create a pattern – I opted for a diagonal look, but a chevron or a hi-lo could be cute too! To hang it up, you can try one of two options. The more apartment-friendly (or renter-friendly) option would be to create a sling by looping around a long piece of wool or yarn around either end of the base so that it makes an upside down V. Place a command hook above where you want the piece to hang, noting how much slack the sling will give you, and hang the piece. Or if you’re lucky and can get away with a nail here and there (like me!), you can do without the sling, line up two nails about halfway down the length or the base and rest the base on top of them.

And ta-da! A quick and easy way to bring a little extra cozy to your room – and to finally replace your roommate’s old Breakfast at Tiffany’s poster that’s been taking up too much space on your walls.