For over a year now, our homes have become so much more than they used to be. It used to be that we would spend very little time in our houses and conduct all of our endeavors at different locations, often returning home just to sleep. But with the pandemic hitting hard worldwide and quarantining rules in place, our homes have quickly transformed to accommodate our office, gym, spa, favourite restaurant and entertainment center.
Eventually we’ll shake off this pandemic but that doesn’t mean that it will not have left a significant mark on the way we live out lives and, naturally, the way we project and decorate our homes. From the looks of it, some pandemic-influenced trends are already taking off and changing home design for the foreseeable future. Here’s the ones we identified so far:
1. Multi Use Spaces
One long-term impact of COVID-19 is undoubtedly that even after the lockdown is lifted, more people will be working from home. We have officially removed the negative stigma of working at home, and while physical offices will not become extinct, we’ll see far more of a mixed approach for working on the future. This makes our common spaces more important than ever before. If currently many people have been constricted to improvise an office, in the future, people will be more inclined to include a more professional home office when designing their homes.
The primary frustration that many people have about their current, frequently improving home office set-up was limited private space for work. So it is more necessary than ever to create a private, formal workspace. Simply put? Home offices to stay here. Since life goes back to normal, several workers will probably start to create remote jobs. As a result, instead of improving desk settings, we’ll see more dedicated and private workplaces. This may mean people moving to larger houses in more remote areas or dedicating guest rooms as a permanent home office.
The secret to home architecture would be multifunctional spaces as well. We can begin by seeing that the inclusion of desks and workspaces in bedrooms and living rooms is part of the norm, as even those still working in an office are more flexible to work from a distance. Creating several workspaces around the home allows two people to work simultaneously from home without bothering each other.
2. Wallpaper & Colors
Who would have thought that bold wallpapers will become a thing again? But many people may have taken the curious, decorative wallpaper trend as an attempt at escapism. Quarantine put many of us in the position of finding creative solutions to not being able to travel so thus the walls were turned into holiday retreats as tropical beaches, jungles, rose gardens, nature was the largest seller.
On the other hand, the warm neutral colors have also been a rising trend. The tones worked together to calm our moods and brighten our days, taking all types of terracotta, mustard, citrus and silent green colours.
The pandemic has affected several interior patterns and moved from open concept spaces to intentionally built ‘hubs’ that provide privacy and concentration for working and schooling with breakout areas that ensure much-needed isolation and relaxation. Colors that quickly transcend mindsets, like beiges and gigs, became ideal for linking these spaces, allowing to feel accessible all day while building designated spaces that will bring the entire family from morning to night.
3. Wellness at home
Although there was a growing pre-pandemic home wellness spaces trend, since the crisis arose, people have been buying everything from steam baths to yoga and massage equipment for their homes.
After a rough day, the bathrooms were a place to relax, but in the middle of a pandemic…that urge seemed to grow. We’re now starting to really see the value of home spas. Be it a steam feature added to a shower or putting in a big luxury bath, people are searching more and more to improve their bath-time experience and transform it into a spa-like one, where they can fully relax.
The lockdown has also emphasized the need for a fitness room space. A basement gym for that can provide more access to fresh air and natural light or even just a dedicated corner of the house where you can have enough space to put down a yoga mat or a treadmill will do the trick.
4. More Privacy
As pointed out earlier, several events are beginning at home that need new ideas that we haven’t had previously. Video calls, for example, need soundproofing solutions, for example.
If quarantine (especially when you do it with a large family) has taught us anything is that privacy is really important. Instead of open plans, which were a key theme in the interior in recent years, we will most probably start to rethink the home design towards a more fragmented house scheme.
The open kitchen for example, will most probably transform into two separate spaces, where one could have more privacy without disturbing the others.
5. Smart homes
Smart, voice controlled homes are already starting to become pretty big. And let’s be frank, we all thought that intelligent inventions were just something that made our lives simpler and our homes cooler, before we had no reason to stop touching those surfaces.
Now, we look at how many hands can touch the doorbells at our entrance (particularly if we live in an apartment building), or the elevator buttons. So voice control can now become an enormous theme. Moreover, it can be a really useful option if you feel ill and need support for people living alone.
This crisis may bring new ways of incorporating digital media into our homes for people living alone, especially for the elderly. Think of open ways for both older and young technological experts to effectively use technology.
6. Little gardens
Everybody wants a small garden after a long quarantine inside the apartment, or at least a small terrace, where they can spend some time outside.
All the gardening stuff will see an enormous comeback and new ways of integrating greenery into homes. Vertical gardening will boom as a known way of reducing our stress and of improving air quality in our homes. You can also discover what you eat indoors with small indoor areas fitted with artificial light, air and water to grow vegetables.
7. Sanitized Spaces
We will grow a new interest and sensitivity in the field of home hygiene and sanitation. This will introduce a lot of exciting improvements in our homes, accelerating technology already available but not so popular, or inventing several new innovations to help the hygiene of our homes.
Take air purifiers, indoor air quality surveillance, new air and water filtration systems, for example. But also on germs resistant flooring materials and surfaces as well as self-cleaning technology, for example inside wardrobes and kitchen cabinets, that are to be incorporated into interior furniture.
About the Author
Michaela Smith is the marketing director of Empire Movers, a respected commercial moving company in NYC with over 15 years of experience on the market.