Monday
Oct312011
Holiday Gift Guide is LIVE, and to celebrate i'm having an extra tuesday and Wednesday giveaway.
Monday, Oct 31, 2011 237 Comments If you have trouble seeing it above, go to this link:
She's alive folks
The massive Holiday Gift Guide is up and running for the next two months,
til January 1st.
Such a big day for the blog today. I mean, we (and by we i mean, Creative Director/blogger, Lana, Art Director/blogger, Lindsay, overall amazing dude/assistant and blogger, Orlando, and stellar new interns, Whitney and Bonnie) have all been working our little tooshes off on this thing the last two months. Here's what it is: tons and tons of gift recommendations - for her, him, dad, mom, boss, tween, kid, pet, etc. PLUS tons of original content from a bunch of extremely smart, witty, talented, funny, creative and diverse bloggers.
Check out the list:
There is holiday DIY, entertaining tips and behind the scenes of the Holiday Special for HGTV that i filmed (i'll announce the date as soon as they give it to me - you better watch it, i'm serious, that's all i want for christmas).
But mostly its a gift guide. Over 400 gifts handpicked. A lot of big companies you'll know and a lot from etsy (these grab asap because they are all handmade so there are guaranteed to be 20 but maybe not that much more of them).
In case you aren't familiar with this format, its basically a virtual magazine, and you can click on ANYTHING and have it link to the product or store that it came from - then purchase it. Boom, holiday shopping dunzo.
Of course i learned a ton and when we do this again it will already be massively improved on, but i kinda can't believe how good it looks all together. (This is thanks to mainly Lana and Lindsay - this is Lana's baby and Lindsay designed the entire thing - extremely impressive).
Meanwhile to celebrate this holiday guide as well as just good wallpaper in general, Hygge and West is doing a special giveaway today on my blog, Oh Joy and Ally from From the Right Bank.
Rules: Each person has three chances to win. To enter they just have to answer the question below in the comments of your post (and can answer the other 2 questions by Joy and Ally on ohjoy.blogs.com and fromtherightbank.com for 2 more chances.
The giveaway ends at midnight on Nov 3 when we’ll pick one random winner from each blog. We will contact the winners, and they’ll be able to pick any three rolls of H&W wallpaper that they’d like. And stop by their blog blog, Picnics Under the Moon (www.picnicsunderthemoon,com), we’ll be giving away some of our favorite bird items from here, and launching some new colorways of our very first wallpaper design, Daydream, but Julia Rothman.
The question: The closest translation for the Danish word hygge (pronounced hoo-ga) is cozy, but it means so much more than that. It means surrounding yourself with people and things you love, deeply appreciating what you have in the present, and finding joy in the smallest of moments. We want to learn more about and be inspired by the hygge in other people’s life, so in the comments have your readers tell you/us about what makes their home joyful and cozy?
The question: The closest translation for the Danish word hygge (pronounced hoo-ga) is cozy, but it means so much more than that. It means surrounding yourself with people and things you love, deeply appreciating what you have in the present, and finding joy in the smallest of moments. We want to learn more about and be inspired by the hygge in other people’s life, so in the comments have your readers tell you/us about what makes their home joyful and cozy?
In case you need some convincing, here is a pic of Joy's wallpaper i did for Secrets from Hygge and West:
It's still seriously my favorite wallpaper i've ever used and i would kill for three free rolls. And yes, i think there is a cat underneath the coffee table.
SPEAKING OF GIVEAWAYS!!!! There are 5 giveaways listed at the end of the guide- so make sure to read all the way through and click the giveaway items to enter!
Tweet tagged From the Right Bank, Holiday Gift Guide, Oh Joy!, announcements, giveaway in Gifts, Shopping
From the Right Bank, Holiday Gift Guide, Oh Joy!, announcements, giveaway in Gifts, Shopping 
Reader Comments (237)
This is such a great giveaway! Pick me!
I love to visit my father’s home in Northern Scotland. Sitting in front of the fire on his overstuffed sofa, looking out at the wild North Sea while sipping tea and toeing the old hard wood floors with my socks is the coziest spot in the whole wide world.
For me it's the view out the windows in the back of the house. We overlook a large farm with rolling green pastures and grazing sheep, cows, llamas, and goats. Watching them wander across the field each day is like moving art that can be as amusing as it is peaceful. I love it.
What makes my home joyful and cozy are the little decor details and super comfy furniture. I love to pick up flowers at the Farmers Market and display them all through my kitchen and living room. My oversized furniture is easy to collapse in and view the panoramic views of the Fayetteville, AR foliage in the Fall. I love being at home.
woah, that guide is a beast! can't wait to look through it
as for the giveaway - personal touches and style is definitely what makes a home cozy...nothing is colder than a room that looks straight out of a catalog!
My home is cozy because of warm colors, comfortable & welcoming furniture with plenty of blankets and pillows, pictures and art that represent people and places we love, natural fibers and materials, soft light--and then the creatures in it, my husband, myself, our kitty, and our baby on the way, all snuggled down together.
My favorite things in my home are the ones that have a family history. I have an old perpetual calendar that belonged to my grandfather. I keep it on the mantel and each month when I change it over I think about him and what it would have been like to know him. I have my mother's wedding silver displayed on a shelf. I have blown glass that I made right after my 40th birthday, when I checked "learn to blow glass" off my bucket list.
What makes my home joyful and cozy? Fun coloured furniture, hand picked furniture, slippers and blankets, and a felt moose head mounted over the mirror in the bathroom that makes me grin every single time I see it!
LOVE this giveaway.
IMO, what makes a home cozy are the ephemeral things you bring into it ... fresh cut flowers, the smells of cooking (or take-out,) laughter and conversation ... i know that sounds corny, but i really think that the best use of decorating is facilitating those things, to build a home that will truly allow you to have the most fun with your friends and family (or just curled up by yourself with some hot chocolate and a great book).
I find comfort in the sentimental objects that I've incorporated into my home decor. I have a hand-painted canvas by my great-grandmother and a set of antlers from my grandfather. I have a stack of vintage art books displayed that were given to my by my great aunt. It's items with meaning that make a home feel like a home and surround you with memories of those you love even in the smallest places.
amazing giveaway!
I'm a newlywed and a hygge moment was after a long day of moving and unpacking and cleaning, we sat on our new couch and felt like our home was finally to become our home.
so fricking excited about the gift guide!
the people (big and little) in my home are what make it hygge!
My most recent joyful, cozy memory was just a little over a week ago. My boyfriend and I moved into our apartment 6 months ago, but had yet to christen our fireplace (a luxury in apartment living!) Not long ago, the weather was just cold enough to make a pot of hot chocolate and light a fire for the first time. It got me very excited for what's to come!
Although my husband and I haven't fully moved into our first house yet, what makes our home joyful and cozy is the memories we make in it! Countless endless nights, gallons of paint, uncovering things we've never noticed before have made us fall even more in love with our home. Plus all the wonderful sentimental artwork we've collected over the years makes our home feel special!
Hygge to me is snuggling on the couch with my husband and dog, knowing I don't have an obligation that will make me get up, and just relaxing, being in the moment.
The coziest place I’ve traveled the past few years has got to be my childhood home. Returning to hang with my parents for holidays or long weekends always means surrounding myself with people I love, and memories from earlier years. I’ll be sad to see it go when they eventually sell it, but until then plan on taking advantage of all the hygge possible!
Oooooh I would love to paper the wall behind our bed. We can't decide what to do on that wall, and this would be perfect!
It's officially been fall for a few weeks now, my favorite season, but for the first time the other morning, it "smelled" like fall - fallen leaves, firewood burning, crisp air. Aaaah. I love moments like that. Cozy.
I recently adopted a puppy and it's been weeks of non-stop madness. However once he settles down and cuddles in my lap, I can't imagine anything better after the craziness!
My grandmother's house has a cozy den with a fireplace and lots of mismatched hand-knitted afghans lying around. I love going there.
Lots of sunlight, thick plush rugs and an amazing view of the Iowa farmland makes our home serene and cozy.
The layered use of patterns in my house mixed with unique vintage pieces gives my home a chic but cozy feel. Plus, there's something about 1940s California cottage-like houses that are inherently cozy.
We recently recarpeted the basement. It's still pretty cold, so we added a small space heater and voila, it's become our go to place for movies on rainy days, reading old and new books, napping with our daughter and just to cuddle.
i love this giveaway! I love my home because it is unique, bright and cheerful - and that it has my two favorite people (well, err one is a dog, but he's almost like a person.. a persondog!) living in it. :)
One thing that makes our home so cozy is the art we have hanging on the walls. Most of it is my husband's landscape photography, my sons' crayon drawings and fingerpaintings, and my own handmade crafts. It makes our home feel so personal and meaningful.
Ahh so many things make our home cozy: the fireplace, our mini goldendoodle Charlie, my hubby, our restoration hardware warm throw, and of course sitting on the couch with a fresh brewed cup of coffee!