Fireplaces! Candles! Clutter! What are these people thinking?

In the New York Times, Ronda Kayson writes Tired of Winter? Here’s How to Make Your Home a Haven, all about how “it’s time to think Hygge thoughts and turn your home into a warm and cozy sanctuary.”

Now I thought Hygge had seen its day back in 2016, when our resident expert Katherine Martinko pointed out that all these Hygge things are not fun, they’re what you do to survive when you live in the woods. She wrote at the time:

I won’t call it cultural appropriation or poverty chic, but really, this is what you do when you live in a really crappy house without proper heat or insulation. Our dog got this. This was confirmed in Kayson’s article, where she interviews Laura Weir, author of Cosy: The British art of Comfort. That is a contradiction in terms; the British have perfected discomfort. They do not know the meaning of cozy. I have been in many cold climates but I have never been as uncomfortable as I was in Britain, where you never get warm, most houses are drafty and cold and, even now that they mostly have central heat, people act like they don’t and keep the temperature barely above freezing.

This is the reason why I am so excited at the growth of Passive House design in the UK. At last, they are building places where you can be warm no matter what the person controlling the thermostat does. Juraj Mikurcik’s house looks cozy but it’s not full of crap and clutter. But let’s get back to Kayson’s recommendations:

Embrace the clutter

Because you shouldn’t be burning newspapers; it creates huge amounts of particulate emissions and the ink releases toxic chemicals. It’s also dangerous:

In many cities, fireplaces are illegal because of the particulate emissions. But they also are incredibly inefficient, sucking air out of the room. Nobody should even have one in a city or town.

Lighting

I wonder how many of these are LEDs. You can get good ones now that have really good color rendition and warm tone; you can even get RGB bulbs where you dial up exactly what you want. But Kaysen is suggesting a LOT of lights. Bulbs like the Philips Hue bulbs are always connected to the internet, and always drawing a tiny bit of electricity.

Candles

How about no? Candles, especially scented ones, should not be in a home. As Katherine has written,

There are also particulates, phthalates and volatile organic chemicals.

Consider the textures

How about this modern home (pictured above) instead? Get rid of all that layered cosy stuff. The reason we got modernism and minimalism is that, after the First World War, people were concerned about bacteria. Paul Overy wrote:

Hygge sounds so warm and romantic, but it’s actually evil, hiding deficiencies and burning stuff and calling it “cozy.” It masks the fact that people are living in uncomfortable homes with so much stuff that you can’t keep it clean, with lousy air quality inside while you poison your neighbors burning newspapers in your useless fireplace. Think instead of Le Corbusier, who wrote in 1924: “Teach your children that a house is only habitable when it is full of light and air, and when the floors and walls are clear.” And never speak of Hygge again.