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Is COVID-19 reshaping the use of our homes? Yes!
We made it to the end of June, y’all! What a year, right? We all have been dealing with big changes since January that have been affecting our lives in every aspect. Professionally, personally and emotionally, we are facing big changes in a very short period of time. The new normal is here and might not be going anywhere, anytime soon. Actually, the new normal is the normal now, right?
As Interior and Landscape designers, we are always trying to solve problems with better solutions. Not only to create a better user experience but to create a better relationship between humans and their spaces. With the new pandemic, we have seen the changes in the use of homes and how important it is to create new elements to make our lives easier, better and more importantly, healthier.
We will discuss some few changes that are happening already that might help you create a better way of living in your home.
Work and Study Space
When cities were shut down because of COVID-19, dining and kitchens tables replaced office and school desks. Adults and kids had to adapt to work and study in the same room at the same time. This is one of the changes that most impacted families around the world. The first issue was: How to be productive when we have integrants of the same family with different schedules and different responsibilities when they have only one place to work and/or study?
Best solution for this is the separation of home offices for adults and study areas for children in new construction and renovations. Also, we have seen the use of pods inside of new homes. These pods are extra small spaces with desks, chairs, wifi and acoustic isolation to not disturb kids and teenagers when they are studying or having online classes.
Clean and Dirty Stations
Mudrooms and entryways were created to leave all the dirt from the outside before we get inside our home. These spaces have been working since the mid 1950's and they are very useful to create extra storage space and get the house more organized. Although, with COVID-19 and its extra care about cleaning, we had to put one more step before bringing all the new elements inside of our homes.
With that in mind, we have seen the necessity of extra cleaning stations in garages or kitchens to deep clean all the new groceries, packages and letters that we have to bring inside. These stations need to have cleaning supplies and trash baskets with touchless elements to stop the spread of germs and viruses.
Exterior Spaces
Families have been inside of their homes for more than 3 months and some cities are showing big spikes of new cases of COVID-19 that might cause other shutdowns in the near future. With less interaction with outdoor areas, people are having less to no contact with nature. We’ve seen a huge increase in the use of indoor plants and outdoor areas inside of homes in the last few months.
We will see the change in new buildings and constructions with more outdoor areas in houses and apartments. Also, because COVID-19, the real estate market is expecting another shift between Millenials and Gen Z moving to suburban areas to have bigger houses and outdoor spaces.
Comfort furniture
With more time inside of our homes, comfort furniture has turned essential for a better living. The furniture industry is expecting a shift in styles for this new decade. Modern mid-century was a prevalent style in the last decade bringing bold colors and skinny legs creating a unique look inside of homes in the U.S. but missing the comfort that homes are in need now. We are seeing the return of round shapes and organic elements with neutral colors and comfort as the first choice for customers.
For new constructions and renovations, the use of calm color palettes, and metals as copper, that can kill germs and viruses, will be used on a large scale from now on as well.
What are the issues that you are having inside of your home that you haven’t found the solution to? Please share with us in the comments.
We hope these ideas help you create a better use of your home and if you need more help, please feel free to contact us. We will be happy to help you. At Lima-Stanley Design, we truly enjoy creating beautiful, personalized spaces, whether that’s indoors or outdoors. If you’d like one-on-one advice from an expert in the field, please email us info@limastanleydesign.com or call us at 407-962-9998. We will be happy to help. ❤️