Frugality, meaning judicious use of money and a dislike of extravagance, is totally hygge. It costs nothing to nest, except effort and a desire to create a cosy home. A hygge house needs to be welcoming, uplifting, available to snuggle into and enjoy. That isn’t achieved with a show home and pristine white furniture (unless pristine white furniture is hygge to you, in which case go for it)

For most people, though, a hygge home will welcome you in with comfy cushions, throws against the warmth and candles to light the dark. Good food, good friends and good times had by all.

None of that need cost an arm and a leg, and most hygge is improved by keeping it simple, easy and homemade. Baking, crafting and being creative pay dividends in making a hygge life with the added benefit that they are often communal activities as well. Keeping costs down makes a hygge life accessible to all, and being welcoming to those who need it is hygge.

Being frugal often means being a careful steward of the environment, too. Judicious use of cleaners, careful deployment of resources and an attitude of reduce-reuse-recycle-reconsider helps to shape a house into a home. Secondhand? No, pre-loved. Homemade? Try crafted by hand. Borrowed, bargain shopped or bought judiciously after careful consideration: they all help to build a better world and a beautifully hygge home.

I’m not a minimalist, but I am a meaningfulist. I would rather use the bureau inherited from my grandmother than buy a new laminated desk. I have wooden spoons and a palette knife passed on by my mother-in-law, while my bedside table holds books from four generations of women: My Nan’s copy of Jane Eyre, my Mum’s (ex-library) copy of The Harvester, my copy of Lord of the Rings and the original copy of The Story of Holly and Ivy that I read to my daughter every Christmas from about 5 to 19. I like things with stories, and especially if those stories have meaning for me.

Faith, family, friends and frugality. They all matter to me, all build on each other and all help me create my (imperfect) hygge life in Britain. Not pretty, not Insta-perfect but enough.