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General enquiries:
We all know that lockdown has had a massive change on the way we live, and the way we want to live. News reports suggest that city dwellers are beginning to re-evaluate urban living in favour for somewhere greener, and sales of homes with gardens hit a 4-year high[1]. Moreover, during summer there was also a boom in sales of furniture[2], paint and wallpaper[3].
There is plenty, therefore, to suggest that our relationship with our home has been changing since the beginning of the pandemic. The home now needs to cater for an even greater range of emotional and functional needs. Exploring this topic with our QuMind UK panel members has made the multifunctional role of the home crystal clear. Many people, and you might find yourself relating to this, began to revaluate their homes entirely to make sure they can accommodate these new needs. In this context, we’ve seen the purchase of furniture and homeware as part of the efforts to accommodate to the new situation.
Furniture purchases can be driven by functional needs relating to working from home, initial home schooling, or needing to create more space through better storage solutions.
If we weren’t in a pandemic you would never find me at home.. Initially, it was hard, not being able to go out and socialize and finding activities to do at home, but slowly we started introducing more stay at home activities and spending time at home became more enjoyable.
Our home was very much a place of relaxation without the stresses of working life! Given the changing circumstances and now working from home, my partner and I have converted both bedrooms into home offices. We wanted to make this still feel like home, and introduce comforts not utilised in a commercial office setting.
We needed table and chairs for the children to sit on all day and do their school learning. Sorted their rooms and organised to make it more spacious and liveable.
However, changes to the home and subsequent purchases of furniture and homeware were also driven by emotional needs; the need to create a cosy comfortable place, the need to create an environment that is pleasing to the eye, the need for a change of scenery leading to updating home furnishings and decoration, or even the need to create boundaries between work and private life/space.
Over the last few months, I’ve definitely invested more time and effort into making my home environment feel more comfortable and suited to me/the family and ensuring that it’s a practical and positive space. I largely want to feel calm, collected and safe in my home
I have recently bought curtains and bedding to brighten things and almost provide us with ‘a change of scenery’ within the house itself… , I need a space that I’m happier with, especially given how much time we’re all spending here. I needed something brighter and more reflective of who we are and how we live!
I’m appreciating my home a lot more, I’ve been able to give it a bit of a lick of paint to give it some love and attention I suppose and it’s worked wonders. My relationship with the home is that it’s truly my castle and I’m enjoying being in here, yes I miss the outdoors and visiting places but I’ve made my home to be exactly what I want it to be
As news of the vaccine give hope for a return to normality in the next few months, the long pandemic is likely to have at least some lasting effects, one of which is like to be the working patterns for office based people, with more people working at home at least part of the week. Will the renewed positive relationship with our homes and our newly found appreciation of them also last? Or will the end of our long months of home enclosure relegate the home to a secondary place, and if so how long will the kick back effect last. This remains to be seen.
[1] https://www.ft.com/content/e0d2af0f-0b0e-4a4f-9fbd-d50ce8bd41a3
[2] https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/oct/10/covid-boom-uk-furniture-firms-sitting-pretty
[3] https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/design/diy-lockdown-coronavirus-sales-paint-wallpaper-b-and-q-screwfix-kingfisher-a9631971.html
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