Design + COVID-19

Written by: Christine Slaughter

Take a look at the world around you. What catches your eye? What alters your mood and inspires you? I’m sure your answer today is very different from what it would have been just a few short months ago. What inspires design has not changed. It still consists of what is around us, what we see and feel, but what we see around us today has transformed drastically. With that said, health and well-being have been a focus for 2020 long before we ever heard of COVID-19. Yet, we never could have predicted what a different meaning “health” and “well-being” would take on as we moved into the new year. 

A big factor in tracking and determining trends are world events. We’ve seen many design trends emerge due to global happenings such as the Olympics, presidential elections and...pandemics. Check out this article from Architectural Digest that addresses some of the home and design trends that emerged due to various epidemics throughout history:

How Previous Epidemics Impacted Home Design

On average, prior to COVID-19, we were already spending 90% of our time indoors. Almost 70% of that was at home (Smart and Healthy Homes Industry insights presentation, January 2018, Delos). It’s no wonder we are on the hunt for a healthy home. While it’s a trend that’s been emerging for some time,I believe we’ve hit the ultimate peak of time spent in our homes. We’ll probably never see our homes in the same light again.

The current health crisis is in no doubt causing us to view the needs of our homes differently. While it is a bit too early to really see how our lifestyles will change our home needs in the long term,we’re already feeling the urge for some adjustments and modifications. The two biggest developments I see in the design of our homes are the rise of mud rooms and home offices. While these designated spaces may have been on a “wishlist” for some of us in the past,I see these wants becoming NEEDS and expected components of our homes. Mud rooms provide that “safe place” to disrobe from soiled clothes, remove shoes from the day’s work outside as well as wash and sanitize one's hands before entering the home and hugging loved ones. The home office is pretty self-explanatory.ore businesses may accept working from home and modes of teaching and learning could continue to change. Requiring a separate space in your home to take care of these new roles and duties could become standard

What about finishes and flooring? How many of you already desire low VOC (volatile organic compounds) products in your home? What about allergens? Hands-free faucets? I personally already have a true hands-free kitchen faucet at home (www.principlefaucets.com) that operates with a foot pedal, and I sincerely see this as the wave of not just the future but the present. In addition, as a designer and a mom, surrounding myself with flooring that is not only beautiful but provides me peace of mind when it comes to the health and well-being of my family has always been important, even more so in this new pandemic world. It’s a relief to know that I can find such products from Anderson Tuftex. While hard surface flooring first comes to mind from a cleanability and hygienic standpoint, believe it or not, carpet has its own set of benefits when it comes to health and well-being in the home. Carpet acts as a trap for allergens and is capable of holding significant quantities of soil, dust and other substances. The carpet holds on to the particles until you are ready to remove them by regularly vacuuming which will remove the majority of allergens. In addition, carpet is one of the lowest emitters of VOCs among household furnishings and building materials. Anderson Tuftex carpets meet the industry's highest VOC standard: the Carpet & Rug Institute's Green Label Plus program.

Now that we know what we want in our homes, how do we go about “seeing” it? We can’t simply walk into a store and make our selections any longer. This is where the virtual aspect of our new world really comes into play. How many of us had even heard of Zoom prior to COVID-19? How many of you knew that you could FaceTime with multiple people in different locations on multiple devices at once? Our virtual and digital world has exploded, and the possibilities have become nearly endless for what can be accomplished without face-to-face interaction. My favorite example of this would be the Floorvana+ visualizer and color match tools we have on www.andersontuftex.com. Click into any of our products to try it out. While I don’t believe virtual and digital tools will replace the physical experience of touching and feeling actual products, it does bridge the gap between the virtual and physical.This creates a more dynamic buying experience and gives you the opportunity to try on new flooring options before making your final selection. Using tools like Floorvana+ adds confidence and removes pain points. By improving the overall experience and “seeing” new flooring in a relatable space, Floorvana+ helps shorten your decision-making time and creates an opportunity for you to lean into new products, styles and colors you might not once have had the confidence to try.

We’d love to hear about your success stories using Floorvana+ or help you with your next flooring project. Feel free to reach out to us at hello@andersontuftex.com or 833-528-4357 (833-5AT-HELP).