GERMANY –Cocooning is a term coined by marketing consultant Faith Popcorn in 1981. It refers to staying inside one’s home, insulated from perceived danger, instead of going out.

A trend that is taking hold now, in times of Coronavirus, when cozy and comfortable furnishings in your own home are becoming even more important. Home office, travel restrictions and event cancellations mean that most people spend more time in their own four walls than usual. “As a result, they put their furnishings to the test. The budgets are reallocated in favor of the apartment and long-cherished renovation and purchase requests are implemented,” says Jan Kurth, Managing Director of the Association of the German Furniture Industry (VDM).

The changed living situations result in new needs in terms of furniture. One example is the home office: While most of the working people have so far not worked from home or only sporadically, the home office has often established itself as a permanent solution in the pandemic. This increases the demands on the equipment. “Anyone who works from home for several hours every day wants a professionally furnished workplace,” says Kurth. “We particularly recommend an ergonomic office chair that enables dynamic and therefore back-friendly sitting. Electronically height-adjustable desks are also becoming increasingly popular, as they enable changing working positions and thus also contribute to back health.”

For reasons of space, many families are faced with the challenge of accommodating their desk in the dining or living room. “The German furniture industry offers delicate, visually appealing models for this,” says Kurth. The range also includes particularly space-saving, multifunctional solutions: for example the pull-out table, where the tabletop can be pulled out of a kind of office container. Or the space-saving secretary standing flat against the wall with a fold-out desktop. Mobile partitions can be used to separate the working and living areas during the day. They can be conveniently pushed aside in the evening – just like roll containers in which office supplies can be stowed.

Another consequence of Coronavirus is the fact that people cook more at home than they used to be. Not only does the work in the home office eliminate the need to visit the company canteen. Meetings with family and friends also take place less often outside, but more often within your own four walls. Then we cook together and talk and enjoy a relaxing time. The kitchen should provide the appropriate visual and functional framework for this – especially since the kitchen, dining and living areas nowadays usually merge into one another. The desire for a new kitchen is currently being implemented in many ways, as the German kitchen furniture industry is feeling. The industry is anticipating a 3 percent increase in sales this year.