the wonderful everyday

The material that has been published on hygge encourages its readers to shake up their approach to life with a new, hygge mentality. This focuses mainly on making simple changes in order to consequently feel happier within our lives. One way in which this can be achieved is through the power of interior design - however, the public interest in clean and minimalist Scandinavian interiors predates the hygge craze. In fact, many of the most popular hygge texts were published in quick succession due to public demand for a piece of the seemingly new Scandinavian approach to life, and all within the last year. Yet as highlighted in The Daily Telegraph, ‘the first Ikea store in the UK was opened in 1987 in Warrington’ (Wallop, Harry) and has since been changing the way we approach design and even food.

One of the most interesting things about Ikea is that as a company, they believe in an unlikely, yet somewhat intrinsic relationship between food and furniture. In an interview with Michael la Cour, the Managing Director of Ikea Food Services, Michele Bianci asks the questions that we want to know the answers to – why is a company that is renowned for its purse-friendly flat-pack furniture also famed for meatballs and mash? This relationship is sourced from the company’s attitude in how to approach designing each piece of furniture and la Cour refers to this as the ‘Democratic Design: low price, form, function, quality and sustainability. We apply the same principles in our approach to food’. Food is not dissimilar to the assembling and creation of a chair; both include a recipe of sorts that include an ingredient and method. Texts on hygge instil the same values through living frugally but without affecting the quality of life. However Ikea’s success as a company reinforces that this is not a new concept only being brought to light now in the popularised marketing of Scandinavian life-style books. 

Works Cited

Bianci, Michele. “Meatballs & Klippan: Why A Furniture Dealer Decided To Sell Food”. Ikea Highlights 2016. Web. 14 Mar. 2017.

Wallop, Harry. “Ikea: 25 Facts.” The Daily Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group, 31 Oct. 2012. Web. 14 Mar. 2017.