Making spaces more functional during COVID

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the world, and that includes how we live.

By spending more time at home during the past 16-plus months we have discovered our homes don’t quite meet our needs. That’s why we have changed up our spaces to better execute our lives.

Open concepts have been all the rage since they are conducive to flow and entertaining. But in this new era where our homes are also our offices, that trend has shifted. It’s still ideal to have a great room and an adjoining kitchen, but closing off spaces — where you can hide and get peace from little ears — is now advantageous.

Likewise, creating a dedicated office — or a den where you can hide your work stuff while spending time with your family — is now essential. Because our homes have doubled as our work spaces, that spare bedroom or unfinished basement have served as de facto meeting rooms. There’s no reason they shouldn’t be functional even though work-from-home will likely be temporary.

Because the coronavirus is basically unspreadable outdoors, we’ve seen a rise in renovation of outdoor spaces. We redid our backyard last year, and were hardly the only ones, and those upgrades made for an integral retreat where we could work, entertain and just be outside while quarantining.

Ultimately evolving your home into a functional space while spending 95 percent of your time is the goal, and renovating those spaces — and making them as functional as possible — is one small thing we can control while the world appears to be spinning off its axis.