Having spent a wonderful weekend in the beautiful city of Copenhagen I thought it might be appropriate that our last post for the year is about the wonderful Danish concept of Hygge.

Pronounced ‘Hoo-ga’, it can be seen everywhere in Copenhagen. Peering into the windows of family homes and restaurant you can see the soft glow of candles, lamps and wood burning stoves; the glorious smell of Christmas spices; the laughter of children and friends as families settle in for the long cold winter nights.

And there is no reason we can’t bring a little Danish cosiness into our homes. You may not have a log burner in the corner of your sitting room but there is no reason you can’t switch off your large pendant light in the centre of your sitting room and switch on a few lamps with low energy bulbs. Light a few candles and get some mulled wine on the stove. Draw the curtains, snuggle up on the sofa and relax with friends and family and let the Hygge wash over you.

Of course, this is an over-simplification but my own interpretation of Hygge is to appreciate the smaller things in life that sometimes are overlooked, especially at this time of year in the over-commercialisation of Christmas.

May we all at BCA wish you all a wonderfully Hyggerly Christmas and Happy New Year.