Has the pandemic changed living patterns and home design?

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

Houses and apartments were turned into multi-functioning spaces combining traditional living with work, studying and fitness. And most members of the household had to occupy the home simultaneously.

“The goal of our survey was to verify existing trends and explore new trends in home usage and design in the context of the past two years, which affected our life significantly,” said Andrey Ustyugov, Planner 5D CEO. “Home space structure follows the changing nature of all social activities. People are following different behavior strategies to reorganize their homes to fit a new work-life-learn balance.”

The survey found:

• 61{73375d9cc0eb62eadf703eace8c5332f876cb0fdecf5a1aaee3be06b81bdcf82} of Americans are planning to spend less than $5,000 on home renovation projects this year.
• The top five technologies most widely used at home include smart lighting devices, home voice assistants, alarms and detectors, air purifiers, and wireless cameras and locks.
• In general, respondents from the U.S. experienced higher satisfaction and lower stress working from home. Productivity and focus stayed the same or improved; compared with other countries, the U.S. has the biggest share of people who experienced a boost in their work focus while working from home.
• In the U.S., more than 30{73375d9cc0eb62eadf703eace8c5332f876cb0fdecf5a1aaee3be06b81bdcf82} of respondents rent their current residence rather than own. At the same time, nearly 46{73375d9cc0eb62eadf703eace8c5332f876cb0fdecf5a1aaee3be06b81bdcf82} of them live in suburban areas and live at homes in fair-to-good conditions.
• In the U.S., the highest priority for home improvement is the visual look and feel, while the lowest is noise isolation. The most notable reasons for home improvement are the needs for a home office, healthy lifestyles, rational savings, home energy efficiency and children.
• The top three priorities for home renovation projects are: renovating the kitchen (30{73375d9cc0eb62eadf703eace8c5332f876cb0fdecf5a1aaee3be06b81bdcf82}), renovating the living room (28{73375d9cc0eb62eadf703eace8c5332f876cb0fdecf5a1aaee3be06b81bdcf82}) and renovating bathrooms (27{73375d9cc0eb62eadf703eace8c5332f876cb0fdecf5a1aaee3be06b81bdcf82}).
• Although online sources such as social media and home design blogs/websites are leading inspirations across all regions, offline home design retail stores have a higher rate in the U.S. compared with other countries.
• Bohemian, Scandinavian and industrial styles are falling in popularity. Modern and minimalist design styles are dominating in almost all countries surveyed, but the U.S. respondents tend to use styles like bohemian and rustic as well.
• In the U.S., the office has the same level of priority as other main rooms, while the children’s rooms have a lower priority. The respondents from the U.S. tend to locate their office zone in the bedroom.

Planner 5D conducted the survey across multiple countries to find out different trends in home design and living patterns that emerged after the pandemic-induced lockdowns.

Erica Crawford, editorial assistant for Furniture Today, is a recent graduate of the University of Iowa, with a degree in English and a writing certificate in publishing. In addition to bringing her writing talent to the editorial team, Erica will add her late-Millennial perspective.