How the pandemic changed the world of interior design
I think it’s due time we chat about this subject, as the pandemic is seemingly coming to its painful end. However, the world is being very careful (as it should be) and the changes the pandemic made in all of our lives are here to stay, at least for a little bit longer.
UNDER ONE ROOF
One of the things that first pop to view if you start going through interior design magazines and websites is that there is much more advice for rooms of particular applications. “How to make your home office look stylish?”, “How to decorate your home gym?”, “How to add a workspace corner into your living room?”, etc. The reason for this change is very simple — we couldn’t visit public gyms and go to our offices, so we had to make changes and improvise. Those who were lucky enough to have a considerable budget made themselves cozy by transforming whole rooms, while those who weren’t as fortunate built themselves’ makeshift offices in one of the available corners of their homes. Needless to say, designers had advice and solutions ready for both of these groups and I can honestly say that I’m proud to be a part of a community that is as competent as this one.
URBAN LIFE LOST ITS ALLURE
One of the things that came naturally is the fact that, because you couldn’t visit clubs, theaters, restaurants, and gyms, that urban life you came to adore lost its appeal. Suddenly city apartments became cramped, no matter how big they actually were. Once you add a work desk to your living room and an indoor bike trainer into your bedroom, you quickly realize one thing. It is time to switch to a house in the suburbs that will cost half of your apartment rent. See, once you start doing your work from home and all of the public gatherings you used to attend are off-limits, you become aware of how overpriced and dry city living can actually be. Suddenly, some rural spot “far from the madding crowd” seems like a reasonable and enticing solution.
FROM COLD TO COMFORTABLE COLORS
Minimalistic off-white and industrial metallic grey shifted to beige and saturated gray, soft brown, and warm green. People were hungry for the outdoors and because they couldn’t go out, they had to incorporate it within their indoor décor. The basis of every décor is color and it was time for some snug tones to infiltrate our homes. Now that doesn’t mean that everyone has a colorful home at this point, but rather that houses and apartments stopped being just stopped on the way to work or social events. Our homes started looking more like us because we started spending more time in them. It is only natural that we’ve infused some warmth inside them.
SUNSHINE AND PLANTS
Yes, ironically, once we had to stay inside sunrooms and lush greenery became all the rage. Those who couldn’t create gardens and patios got larger windows and huge plants. Having a piece of nature in your home became a must. Needless to say, that goes for the materials and patterns too. Washed wood, copper, mossy rugs, and kilims got their way onto every interior designer’s recommendation list in the last two years. Whether you layer or scatter your décor is of no importance. All that matters is that it ends up looking natural.
MOSAIC ART BLOSSOMED YET AGAIN
Some so-called expert designers said that mosaic art made “an exciting comeback to the scene of interior design”, while others wisely stated that it never left in the first place. It is true that it is becoming almost a matter of trend, which is something I’m not usually a fan of. Simply put, if you want natural materials, the ability to choose patterns, topics, and colors, and if you are all about that sustainable life, then mosaic art is simply unavoidable. Glass, marble, natural stone, porcelain, you can’t go wrong with mosaic art. It will do miracles by making your interior space look more commodious and outdoorsy.
To conclude, the pandemic has changed a lot, but those important things we cherish remained the same, we’ve just learned to value them more.
This article was originally published on Mosaics Lab’s website.
