Significant changes are happening in the world following Covid-19. Thus, there’s a recognized need to change the concept of designing certain spaces, now focusing on the daily needs post-pandemic. But significant changes also mean significant learnings. So, let’s talk about some things we’ve learned from Covid-19, which we are already applying to take better care of ourselves and those we love! The attention to hygiene, new customs, and cleanliness has made us think about practicality and functionality in everyday life.
The first necessity that the pandemic brought to everyone was the care with personal hygiene, both on the street and inside the house.
When we talk about our home, one of the spaces that we first adapted to the pandemic was the entrance hall. Today, the concept of the hall has been adapted and also focused on a place where it is possible to sanitize those who enter and leave a residence.
It is essential to have a suitable place to allocate the shoes we use outside, to prevent impurities and microorganisms from the street from entering our home.
Additionally, support furniture can be quite useful when changing shoes, both when arriving and leaving home. Comfortable and versatile so that the house’s style is present from the entrance, with materials, shapes, and colors present in the details. This furniture can be thought of in several ways! Creativity and boldness are essential. Practically, we must also remember that this sanitization space needs to always have hand sanitizer available for visitors and residents. It is also fundamental to prioritize the location of the washroom, bringing it as close as possible to the entrance.
In the country house, the office, the common hall of apartments, in short, these changes were designed to be present in every type of environment. The best part is that these changes, besides being very important for our well-being, can bring a special air to our homes, being made according to our style and preference!!
It’s important to remember that, with the help of an architect, you can adapt your existing entrance hall, whether in a house or apartment, making it a sanitization space without losing the personality of your business card, which is the entrance of the house or apartment. What the pandemic has shown us more is that we do, indeed, always have ways to adapt and evolve. Using creativity and keeping up with the world’s changes is necessary to live more safely.
Another environment that also gained space within the current homes during the quarantine were the offices, and spaces adapted for work in home office. Having your little corner to work within the house, with privacy, has never been as necessary as it is today.
Besides, those with teenagers and children at home also need a space for study and online classes.
By investing in a corner of the house for this purpose, you will be able to create a station to study and work at home more comfortably and organized. But to have a home office station at home, you need to be careful, after all, this environment needs to be planned to meet all your needs.
This workspace/study can be an environment like an office within the house, or for those who do not have a whole room available for this purpose, you can also adapt a corner of the bedroom, in the living room, on the balcony, among others. Just plan, if possible, with the help of an architect, and make the environment pleasant, practical, and visually attractive.
It’s important to remember that through home office, many benefits for quality of life were noticed, after all, working at home, it is not necessary to spend long hours commuting to work, which makes anyone work more motivated and produce more. However, it’s no use gaining in quality of life and getting upset, inside the house, because you didn’t set up a suitable environment to work. That is, setting up your home office corner is not just a matter of visual environment, but, most importantly, you feel comfortable, with privacy that doesn’t take your concentration away and with access to the necessary material to develop your projects/study. Some tips are important for setting up your workplace:
- Choose a good table, not forgetting ergonomics and comfort, after all, remember that you will spend several hours a day in this environment. On this table, you will need space for the computer, keyboard, mouse, and distribution of your work/study materials.
- Choose a chair aimed at home office. Don’t just worry about design, but comfort, backrest quality, arm support, casters on the feet. Remember that this chair can provide you with productive days or days of back pain, shoulders. Take care of your health. Also, look for something compact for those who don’t have so much space available at home.
- If you have space, invest in furniture intended for office organization. It would help you a lot with the entire arrangement of your work/study station. A tip for those who don’t have space to put a cabinet is to invest in a home office table that already comes with a drawer and, if possible, also install niches on the wall, which would facilitate organization. The important thing is to get furniture that helps organize documents and stationery items you may need when working.
- Choose carefully how you will light this environment. If you can count on natural lighting, such as a window, it will provide you with good lighting throughout the day and enhance natural ventilation. But if that’s not possible, it’s essential that good lighting planning is done, and for that, you can count on both indirect lighting, where the whole environment is illuminated evenly, and direct lighting where the focus will be on your work table using lamps.
- And last but not least, decorate your work and study station. Make this environment even more attractive where you will use it for many hours. The architect will be a fundamental piece in this item. Ask the architect for a practical, comfortable, and beautiful environment. Every care and attention at this time is important; the choice of colors, furniture, chandeliers, lamps, and decorative items or plants. All this will be essential to make this little corner attractive. But remember, all this is no use if you don’t organize this place. Leaving stationery, documents, work material, all disorganized, besides bothering you, will take away all the beauty of your environment. So, a great tip is: Be organized.
Written by:
Carolina Oliveira Alcantara
Maria Fernanda Ney Oliveira
MOC ARQUITETURA – @arq.moc
