Has the pandemic changed lifestyles and home design?

VILNIUS, Lithuania – In a survey conducted by the international online home design platform Planner 5D, consumers around the world had to rethink their ideas about what creates the ideal home.

Houses and apartments have been transformed into multifunctional spaces combining traditional living with work, study and fitness. And most of the household members had to occupy the dwelling simultaneously.

“The aim of our survey was to check out existing trends and explore new trends in home use and design in the context of the past two years, which have significantly affected our lives,” said Andrey Ustyugov, CEO of Planner 5D. “The structure of the domestic space follows the changing nature of all social activities. People follow different behavioral strategies to rearrange their homes to accommodate a new work-life-learning balance.

The investigation revealed:

• 61% of Americans plan to spend less than $ 5,000 on home improvement projects this year.
• The five most widely used technologies in the home include smart lighting devices, home voice assistants, alarms and detectors, air purifiers, and wireless cameras and locks.
• In general, respondents from the United States felt greater satisfaction and less stress working from home. Productivity and focus have stayed the same or improved; Compared to other countries, the United States has the highest proportion of people who have seen their focus on their work increase while working from home.
• In the United States, more than 30% of respondents rent their current residence rather than owning it. At the same time, nearly 46% of them live in peri-urban areas and live in housing in fair to good conditions.
• In the United States, the highest priority for home improvement is visual appearance, while the lowest is sound insulation. The most notable reasons for home improvement are the needs of a home office, healthy lifestyles, rational savings, home energy efficiency, and children.
• The top three priorities for home improvement projects are: kitchen renovation (30%), living room renovation (28%) and bathroom renovation (27%).
• Although online sources such as social media and home design blogs / websites are the main sources of inspiration in all regions, offline home design retail stores have a higher rate. in the United States compared to other countries.
• Bohemian, Scandinavian and industrial styles are increasingly popular. Modern and minimalist design styles dominate in almost every country surveyed, but respondents in the United States also tend to use styles like bohemian and rustic.
• In the United States, the office has the same level of priority as other main rooms, while the children’s rooms have a lower priority. Respondents from the United States tend to locate their office area in the bedroom.

Planner 5D has conducted the survey in several countries to uncover the different trends in home design and lifestyles that have emerged after the pandemic-induced closures.

Erica Crawford, Editorial Assistant for Furniture Today, recently graduated from the University of Iowa with a degree in English and a Writing Certificate in Editing. In addition to bringing her talent as a writer to the editorial team, Erica will add her perspective of the end of the millennium.