There is no doubt that life as we know has changed dramatically in 2020! Whether it is working from home or virtual schooling, these changes have had an impact on home design and preferences. Although cleanliness and personal hygiene should have always been on top of mind, they are certainly a primary consideration for everyone now. Below we discuss a few home design changes that will more than likely stick moving forward.
- The home office: Perhaps one of the most obvious home design updates from the pandemic is the home office. Throughout the past 9 months, many professionals have found themselves working from a makeshift office on the dining room table. This has forced many homeowners to either designate a new area of the house for a home office (or two), or forced them to look for a larger home to accommodate one or two home offices.
- The powder room near the entrance of the home: The heightened alert for cleanliness and personal hygiene has made the powder room near a home’s entrance quite popular. While powder rooms have been popular for some time, the demand for these half baths will only increase moving forward.
- Multi-generational homes: Throughout the past 9 months, we have seen devastating effects of the pandemic on assisted-living facilities. This has forced many families to rethink how they care for their senior family members. For families with the available land, many are opting to construct guest houses on their properties to house their older loved ones. As a matter of fact, a recent analysis showed that the cost to do this in combination with hiring home health services could be equivalent or even less than an assisted-living facility.
- A focus on outdoor space: One byproduct of the pandemic has been an increased appreciation of outdoor space. Many homeowners have been forced to shelter in place and thus have learned to maximize their property. This has resulted in an increased focus on outdoor living, particularly in places such as South Florida.
Summary
Typically, Americans tend to have short memories and eventually go back to old habits. With this said, the current pandemic has most likely changed the way we do certain things forever. The most glaring example of this is the way we do business. Many organizations have realized that they can be equally productive while cutting significant costs with their workforce working from home. This is even resulting in a changing landscape for commercial office strategies. In South Florida, we are even seeing more of these remote workers moving to The Sunshine State!
