The pandemic has been a catalyst for change. As it has forced us indoors, it has also changed the way we view our living spaces.
Now that more people are working from home, the need for a dedicated office space has become evident. The comforts of home can prove too comfortable. Who’d have thought that employees would yearn for the functionality of office ergonomics?
It’s been a busy year for licensed general contracting services, and that activity is set to continue in the foreseeable future. Because we aren’t just building home offices now. Our lasting takeaways from this period are human in nature, which will often lead to long-term changes in the way we live.
A trend towards healthy living
Healthcare experts have been warning us for years now of a different sort of pandemic than the one that’s dominated the headlines of 2020. As early as 2012, obesity has been documented as a pandemic.
As more people become obese, their nutrition suffers, resulting in increased mortality, accelerated aging, higher incidence of correlated illness, and generally poorer quality of life.
Factors associated with modern lifestyles tend to exacerbate the problem. Spending so much time on our devices makes us less active. Many jobs typically involve little more than sitting in front of a computer for hours.
It might seem counter-intuitive, but the shift towards remote work may be an inflection point. Forced indoors and into conditions that are even more conducive towards sedentary living, we’ve rebelled instead.
People have devoted more time and energy to preparing nutritious, home-cooked meals. Their garages and basements have been renovated into home fitness centers. Invest in improving your kitchen and carving out a similar workout space in your home, and you won’t regret it in the years to come.
Considering everyone’s needs
Out of necessity, the pandemic has brought families together. Kids have had to spend considerable time away from school and taking distance learning classes. Older family members have had to think twice about moving into nursing homes, given their high rates of infection.
More households have had to spend time together under the same roof than perhaps at any point in recent years, bar Thanksgiving reunions. And in the process, we’ve had to discover and adapt to each other’s preferences. After all, there’s nowhere else to go.
Moving forward, even when the threat of Covid-19 subsides, those hard-earned lessons will remain. We’ll still have to be considerate of the needs of other household members and even recurring guests.
Multifunctional spaces are fast becoming a staple of today’s reinvented homes. The popular open-plan layout may need modification, even if it’s only in the form of collapsible partitions, to give multiple occupants a sense of privacy.
Rethinking the need for space
On the subject of space, how much do you really need? The influence of the pandemic can have many homeowners rethinking this aspect.
Some people tend to have more space than necessary. That’s why all those unused rooms are now being converted into functional spaces. More space means higher costs and emissions associated with heating, cleaning, and maintenance activities.
Others will be conscious of the need for more space once mobility restrictions are lifted. Entertaining guests and having members of the extended family stay over will require spacious areas for mingling with reasonable health and safety precautions.
Everyone’s needs will differ on this count. What matters is that you make the appropriate changes to end up with just the right amount of space, balancing costs and needs.
