In the past year, you’ve probably gotten to know the square footage of your home pretty intimately. At first, it’s likely you experienced a few unsettling revelations. Things like, I don’t have as much outdoor space as I thought I did, or has this closet always been here?
But as the months of lockdown wore on, many of these revelations gave way to creative solutions:
My breakfast nook could be transformed into a work-from-home space.
If I got an outdoor heater I could entertain guests throughout the winter.
New kitchen tools make home cooking easier and faster.
As we’ve made changes to our homes during the pandemic, we’ve found ourselves asking, why didn’t we think of this sooner? Here are the top five styling adjustments we’ve made this year that we think we just might keep forever.
We Bought an Outdoor Heater We’re sure this one doesn’t come as a surprise...but now that you’ve totally retrofitted your outdoor space, you’ll want to use it all year long. Outdoor heaters saw a tremendous boom this year, and it makes sense. You and your friends can safely gather around a heater well into the winter months. Complete your outdoor rendezvous with some comfy patio furniture and you are good to go.
We Strongly Supported Local Decor We know that ordering online is easy. But the pandemic has been so hard for small businesses, people! And that’s why many folks have become more intentional about their home styling and decor this year. But a call to action to buy local shouldn’t just resonate this year. Support small business owners, this year and into the next.
We Made Our Kitchens More User-Friendly This year saw a lot of us spending more time in our kitchens than ever before. Whether unemployed or simply not eating out, cooking became both a default and a top hobby during lockdown. As such, we found ourselves investing in tools to make home cooking more fun. A standard mixer from Sur La Table is at the top of our list!
We Realized the Value of Personal Spaces The unrestricted floor plan has been a defining home trend in recent years. And it’s a great idea! Until there’s a lockdown for a year-plus and your whole family is spending all of their time in one room. This year, we rediscovered the value of personal spaces. And since it will be a while before many folks return to traditional offices, we think that breakfast nooks, studies, window seats, and home workspaces are going to stay popular.
We Embraced Copper/Brass/Bronze Fixtures Did you know that materials like copper, brass, and bronze have anti-microbial properties? Yes--in addition to being aesthetically pleasing, these materials help stop the spread of germs. In the current environment, it doesn’t get any better than that. Use brass for your doorknobs, faucets, and other frequently touched surfaces. Don’t you love it when things are stylish and smart? Us too.
Styling in Place: Trends That Last
We’ve spent the last year paying more attention to our home spaces than ever before. And some of that innovation deserves to stick around! The above five things are some of our team’s most valued home additions this year, but we’d love to hear yours as well. It’s always amazing to us how people are able to create homelike spaces even in stressful times. Chime in to the comments with your favorite home additions of this year!