QUIET DESIGN COMES HOME
New ways to spruce up your personal workspace
Social distancing measures have resulted in many people working from home and this trend may stick around, says Eric Andreasen, VP of sales and marketing for Vancouver developer Adera.
“I’m sitting down here at my office on the 22nd floor of Bentall Tower 4 (Burrard and Dunsmuir) and I’m looking at all these apartment buildings, and I see people in them for the first time. I’ve been in this office for 13 years and I’ve never seen so many people working from home,” he says.
These past few months, as people have realized how they can work from home effectively, it has opened up their options on where they can live, Andreasen says.
“People are thinking about telecommuting, video conferencing, and working from home a number of days a week.”
Adera’s Quiet Home (acoustically high performing wood-frame building technology) was developed some years ago, but Andreasen says it’s really come into its own in the last two months, being ideal for those who live in condos or townhouses, and are noise conscious, and now very helpful for home offices.
“We have Quiet Home built into our projects. It’s not soundproofing, but it’s certainly quieter than any regular type of wood construction. If not quieter than concrete,” he says.
Adera has developed a new home office design in response to the pandemic, says Andreasen.
“It’s a custom millwork piece that will fold out of the wall, and allow you to have your modem jack, and power connection, so you can have a work surface right there,” he says.
Getting more organized definitely helps with working from home, says Vathsala Mckone, a storage and organization merchant at The Home Depot Canada. Much can be achieved with bookshelves, closet kits to streamline bedroom storage, and totes to keep clutter at bay.
“Shelving can add personality to a space. You can choose many different finishes, including wood, chrome, black resin and more,” she says.
Don’t underestimate the power of plants to lift the feeling of a home office, says Aimee Isobe, a Pinterest user and director of floral and art design at Japanese floral studio Hanatombo.
“Flowers are living things so you can feel the positive energy by incorporating them into everyday life. Look at the flowers every day and you can see how they are slightly different, just like humans, brightening up and giving life to your homes,” she says.
Enid Hwang, community manager at Pinterest, agrees and says there has been a large uptick in Canadians searching the social media platform for small-space plant solutions, micro gardens, indoor gardens and soil-less gardens.
“We’ve all needed a little inspiration right now as we stay at home and create new routines. We’ve seen searches for ‘self-care at home’ increase over 330 per cent on Pinterest and it’s no surprise users are discovering the uplifting effect of living with plants,” says Hwang.
Flowers are being sought out in much the same way, says Hwang, with people searching for “flower boxes,” “rock succulent gardens” and “terrace balcony gardens” on Pinterest, which can liven up a home office.
“Don’t have a green thumb? Fresh cut flowers also have positive effects and help brighten up the home,” she says.