From the Experts: 9 Future Trends Changing How We'll Live at Home
Open-plan and tech are out. Boundaries, creative spaces, multi-functional furniture and multi-generational living are in
Some clear and likely lasting trends have emerged from the pandemic, following major shifts in the way we live at home. The biggest change concerns open-plan layouts: after years of love for openness and fluidity between spaces, we now want separate areas that ensure privacy and serve a distinct function. Other trends are a new need for a buffer zone at the entrance to the home, spacious storage solutions to free the home from clutter, multi-generational living, and multi-functional furniture instead of multi-functional space.
With the help of international researchers and designers from Swiss-based Vitra, the Danish Architecture Centre and POSThome – an experimental Italian apartment that applies the concepts of new ways living – we explain how these trends translate into practice.
With the help of international researchers and designers from Swiss-based Vitra, the Danish Architecture Centre and POSThome – an experimental Italian apartment that applies the concepts of new ways living – we explain how these trends translate into practice.
Image by POSThome
Therefore, turning the house into a living space that is used more frequently and intensely has led to a new awareness of needs that may have been less pressing before the pandemic.
Therefore, turning the house into a living space that is used more frequently and intensely has led to a new awareness of needs that may have been less pressing before the pandemic.
Image by Vitra
No more open-plan layouts
The first major change is the decline of open-plan living areas. “The floor plan has finally freed itself from the yoke of having to exist as an open space at all costs, which was, by the way, the result of a great misunderstanding related to how industrial spaces and workshops (e.g. cosmopolitan lofts) were converted into fluid residential spaces,” says Campone.
“But our lifestyle now requires spatial organisation, separations and connections. A more calculated layout is therefore necessary, and is being enhanced by two types of furniture: made-to-measure pieces that maximise the use of horizontal and vertical space, and, in contrast, other pieces that are mostly eye candy and carry emotional or iconic weight.”
USA-based Monica Khemsurov, co-founder of Sight Unseen magazine and a speaker at Home Dynamics, an event organised by Vitra to investigate new ways of living, agrees. “The biggest pandemic-induced change just might be the death of the open-plan living space. For years, [many people] have been almost fanatically obsessed with open-plan living.” Now, she notes, the idea of living all your life in a single room with no privacy seems much less appealing.
Redesigning your home? Find an interior designer who can create a space that suits your lifestyle
No more open-plan layouts
The first major change is the decline of open-plan living areas. “The floor plan has finally freed itself from the yoke of having to exist as an open space at all costs, which was, by the way, the result of a great misunderstanding related to how industrial spaces and workshops (e.g. cosmopolitan lofts) were converted into fluid residential spaces,” says Campone.
“But our lifestyle now requires spatial organisation, separations and connections. A more calculated layout is therefore necessary, and is being enhanced by two types of furniture: made-to-measure pieces that maximise the use of horizontal and vertical space, and, in contrast, other pieces that are mostly eye candy and carry emotional or iconic weight.”
USA-based Monica Khemsurov, co-founder of Sight Unseen magazine and a speaker at Home Dynamics, an event organised by Vitra to investigate new ways of living, agrees. “The biggest pandemic-induced change just might be the death of the open-plan living space. For years, [many people] have been almost fanatically obsessed with open-plan living.” Now, she notes, the idea of living all your life in a single room with no privacy seems much less appealing.
Redesigning your home? Find an interior designer who can create a space that suits your lifestyle
In search of boundaries
After months of kitchens doubling as a place to work and do homework, and living rooms being continuously piled up with work files, books, toys and computer hardware – making it very difficult to relax and truly get away from work – we are now trying to divide spaces whenever possible. If the home office has its own room, closing its door at the end of the day can help us unplug.
“Our kitchens have become offices, and we often don’t even bother to put away our laptops while eating, because we’ll be right back to work soon enough,” says Esther Perel, a therapist who participated in Home Dynamics. “We have experienced a total collapse of boundaries while adapting to a completely new lifestyle, and this has had a serious impact on our mental health.”
After months of kitchens doubling as a place to work and do homework, and living rooms being continuously piled up with work files, books, toys and computer hardware – making it very difficult to relax and truly get away from work – we are now trying to divide spaces whenever possible. If the home office has its own room, closing its door at the end of the day can help us unplug.
“Our kitchens have become offices, and we often don’t even bother to put away our laptops while eating, because we’ll be right back to work soon enough,” says Esther Perel, a therapist who participated in Home Dynamics. “We have experienced a total collapse of boundaries while adapting to a completely new lifestyle, and this has had a serious impact on our mental health.”
The need for organisation
The stress caused by an open-plan layout, crowded with desks and workspaces, has also led to another trend: an increase in the need for storage spaces where we can quickly put away (or hide) the items that have been left lying around, so we can relax in a tidy space.
Browse more well-designed home office set-ups
The stress caused by an open-plan layout, crowded with desks and workspaces, has also led to another trend: an increase in the need for storage spaces where we can quickly put away (or hide) the items that have been left lying around, so we can relax in a tidy space.
Browse more well-designed home office set-ups
Image by POSThome
Buffer zone at the entrance
Today, designers are also increasingly being asked to make a buffer zone at the entrance with two main objectives. First, for the sake of hygiene and in order to have a space to leave shoes, bags and coats. And second, to separate the living space from where deliveries are received.
Buffer zone at the entrance
Today, designers are also increasingly being asked to make a buffer zone at the entrance with two main objectives. First, for the sake of hygiene and in order to have a space to leave shoes, bags and coats. And second, to separate the living space from where deliveries are received.
The home workshop
Especially during the first months of lockdown, more and more online activities and workshops popped up around the world, aimed especially at engaging children with new forms of entertainment – all while adults spent more time cooking in the kitchen.
“A very interesting trend is that of the house-‘workshop’: our homes are often missing spaces for ‘making’, like work tables or rooms dedicated to musical, artistic, and cultural creativity,” says Campone. “We have a need for reading spots, music corners and DIY tables. Thanks to the pandemic, we have understood how useful and stimulating a certain amount of ‘domestic self-sufficiency’ can be.”
Especially during the first months of lockdown, more and more online activities and workshops popped up around the world, aimed especially at engaging children with new forms of entertainment – all while adults spent more time cooking in the kitchen.
“A very interesting trend is that of the house-‘workshop’: our homes are often missing spaces for ‘making’, like work tables or rooms dedicated to musical, artistic, and cultural creativity,” says Campone. “We have a need for reading spots, music corners and DIY tables. Thanks to the pandemic, we have understood how useful and stimulating a certain amount of ‘domestic self-sufficiency’ can be.”
Image by Vitra
Multi-generational houses
Nora Fehlbaum, CEO of Vitra, highlights another trend linked to the new family structure and its effects on lifestyle. “With nursing homes becoming the epicentre of the health crisis and older people bearing increased risk for [COVID-19] and other diseases, families have brought their elders back into their homes. Thus, former empty nests are turning into multi-generational habitats, and the families seem to enjoy it,” she says.
“Larger families require home adaptations: more dining chairs, larger sofas, more lounge chairs, and products that can generally sustain heavier use. And the investment seems to be worth it: 82 per cent of multi-generational households in the US report that living together has enhanced their bond,” she says.
In addition, young people, who are moving back in with their parents at much higher rates than in the past few decades, now sometimes share spaces with their grandparents as well.
Multi-generational houses
Nora Fehlbaum, CEO of Vitra, highlights another trend linked to the new family structure and its effects on lifestyle. “With nursing homes becoming the epicentre of the health crisis and older people bearing increased risk for [COVID-19] and other diseases, families have brought their elders back into their homes. Thus, former empty nests are turning into multi-generational habitats, and the families seem to enjoy it,” she says.
“Larger families require home adaptations: more dining chairs, larger sofas, more lounge chairs, and products that can generally sustain heavier use. And the investment seems to be worth it: 82 per cent of multi-generational households in the US report that living together has enhanced their bond,” she says.
In addition, young people, who are moving back in with their parents at much higher rates than in the past few decades, now sometimes share spaces with their grandparents as well.
Multi-functionality
In furnishings, multi-functionality is becoming increasingly popular. For years, office furnishings mimicked home furniture in terms of style and colour.
Now the reverse is happening: acoustic panels and sliding partitions previously used only to separate workspaces in offices are coming into homes: desks at home are increasingly resembling those from the office, including set-ups that can be adapted from sitting to standing for better posture.
In furnishings, multi-functionality is becoming increasingly popular. For years, office furnishings mimicked home furniture in terms of style and colour.
Now the reverse is happening: acoustic panels and sliding partitions previously used only to separate workspaces in offices are coming into homes: desks at home are increasingly resembling those from the office, including set-ups that can be adapted from sitting to standing for better posture.
A check on technology
The new word ‘technoference’ is being used more and more, and it refers to the annoying interference of technology in personal relationships. People have spent months online, so a new trend is to reduce the dependence on digital relationships whenever possible, especially at home.
“The pandemic accelerated, almost like a rocket, our use of digital communication for work, education, shopping and leisure,” explains Kent Martinussen, CEO of the Danish Architecture Centre. “Suddenly we were doing at home many of the things we would normally do elsewhere. Digitally and socially overwhelmed and isolated in a confined physical space, we quickly began to desire the experiences – and understand the value – of public spaces and contact with nature.”
The new word ‘technoference’ is being used more and more, and it refers to the annoying interference of technology in personal relationships. People have spent months online, so a new trend is to reduce the dependence on digital relationships whenever possible, especially at home.
“The pandemic accelerated, almost like a rocket, our use of digital communication for work, education, shopping and leisure,” explains Kent Martinussen, CEO of the Danish Architecture Centre. “Suddenly we were doing at home many of the things we would normally do elsewhere. Digitally and socially overwhelmed and isolated in a confined physical space, we quickly began to desire the experiences – and understand the value – of public spaces and contact with nature.”
In touch with the outdoors
Here is the trend that seems most evident to everyone: during lockdowns, the luckiest people are those who have access to an outdoor space, such as a garden or a balcony, because it means having precious additional space and a chance to enjoy fresh air.
Here is the trend that seems most evident to everyone: during lockdowns, the luckiest people are those who have access to an outdoor space, such as a garden or a balcony, because it means having precious additional space and a chance to enjoy fresh air.
“I have recognised a strong general trend: a desire for nature!” says Martinussen. “It has arisen for many reasons, one of which is the overwhelming digital presence we all feel totally embedded (and sometimes trapped) in.
“The sustainability agenda plays a role in promoting attention to nature, but in reality, we are defined and guided by a general human need and desire for balance between, on one hand, the often fuzzy and immaterial world of our digital life and, on the other hand, being rooted in a world of things that are not artificial: such as wood, bamboo, stones, plants, water and animals, which belong to a realm that we are part of and connected to – nature.”
Your turn
Whish of these trends have you noticed in the past year? Tell us in the Comments below. And if you enjoyed this story, like it, save the images and join the conversation.
More
Want more on design? Check out 9 Ways to ‘Winterise’ a Summery Room
“The sustainability agenda plays a role in promoting attention to nature, but in reality, we are defined and guided by a general human need and desire for balance between, on one hand, the often fuzzy and immaterial world of our digital life and, on the other hand, being rooted in a world of things that are not artificial: such as wood, bamboo, stones, plants, water and animals, which belong to a realm that we are part of and connected to – nature.”
Your turn
Whish of these trends have you noticed in the past year? Tell us in the Comments below. And if you enjoyed this story, like it, save the images and join the conversation.
More
Want more on design? Check out 9 Ways to ‘Winterise’ a Summery Room
The home as a shelter, a refuge and a mirror of personality
The first part of this analysis starts with how we value our homes, which have transformed significantly over the past year.
“During the first phase of the pandemic, the house went back to its primitive function of shelter and refuge, and, once forced into isolation, we understood that the spaces we used to think of as just accommodation are actually an extension of our personalities and passions,” says Claudia Campone, founder of ThirtyOne Design and creator of POSThome.
“Then, if you think about how visible our lives are on social media, the house has become the background scene of our daily actions. We were simply forced to (and therefore managed to) recreate in our homes everything we used to delegate to other spaces: work, sport, leisure and, for many of us, eating well.”