The Pandemic Taught us to Avoid These 5 home Design Mistakes

Open floor plans have often been on top of the must-have list on home design shows. People desired open living rooms and kitchens for entertaining with lots of light. Doors were highly underrated. The pandemic helped us to reevaluate our housing priorities and change up our home designs for the future.

Here are a few of the things that people are rethinking:

Not Having a Home Office

With more and more people working and schooling from home, the home office moved from a bonus to an essential. 2020 moved more offices to adjust their policies and become more friendly to their employees working from home. If you don’t have the extra room for an office right now, you can try converting a space. Check out this article on converting a closet into a ‘cloffice’.

When schools moving virtual, we learned the importance of having a good classroom or homework space for the kids.  Check out this article here on how to create a healthy homework space for the kids.

In future home designs we will be looking to add an office or workspace to our wish lists.

Not Having an Outdoor Entertainment Space

Often the outdoor space is looked at as a perk rather than a must-have. We treated our outdoor spaces as an afterthought. Some of us didn’t even have gardens until this past year when we had the extra time to cultivate our dreams.

Last year taught us to maximize all of our spaces. With smaller groups and the need for fresh, clean air, we’ve often moved to our outside gardens. As these spaces became more important, we focused on updating our patio furniture, our décor and our outdoor living spaces.

Moving forward the design of the outdoor spaces will be nearly as important as our indoor décor.

Not Ignoring Air Quality Improvements

Air is not something we think about – it just is. After the past year we realized how important clean air is and how many viruses are airborne. While masks may reduce our risks outside, we realized we need to focus on the inside of our homes as well. Some simple ways to improve our air are by adding some air purifying plants, placing air purifiers around the home or investing in HVAC systems.

In our future designs, we will take into consideration how we can keep the clean air flowing.

Not Appreciating Doors

As mentioned at the start open floor plans were often top of the list of must-haves on the home shopping list. This past year living with roommates and family have taught us that a level of privacy is a necessity. Doors and walls were underappreciated until this past year when we sometimes just needed a retreat.

In our future designs we will add some balance between shared and private spaces.

Not Considering Disinfectant Friendly Surfaces

While we may love our soft, cushy materials we may have realized that they aren’t always the most ideal when it comes to cleaning. When we started wiping EVERYTHING down with disinfectant last year we may have realized some surfaces were lacking in the ease of cleanability category. Our stylish sofas and other décor items may be reevaluated and replaced with easier to clean items. Washable rugs, durable countertops and other surfaces will become top priority.

In our future designs cleanability will be a must-have in our décor choices.

We are always learning and improving when it comes to our home design choices and sometimes life events will teach us to consider and appreciate new slants on the topic. If you have any questions or concerns regarding finding your perfect home, we are happy to help.