Changing trends of how we live at home

Some clear and possibly lasting trends have emerged from the pandemic, following shifts in the way we live at home.

The biggest change concerns open-plan layouts: After years of love for openness and fluidity between spaces, we now are seeking separate areas that ensure privacy and serve a distinct function.

Other trends are a need for a buffer zone at the entrance to the home, spacious storage solutions to free the home from clutter, a move toward multifunctional furniture.

The home as a shelter, a refuge and a mirror of personality

The first part of this analysis starts with how we value our homes, which have transformed significantly over the past year due to increase in work from home culture.

Therefore, turning the house into a living space that is used more frequently and intensely has led to a new awareness of needs that may have been less pressing before the pandemic.

In search of boundaries

The first major change is the declining popularity of open-plan living areas. For years, [many people] have been almost fanatically obsessed with open-plan living. Now, the idea of living all your life in a single room with no privacy seems much less appealing.

After months of kitchens doubling as a place to work and do homework, and living rooms being continuously piled up with work files, books, toys and computer hardware — making it very difficult to relax and truly get away from work — we are now trying to divide spaces whenever possible.

If the home office has its own room, closing its door at the end of the day can help us unplug.

A need for organization

The stress caused by an open-plan layout crowded with desks and workspaces has also led to another trend: an increase in the need for storage spaces where we can quickly put away (or hide) the things that have been left lying around, so we can relax in a tidy space.

Buffer zone at the entrance

Today, designers are also increasingly being asked to make a buffer zone at the entrance with two main objectives: for the sake of hygiene, in order to have a space to leave outdoor, shoes, bags and coats; and to separate the living space from where deliveries are received.

The home workshop

Especially during the first months of the lockdown, more and more online activities and workshops popped up — aimed especially at engaging children with new forms of entertainment — while adults have had more fun in the kitchen by doing more cooking.

A very interesting trend is that of the house-workshop. Our homes are often missing spaces for ‘making’ — like work tables or rooms dedicated to musical, artistic and cultural creativity.

We have a need for reading spots, music corners and DIY tables. Thanks to the pandemic, we have understood how useful and stimulating a certain amount of domestic self-sufficiency can be.

Multifunctionality

In furnishings, multifunctionality is becoming increasingly popular. For years, office furnishings mimicked home furniture in terms of style and colour. Now the reverse is happening: Acoustic panels and sliding partitions previously used only to separate workspaces in offices are coming into the home.

Desks at home are increasingly resembling those from the office, including setups that can be adapted from sitting to standing for better posture.

A check on technology

The new word “technopherence” is popping up more. It refers to the interference of technology in personal relationships. The pandemic accelerated, almost like a rocket, our use of digital communication for work, education, shopping and leisure.

Suddenly we were doing at home many of the things we would normally do elsewhere. Digitally and socially overwhelmed and isolated in a confined physical space, we quickly began to desire the experiences — and understand the value — of public spaces and contact with nature.

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In touch with the outdoors

Here is the trend that seems most evident to everyone: During lockdowns, the luckiest people are those who have access to an outdoor space, like a yard or a balcony, because it means having precious additional space and a chance to enjoy fresh air.

The sustainability agenda plays a role in promoting attention to nature, but in reality, we are defined and guided by a general human need and desire for balance between, on one hand, the often fuzzy and immaterial world of our digital life and, on the other hand, being rooted in a world of things that are not artificial: such as wood, bamboo, stones, plants, water and animals, which belong to a realm that we are part of and connected to — nature!

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This article via Antonia Solari does not constitute advice; readers should seek independent and personalised counsel from an appropriate trusted adviser that specialises in property, a tax accountant and property or interior design specialist.