The COVID-19 pandemic has brought massive shifts in the way we live our lives, affecting cultures all around the world. One of the most notable shifts being how much time we spend at home, and what we do there that we might not have ever considered doing before, like working or attending school. With lockdown orders, quarantines, and cancelled classes, most of us have been spending much more time at home this year than ever before. The 2019 American Time Use Survey found that the average working American spent 7.9 hours per day at work. Factor in another hour and eleven minutes spent traveling or commuting, and a couple hours per week at social or extracurricular activities, and it becomes clear that most of us were used to spending a substantial amount of time away from the home.
This year, however, the vast majority of us have been working from home, schooling from home, and trying to find unique ways to stay entertained without getting into our cars to travel somewhere. Not only has this affected our perception of inhabiting the places we live, but the extra time spent inside has also led to some distinctive home remodeling trends that have fortunately made our homes more livable and functional.
Top 2020 Home Design Trends
This year, many of us have come to redefine our relationship with our homes. Instead of being a place to return to after an exhausting day at work, or a safe refuge for rest before heading back out into the world, this year our homes have also become our workplaces, schoolrooms for our children, and our primary space for recreation. With that in mind, here are a few of the top 2020 home design trends.
Bringing Nature into the Home
With parks closed and other recreational areas limiting the number of visitors, many homeowners have been searching for ways to bring nature into their homes. Substituting plastic plants for the real thing is just the tip of the iceberg here. Green and living walls offer a beautiful touch of nature while also purifying your indoor air quality and regulating humidity. Antique landscape tapestries also allow for ways to bring the beautiful colors of nature into the home while becoming the center of focus for a living room design. Adding rich earth tones such as dark brown, wine, olive green, and yellow ochre also evokes sensitivities to the natural world we´ve been missing.
Practical and Multi-Purpose Spaces
At the beginning of lockdown orders, some of us might have found it fun to take our laptops into the bedroom and work while in pajamas. After a couple days, however, we probably found it necessary to create a separate, home office to stay focused. As our homes have also taken on the responsibility of becoming work and schooling stations as well, homeowners are moving away from formality and implementing multi-purpose and usable spaces. For homes with a compact footprint, a console/desk combination in an abandoned corner of the living room is a great application for an underused space. Built-in or fold-down workstations or desks can make small spaces infinitely more functional, and are a great way to give children their own private, learning space. With the added need for storage, many homeowners are also opting for practical wall shelving and furniture options that incorporate hidden storage compartments.
Performance Features
Also gaining popularity this year is a move away from high-maintenance features in favor of longer-lasting, easier-to-clean materials, designed to withstand wear and tear while being simple to clean. Faux marble instead of the real thing, for example, requires much less upkeep. The focus on durability, however, doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice on aesthetics. The top performance fabrics can be used to upholster everything from cluttered playrooms to opulent living and dining rooms.
How the Remodeling Trends for 2020 will Influence Future Design Trends
One of the most important shifts that we are seeing in home remodeling trends for 2020 is an increasing focus on practicality and usefulness. Instead of purchasing an item simply based on its visual appeal or aesthetic quality, people are searching for ways to remodel their home that make it more livable and convenient based on their personal habits, lifestyles, and what they need their home to “do” for them.
Also, simply filling up empty spaces in the home with cheap and bargain basement priced items is also being replaced by a more thoughtful consideration into our interior décor. Local-made souvenirs from an old vacation, family portraits, and other memorabilia and decorations give our homes more sentimental value, which is what many of us need during these odd times.
Build For The Future With Natale Builders
The design trends we’ve seen over 2020 as a result of global stay-at-home and lockdown orders are most likely going to have a major influence on the future of homebuilding, and our relationship with the home.
Now more than ever, it’s important to think about how you spend your time in your home (or how you want to), and to design specifically for your family’s needs. Customized features will ensure more enjoyment, focus, and peace for years to come. With custom home builders like Natale, your dream home can become a reality. Contact our team today to get started on your custom home project.
