Your front yard is the first thing people see when they come to visit. It’s the first thing you see when you return home from a long day. It’s the first impression your home gives.
You’ve likely walked up the steps of a home’s front before and felt confused at where to go or even uneasy. Maybe there were broken steps or peeling paint on the porch or cobwebs in all of the corners and unkempt plants in the containers. You might wonder whether you’re in the correct location or if you’ve stumbled onto a spooky movie set.
In reality, the front entrance of your home can often suffer from neglect. Maybe you have the best intentions, but you’d rather spend time in your backyard or focus on your patio or your entertainment areas. We completely understand.
But you can ensure your front yard gives off positive vibes, comfortably leads people in, and boosts your curb appeal with some front yard entry ideas that are inspired by a landscape design concept called hygge. This idea can actually do more than a regular front yard makeover by adding a few important elements that amplify connection in your space.
Let’s learn more about what hygge can do for your front yard Kansas City landscape, so it can start working for you rather than against you.
Hygge Front Entrance Ideas To Give Your Home a Welcoming Boost
You might be wondering what hygge is. Hygge, pronounced “hoo-gah,” is a Danish term that means a quality of coziness and comfortable conviviality that engenders a feeling of contentment or well-being.
To create a front entryway that uses hygge principles, you want to look beyond curb appeal and the basics of getting from the driveway to the front door (though those things will naturally come into play with a well-thought-out design. With hygge, you’re redefining the opportunity you’ll have to get more enjoyment and use out of your front yard.
With hygge front yards, your landscape designer will assess the area based on increasing relaxation and welcoming guests.
Here are some ideas to get that entryway that delivers more than just a pretty face.
Incorporate the Sound of Water
Everybody needs more relaxation today; you know it and we know it.
The sound of water adds an instant calming effect, so don’t neglect it as a hygge front entrance idea.
Maybe try a small fountain or – depending on the size of your front yard – a more grand pond with a waterfall or even a larger water sculpture.
The soft sound of running water can do wonders to add a special ambiance to your front space for those times when you want to get away, as well as create an instant experience for your guests. And it can also muffle any nearby noises like traffic on your street to further create a more intimate space.
Add The Element of Fragrance For a More Welcoming Front Entrance
In a hygge front yard, all of the senses can shine. Sounds like that of running water can be combined with scents like those of fragrant flowers to encircle you with an overall feeling of calm contentment.
Fragrance can be added to your front yard through flowers, herbs, and outdoor diffusers for a more complete sensory experience.
Your hygge garden will introduce plants that you love or have fond memories of – maybe a lilac shrub that was similar to one your mom had where you grew up or a plant that invokes pastimes with its soft texture and memorable fragrance.
Create Pocket Gardens To Increase Opportunities for Connection
A hygge entryway will not be based on landscape elements – everything from plants to hardscapes to lighting. Instead, it will use these tools in an overall design concept that prioritizes atmosphere and experience.
A big aspect of hygge is creating occasions for connection.
As Meik Wiking says in “The Little Book of Hygge” book: “Hygge has been called everything from ‘the art of creating intimacy,’ ‘coziness of the soul,’ and ‘the absence of annoyance,’ to ‘taking pleasure from the presence of soothing things,’ ‘cozy togetherness,’ and my personal favorite, ‘cocoa by candlelight.’”
For a hygge front yard, this could mean adding a pocket garden where you can enjoy a cup or tea or coffee with a friend or adding a bench for welcoming guests. As Wiking further adds: “You cannot buy the right atmosphere or a sense of togetherness. You cannot hygge if you are in a hurry or stressed out, and the art of creating intimacy cannot be bought by anything but time, interest and engagement in the people around you.”
Maximize Comfort For The Best Hygge Entryway
You certainly can’t relax in your hygge front yard if you don’t feel comfortable.
Amplify your comfort level by incorporating privacy in your front pocket gardens or adding sun and wind protection to your entryway to shield guests from glaring suns or blistering winds and to enrich the sensory experiences around them.
Consider How You Could Use Your Front Space More Effectively
With a hygge-inspired front yard, you’re actually creating an atmosphere and experience for maximum enjoyment of your space. This will be specific to you and your needs, including elements that ease your tension and boost your relaxation.
A hygge entryway might include, for instance, a stylish delivery box for hiding and securing deliveries and packages, seating or privacy, as well as stylish access options for addressing any special needs (ramps, for instance).
Think Beyond Curb Appeal
As an aesthetic function, curb appeal maximizes the beauty of the front of your home.
While curb appeal is great, adding hygge elements creates a more welcoming front entrance by adding a depth of interest that differentiates your home from your neighbors’ homes, giving it that something extra.
In this way, front yards and gardens don’t have to be just for curb appeal alone. Your front yard can be an enjoyable, social area of your property where you spend hours enjoying the fresh air and don’t confine yourself to the backyard alone.
You deserve time to play, too. Wiking explains how hygge can help you do that. “Adults are not supposed to play. We are supposed to stress, have worries and be too busy dealing with life’s problems. But according to a study undertaken by Princeton University and led by Alan Krueger, Professor in Economics and Public Affairs there, we are happiest when we are involved in engaging leisure activities.”
“Hygge is about giving your responsible, stressed-out achiever adult a break. Relax,” he adds.
Choose Furnitures And Fabrics That Are Calming
As well as amping up the sensory experience and creating pockets for conversation, contemplation, and connection, you can take a hygge entryway one step further by choosing hardscapes that match.
Think comfort and coziness above all else. So bold and earthy colors of stone or wood tend to shine, as do the additions of lush outdoor pillows and fabrics that add to the overall visually appealing and enriching space.
Looking For A Hygge Entryway for Your Kansas City Home?
Anxiety and stress are commonplace in today’s busy world.
Hygge is about calmness, soothing sensations, and comfortable surroundings. In this way, hygge front yards create anti-anxiety environments for living life to its fullest and spending time unwinding.
If you are looking for an atmosphere and experience-forward landscape design that connects people as a top priority, then a hygge front entrance could be just the thing your Kansas City home needs.
You can probably hear the soothing water trickling, smell the sweet flowers, taste the afternoon tea as you close your eyes on a lounge chair and just breathe.
If this is a vision that you find appealing, then consider a hygge experience. And if you still have questions about how hygge could work in your front yard, contact High Prairie Landscape’s experts. We are big believers in the hygge movement and love what it can do for Kansas City front yards. We’d be happy to show you real life examples and see which elements can make your front yard more rich with connection, experience, enrichment, and contentment. Ready to step up your relaxation game? Give us a call.
Ready to see how High Prairie can transform your Kansas City home front landscape with the hygge garden design concept? We’d love to share our design and installation expertise with you. Get started today with a free consultation. Together, we can prepare a design that you will love because it melts your stress away and boosts connection with family and friends.