This lockdown has changed our perception about our homes…!
Since the lockdown began our house has become our world and It is the new normal, the home has become a bubble that none of us can escape. It has forced us to engage with our homes and the spaces it offers in different ways – home is now the office, the gym, the classroom, the salon, the movie theatre, and much more. Collectively we have had to scrutinize and readjust our relationship with our homes and those we share it with. We are forced to utilize every single corner of our home more effectively and more creatively to cater to all our outdoor activities in this bubble only. It’s not an easy situation for any of us, but we’re doing all we can, to ensure that home is a happy, positive and productive space!!
Stay Home Stay Safe….!
These days we are listening and reading this slogan every now and then. In the ancient world, houses were made with such materials and techniques for people to find safety from wild animals and inclement weather. In the middle ages, the concept of comfort was introduced as houses turned into spaces for a retreat rather than defence. With the advent of the coronavirus, as almost the entire world is self-isolating at home, the home has again become a refuge, a place for safety. Stay home stay safe! This is the time to realize our relationship with our home. This is the time to have gratitude for whatever shelter we have. This is the time to feel the space and turn it to be livelier, cheerful, vibrant, comfortable and functional.
Time to Redefine the meaning of Home….!
When work and study along with the demands of running a household are brought together, it can end up as a testing time. For those with young children, even a spacious flat can turn into a confined cube.
For example, one of my known Working Couple with two kids. The new arrangements of their house are that Wife spends all her time in her bedroom these days, which doubles up as her office. Her husband has taken up the guest room for his office while her daughter’s room is now her classroom. Her six-month-old toddler is usually in the living room with the nanny. It was a double whammy, as she rejoined work from maternity leave in the middle of the lockdown. “The house is divided between two offices and one classroom and she doesn’t know where her home starts and her office ends. She is unable to switch off her mind and sleep at night as she spends the day working with her laptop on the bed. If she needs some downtime, she can’t go anywhere, she can’t switch on music so she doesn’t disturb the others.
While many of us have rediscovered the joys of our home, we have also found out its limits. We might need new ways of thinking about the places we call home after the pandemic. Perhaps homes of the future will be designed to be more adaptable, for people to live and work in and spend more time in. Professionals from design fertility need to be much more creative now than earlier to think out of the box and will be able to create multifunctional spaces in a bubble that we identify as HOME.