The Daily Telegraph - Saturday - The Telegraph Magazine
The room boom By Clare Thorp
How the pandemic has made home improvers of us all.
Amid economic calamity, the interiors industry is booming. According to reports, we’re planning to spend billions – including money squirrelled away from cancelled trips abroad, season tickets and weddings – on garden offices, new kitchens and hot tubs. Clare Thorp reports. Portrait by Taran Wilkhu
When Kate Goodman and her fiancé Will bought their first house together, a three-bed terrace in south-west London, at the end of 2019, they imagined slowly turning it into their dream home over the course of several years. With 2020 booked up with multiple friends’ weddings, foreign hen dos and holiday plans, they didn’t have the spare time or money to dive straight into an extreme home makeover. ‘We thought we’d do bits and bobs as and when, and were looking at it as a long-term project,’ she says.
Then the pandemic hit. With both suddenly working from home and spending all day, every day inside their house, turning it into a sanctuary took on a new urgency. ‘When you’re stuck at home all day your priorities change,’ says Goodman, 29. ‘Your home becomes way more important and you want to make it as nice as possible.’
Since last spring they’ve added a kitchen extension, repainted every room and transformed the garden. ‘It’s frightening looking back at it to be honest. We certainly managed to keep ourselves busy.’ The couple were able to do it all thanks to unexpected savings made over the past 12 months. ‘It was going to be
a really expensive year. Then all those wed- dings got cancelled, the hen dos got cancelled, we couldn’t go on holiday. We weren’t commuting or going out, which alone saved us £1,000 between us each month on top of the thousands we saved not going on those trips. Suddenly we had more money to spend on the house than we expected,’ says Goodman. They got builders in for the extension and tackled the rest themselves. ‘We were both useless DIY novices before, but we’ve been embracing it and learning as much as we can.’
She knows they are lucky. They’ve both kept their jobs – she works for a charity, and Will, 32, as head of finance for a restaurant chain. At a time when many are out of work or having their income slashed, not everyone can afford to plough money into renovating their home. But a significant proportion of the population has found itself with cash to spend. Due to cuts in spending on things like holidays and social events, plus money saved on outgoings like commuting and childcare, the pandemic has seen a surge in savings, with an excess of £100 billion squirrelled away by UK households last year. According to the Office for National Statistics, between April and June 2020, the average amount of disposable income set aside was 29 per cent – the highest since records began in 1987.
While sectors like hospitality and travel are struggling to stay afloat, much of the homes and interiors industries is booming. Figures from the British Home Enhancement Trade Association (BHETA) show that DIY is one of only two retail sectors, the other being food, that are in growth. Market-research company Kantar calculated that we were planning to spend £4.94 billion on improving our homes between September and December 2020 – £552 million more than in the same period during 2019, including an extra £124 million on garden work and £119 million on homeware items. At the end of last year, Ikea announced it was opening 50 more stores worldwide, including in the UK, thanks to demand. Research by online furniture store Made found that 68 per cent of Brits shopped online for their home at least once a month last year, with one in five doing it several times a week. Builders are booked up months in advance. And B&Q – classed as essential retail in lockdown – has seen huge queues at stores.
Peter Creese runs a design and building firm, Creese & Mcknight, working on projects in London and the countryside. When building work was briefly halted during the first lockdown, he was nervous about how his industry would fare, but he needn’t have been. ‘It’s been noticeably busier,’ he says. ‘All my colleagues and friends in the trade are saying the same. There is so much work that you can pick and choose a bit. I probably took on more than I should have last year because I thought the work might not be there in six months’ time, but it’s just continued.’
It’s been helped by the housing market, which saw a boom after the easing of the first lockdown, with pent-up demand and many re-evaluating their lives – and homes – and deciding to move. The stamp-duty holiday, due to end on 31 March, only added to the frenzy, says Creese. ‘That leads to a lot of work for me because people buy houses and they want to make changes.’ The only issue has been the delivery of goods. During the first lockdown, many UK manufacturers shut up shop, while others had to adapt their processes, affecting the supply chain when things started up again. ‘There was a shortage of Farrow & Ball paint at one point,’ he says.
It seems that we’ve never been so preoccupied with our homes – or other people’s. One of the surprise TV hits of last year was Netflix’s Selling Sunset, which lets us peek inside Hollywood mansions, and the streaming platform is also feeding our collective hunger for interiors with shows like Dream Home Makeover and Amazing Interiors. Fictional TV is influencing how we decorate, too. John Lewis & Partners saw a 20 per cent increase in sales of patterned upholstery coinciding with the new series of The Crown in November, and since saucy Regency drama Bridgerton debuted over Christmas, demand for fourposter beds has surged, with sales of Habitat’s Blissford style up by 300 per cent.
Instagram is also providing inspiration: trending hashtags include #pampasgrass, #macramewallhangings and #hangingplants. Since starting @renovating_cheznous at the beginning of last year to chronicle the renovation of her north London ex-council flat, midwife and blogger Olivia Likosso has amassed more than 20,000 followers. ‘It started just as a way to document and look back on our renovation journey, so I’m shocked by the growth of it,’ she says.
Home renovations seem to be on the cards over in celebrity-land too, albeit in a more extravagant fashion. The Beckhams are reportedly installing a giant lake in the garden of their Oxfordshire home (it seems in certain circles, ornamental lakes have become the new water features) as well as a 117.5 sq m wine cellar in their basement. Lockdown fitness hero Joe Wicks recently revealed his garden makeover, which includes a huge hot tub and copper ice bath.
Part of the reason for our interiors obsession is that we’re spending so much time in
Since Regency drama Bridgerton debuted, demand for four-posters has surged
them. It has made us hyper-aware of how our homes do and don’t work for us. ‘Our homes are under the microscope more than ever before,’ says Michelle Ogundehin, author of Happy Inside: How To Harness the Power of Home for Health and Happiness and a judge on BBC Two’s Interior Design Masters. ‘For too long I think many people thought of their home as this place that they just left in the morning and then crashed back into at night.’
‘People are now finding themselves living fully in their homes and using them for everything: working, learning, playing, exercising, and even “going to” restaurants, spas and the cinema,’ says Lisa White, director of lifestyle and interiors at trend-forecasting agency WGSN. ‘So not only are people stuck looking at their four walls and wanting to make them as beautiful and pleasant as possible; they are also needing to make their spaces multifunctional and flexible.’
The shift towards home-working, which many families are juggling with homeschooling, has turned kitchen tables into makeshift co-working and study spaces. Research by John Lewis shows that 28 per cent of people have repurposed a room into an office. Lisa Raynes, who runs architecture franchise Pride Road, has seen a rise in enquiries about renovations and extensions: ‘We initially thought everything would stagnate because of uncertainty, but it’s been really busy.’ She says a dedicated study is now high on her clients’ list of requirements.
Charlotte Bunyan’s job as head of strategy for a creative agency shifted to being homebased last March. On top of her day job, she is also the co-founder of an advice website for parents of tweens, called Twixt. With her husband Patrick, 44, setting up his own business after being made redundant from his role as director of a media agency, and the couple homeschooling their two daughters, aged 11 and nine, getting stuff done became a challenge. After months of tag-teaming for desk space and taking calls in their children’s bedrooms, they realised they needed to find a better solution, especially as both expect to be working from home in the long term.
Combining savings they’ve made in childcare and commuting with a portion of Patrick’s redundancy payment, they’re investing in a garden office for their home in Hampton, costing £8,000. ‘When we’re not using it as an office it will be a chill-out space for the kids,’ says Bunyan, 47. ‘We think it’s a good investment for the sanity of everybody in the family and hope it will ultimately add value to the house.’ Providing a middle ground between a garden shed and an extension or loft conversion, garden rooms have soared in popularity – Bunyan is having to wait several weeks for hers to be installed due to a backlog of orders.
Jo van Riemsdijk and her husband Hans launched their business Modulr Space last autumn, selling architect-designed garden offices and rooms. Hans’ architectural practice, which specialises in luxury retail, had seen projects put on hold, but the couple spotted a different market emerging. ‘We’ve got about 40 live enquiries at the moment,’ she says. ‘A home office or gym or combination of the two is the most popular request, but we’ve had enquiries about wellness and meditation rooms and artist’s studios.’ She thinks part of the attraction of a garden office is the separation it provides. ‘The commute might be five steps, but there is that barrier in between where you’re working and living.’
It seems like we’re not only craving boundaries, but walls. ‘All of a sudden people who went down the open-plan route are going, actually this doesn’t really work very well, does it?’ says Ogundehin, who has
It seems like we’re not only craving boundaries, but walls. Open-plan no longer works
rehung a door in her own home. ‘Everyone needs a place to escape to, we need quiet spaces.’ Etsy has recently seen a 134 per cent increase in searches for room dividers.
Also losing its allure is the minimalist trend. What once looked glossy and sleek now feels cold and impractical. Ogundehin is seeing a move toward what she calls a ‘supremely textural sensory environment’ – a contrast to the smooth lines of the screens we spend so much time tethered to. ‘When I’m in a socially distant world where I’m not allowed to touch things, and I can’t hug people, when I get home I need my sofa to give me a hug. I want to reach out and touch soft knitted wool and sheepskin and blended fabrics and textures.’ Indeed, Made reports increased demand for products in corduroy and faux sheepskin. In response to demand, the company is using 319 per cent more bouclé in its upholstery this year. Magnet Kitchens says it has seen more interest in traditional and rustic styles over modern designs, something it puts down to people seeking ‘stability and reassurance’ in their homes. There’s also renewed interest in retro features such as walk-in larders – thanks to all the extra cooking and baking we’re doing. It doesn’t hurt that Nigella Lawson has one in her latest show, Cook, Eat, Repeat.
Of course it’s not just interiors – gardening has seen an uptick too, especially as outdoors will continue to be the safest place to socialise for a while. Artisan fire-pit company The Woodee, based in Herefordshire, saw sales rise 447 per cent between October and January, compared with the same period a year before. ‘Being cooped up in the same four walls for months on end has led many to look to their gardens to create an outdoor “lounge” that they can escape to,’ says managing director Louise Wright. Last summer’s balmy weather helped feed the rise, with sauna, swimming-pool and hot-tub companies also reporting increases in demand.
Cheryl Crossley, 31, and her husband Ian, 33, installed a hot tub and decking in the garden of their Leeds semi last November at a cost of £4,500. After marrying in late 2019, they’d planned to take a honeymoon to Barbados last year, but when the pandemic put that on hold they used some of their savings – as well as the £300-odd a month they’d saved by not commuting, plus cash they’d usually spend on socialising – to invest in the tub. ‘It’s been worth every penny,’ she says. ‘It feels like we’ve added a room to the house. In the evenings I’ve been reading in the hot tub with a drink. I almost feel like I’m on holiday.’ Their builder has since had requests to do four more.
The couple have also redecorated their bedroom and are replacing worktops and doors in the kitchen. ‘I think just being in the house more has made me pay more attention and want to make things look and feel nice,’ says Crossley. ‘I feel a bit guilty about the fact that we’ve been able to save when there are so many households who are struggling on so little income. I guess at least by spending our savings on things for the house we’re helping to put some money back into the economy.’
With the vaccination programme steaming ahead and an end to lockdown in sight, will the spending on our homes continue once we’re not so confined to them? It certainly looks that way. Research by online mortgage company Habito shows home improvements are on the table for 62 per cent of homeowners in 2021 – with a third of those planning to remortgage their property to fund them.
‘People feel more dedicated to and invested in their homes,’ says WGSN’S Lisa White, who predicts they will continue to demand our attention and budget for the next few years, even if not at quite the same level.
Ogundehin agrees that the pandemic has caused a fundamental shift in our relationship to the spaces in which we live. ‘For many people, there is no going back now. They’ll never be able to see their home in the same way they saw it before.’