Kos Living
Natalie and I visited Norway last month and noticed they treat winter like Californians treat summer. They have all the gear ready to make the best of the weather. My fav feature how they had fur blankets on many of the chairs for their inside and outside dining.
Here is the photo that we took during the snowfall. Turns out this cozy lifestyle has a name.
Kos is a Norwegian word that doesn’t translate cleanly into English, but it’s at the heart of how many Norwegians live. It means more than just “cozy.” It’s a feeling of warmth, intimacy, and peaceful contentment—found in slow conversations, candlelight on a winter evening, or shared moments that ask nothing more than presence. It’s both a vibe and a value. In our home, Kos is the philosophy that guides everything: how we gather, how we rest, how we host, and how we love. It’s the reason we linger after dinner, the reason the fire is always lit, and the reason people say “I feel safe here.” Kos is not about luxury or perfection—it’s about depth, connection, and slowing down enough to feel alive together.
One way we want to start living the Kos life here in or home is having people come by with no agenda other than just talk and do the things we are doing at home, play game, work on computer, clean the yard, whatever it is. We just do things we would do anyway with more people and the visitors can do what they wish. Need some food, get it in the fridge. Need to shower or hot tub or sauna, go for it, maybe we will join maybe we will watch netflix while guest sauna.
We tried this last night with some fire and guitar and food outside next to our pond. It felt like a celebration of spring, but now, as I type, it is snowing outside. No worries, I am getting Kos next to a fireplace now with a friend who just dropped in. This video is a good overview about it
Scott X
Happy 4:20 friends. Keep it kos.
Love it! What a great concept.
I also enjoyed the "Sorry We're OPEN" sign in the restaurant window. Does this mean the owners/workers would rather be at the Soria Moria Sauna? ;)
There was a study I saw years ago from Nextdoor (which I cannot find again), that showed stat sig increase in life expectancy if you just know the names of your neighbors! How much more improved is life to be friends with your neighbors! Moving from Utah to Chicago for grad school we were so excited to get to know the neighbors of our walkup apartment, it blew our minds when we never, ever, ever saw or met them (except for the Russians who smoked outside). Moving back to Utah, we are so grateful to find ourselves on a street in Midway that embodies this "kos" you describe. We share meals, yard work, children roam free, tractors, and Costco memberships. Come visit if you would like.