With more materials and contractors now available, you might be itching to have your home redesigned, preparing for the future.
Our concept of home has, for sure, changed during the lockdowns. What had previously been a place to lay our heads on had become our workplace, children’s learning and play area, and everything in-between. Some were lucky; their homes consisted of wide cornfields, stables, and barns. But some had to make do with tiny quarters, and the highlight of the day could be going to the grocery store to see if they’ve stocked on tissues.
Now that mobility is more flexible, it’s a good time to work something out and make your home more comfortable.
Overhaul old utility systems.
Before looking at the appearance of your home, look at the efficiency of your utilities first. You might be tempted to go for repairs but if it has been serving you for some time, consider getting it installed anew. Repairs could greatly inconvenience you in the future. The pandemic showed us that manpower and materials are not always available. Should you be stuck in your home again, at least you will have all the basic amenities working.
You will have more flexibility in your design, too, as you wouldn’t have to think about the old layout of pipes and wires. Don’t attempt to DIY this part of your renovation. Find an HVAC contractor who will take care of your heating and cooling system. Get the plumbers and electricians. Get experts to install them properly.
Plan your rooms’ function to prepare the electrical sockets, faucets, and other structural support you need.
Consider having an open space layout.
With the utilities done, Plan now for your space. In the past months, our spaces were used for different purposes. It would be best if you could also have flexible rooms. Use movable furniture and rugs to delineate the areas. For example, you could put a carpet underneath your sofa and what would be your living room, but leave the dining area’s floor bare. You could also put a huge cabinet to put a partition between your dining set and sofa. There are also creative dividers you could refer to.
Consider your family size. Are you planning to expand in the future? Anticipate the daily needs of all the family members. If you have children, they will spend years playing and exploring before their energy gets toned down. Open space designs are even feasible for small areas.
Separate your study or workspace from your bedroom.
If there’s one thing that the work from home has taught us, it’s that work and rest overlap more when the bed is just in front of you while working. You can’t rest because your mind is on your work, and while you’re working, your body is tempted to snuggle in bed.
It’s not difficult to designate even a small nook as your work area. Choose a place with the least distractions, the part of the house that’s far from the street noise. And if possible, give it a big window so that you could look out whenever your eyes are too strained from looking at the monitor.
Gardens had been a big help.
We have realized from months of sharing a small space with other people that gardens offer some small respite. It doesn’t matter its size; the plants bring some freshness into a stressed home. Additionally, some people have created edible gardens. This helps lessen anxieties if grocery stocks get wiped up again.
Allocate a portion of your house that could be used for gardening. If you don’t have a backyard, you could put up a vertical garden at your indoor wall facing the sunrise. Give it a corresponding window so that sunshine could stream in. If you add the right heating equipment, it would be a nice breakfast area with a greenhouse feel. Indoor gardens bring many benefits to your home, such as detoxify the air and produce oxygen.
Design a patio you could use for outdoor dining.
Mealtimes are one of the few activities where your family could gather together. Although it’s advised that you shouldn’t talk much during meals to avoid saliva droplets, companionship is important for each member. It reinforces the feeling that you are going through this event as a family.
Open-air dining isn’t limited to restaurants. Make it a refreshing change in your home too. Even in winter, patios could be a safe dining space for your family. There are patio heaters. You could even embed heaters into the floor for a warm and toasty dinner.
The months we were forced to stare at the same walls, same rooms, and the same corners of our homes have hopefully given us enough fuel for our creativity. We now know how to make our homes into a livable space and not just somewhere we shower, eat, and sleep.
