How we make our homes work for us
Tech, home businesses and car-free lifestyles changing how we live Family dining rooms have become multi-purpose spaces where adults work and children complete homework.
What makes a house or an apartment a home?
For some of us, home is a walkup apartment we share with a roommate or two. For others, it might be a house on a leafy street, or a modern glass box overlooking the sea.
And evolving technology and lifestyles are changing what we want our homes to be.
“With so many entertainment and smart technology options at our fingertips, we find homeowners are spending more time at home. People are focusing on how they truly use a space to reflect how they live, versus what the room is ‘supposed to be,’ ” says Kerrie Kelly, an interior design expert for the online real-estate marketplace Zillow.
For instance, she notes, dining rooms are no longer just a place to eat. “Adults work from this space and kids do homework here, making a single-use room more multi-purpose,” Kelly says. “We also see ‘library rooms’ in lieu of formal dining rooms, with more attention to comfortable seating for taking in a variety of media.”
For city dwellers, she’s noticed an increase in conversions of loftlike work spaces into living spaces.
“People are interested in living in an urban environment in order to enjoy culture without getting in the car,” she says. “Easily accessible restaurants, entertainment and shopping appeals to all age groups.”
Ikea surveyed people across the globe for its 2018 “Life at Home” report, and one in four respondents said they work more from home than ever be- fore. Nearly two-thirds of those surveyed said they’d rather live in a small home in a great location than in a big home in a less ideal spot.
Jeffrey Dungan, an Alabamabased architect, reports that more clients want to use their homes for creative pursuits.
“With the increasing popularity of the Maker movement, and people turning hobbies into successful businesses … the home is more and more becoming a place of business,” he says.
“Home is the place where you can do what you love unapolo- getically, and as more people turn what they love to do into a business, then in a way their business becomes home,” Dungan adds.
In Ikea’s report, Alison Blunt, co-director of the Centre for Studies of Home at Queen Mary University of London, says there are essentially five things that matter to people when they consider the ideal home: “Comfort, security, a sense of autonomy and ownership, and the capacity for privacy. Home at its core goes back to a sense of belonging.”