Is staying in the new going out? This is the name of a Facebook page that praises the beauty of staying on the sofa rather than braving rowdy bars. Many seem to agree with this philosophy, with the community reaching has 73 thousand fans without the page administrators having to spend much at all in sponsorships and publishing plans.
process started some time ago but is yet to peak: staying home, enjoying the warmth of a blanket and a hot coffee – especially during the harsh seasons – is winning over more and more people, and not just grown-ups starting a family. This new popular trend was definitely triggered by the economic crisis. Less money in the pocket, precarious
temporary jobs, and more careful spending made it necessary to review our priorities. And so we are rediscovering a forgotten pleasure that was probably never truly lost. But this is not the only reason. Living your own house and the spaces you have designed down to the smallest detail – in times of frenzy and stress – can be the greatest luxury of all. In Denmark, they even have a word for it: hygge. Impossible to translate if not with long paraphrases (“the pleasure of staying at home”, “the warmth of small things and affections”), the pragmatic Danes have summarized it in a single word so popular it was nominated 2016 word of the year by Urban Dictionary. Under the snug blanket of hygge you will find the pleasure of loose, comfortable clothes, cooking for friends, the homely atmosphere of a lit fireplace (or candle), the pot of seitan stew bubbling in the kitchen, a vinyl record playing your favourite music while you distractedly read a book or magazine article on your iPad. And so there is a growing interest in neat and cosy interiors, at all costs. This is where the importance of a comfortable and elegant sofa comes in, the softness of a cashmere blanket, the beauty of vintage furniture restored by expert hands to create a cool and unique style, making it fine to wear slippers at home, even for those watching on Instagram stories. Food, clothes and home design are creating an authentic culture of home relaxation.
In response to this newfound wellbeing, a number of services and trends have developed with a single goal: letting you stay home, because that is where you are truly happy. It is no coincidence that the most followed hashtags in the evening refer TV programs and that the most popular are cooking shows with amateur chefs; or that Netflix is so successful and, in Italy, Sky is adapting to this new content model: when you want, how you want, what you want (with the SkyGo and SkyGo Plus online platforms). Here too, the aim is to achieve the highest quality, even in entertainment - from movies in HD to music streaming. Jay-Z created the platform Tidal for this very purpose, offering subscribers premium AAC 320 kbps audio quality, while the HiFi subscription will guarantee you CD quality. On Tidal you will also find exclusive text and video content. Even Spotify Premium lets you listen to music with better quality (320 kbps) than the free version.
Over-stimulated by input each day, the desire to switch off and have some you time has become a real primary need. Never mind if the new place to be is opening down the road, you can be just as happy repeating that difficult soufflé recipe so you can make a good impression the next time you have dinner guests. And if for some people switching off means not even touching a pan, no problem! Just call a personal chef and decide on the menu, courses, and number of guests to have dinner taken care of, from the shopping to the cleaning up. Many even bring their own cooking equipment, offering you a quality meal to enjoy from your living room in pajamas and dressing gown.
On nannybutler.com you can book bilingual nannies, butlers and house managers to keep your house tidy and give you the welcome of a five-star hotel, not to mention impeccable supervision while bringing up your children, from the very first months.
And finally, home delivery, the increasingly pervasive service you simply cannot do without to feel a part of the civilized world. No matter where, how much its costs or when. Just like web-TV, food also has to show up whenever you feel like it, even it it's a perfect tandoori masala at ten on Monday evening. There will be someone from Deliveroo, UberEat or Foodora ready to jump on a bike, scooter or car and bring it to your building, or even apartment door, at exactly the right temperature. Staying at home does not mean giving up luxury services. For fine dining (in and around London) there's Supper, the app where you can choose dishes, which are then delivered to your home. The only difference is that your take-away is prepared in the kitchens of a growing number of starred restaurants spread across the British capital. And there is also a solution for those who prefer to dabble in the kitchen, without sacrificing the quality and comfort of a chic restaurant. Plated is a portal where you can book weekly groceries to prepare the very best dishes: healthy, well-made and top quality. The bag containing almost exclusively organic fresh and local ingredients includes recipes to follow and, if you get stuck, there is a mentoring service on the website to help you through the trickiest steps. Like in love, the roads to hygge are infinite and ever expanding. Because even staying in must be an exclusive experience, unique and unrepeatable.
