The COVID-19 pandemic undeniably changed many things about our everyday lives, including shifts in furniture trends and demand. With more and more people getting used to spending more time at home and working at home, the type of furniture that we are buying is changing. People are now putting more emphasis on getting furniture that fits the new lifestyle brought about by the pandemic, from more home office spaces to furniture in living rooms that is comfortable for spending more time on.
Multi-Purposes
Multi-purpose furniture has seen a growth in demand over the past few years, largely due to the increase in working from home. Furniture pieces that can serve a range of different purposes have been especially popular in smaller homes where people may not always have the space for a dedicated home office. Furniture that can be a workstation throughout the day but also utilised in other ways when not working from home such as a dinner table or a place to sit during non-working hours has become a bigger trend than before.
Easy to Clean and Maintain
As the pandemic took hold around the world, understandably more people were concerned about the cleanliness and hygiene of their homes. While staying at home as much as possible, it was also important for many people to ensure that their home was a safe, clean place. Aside from comfort and functionality, surfaces that are easy to clean and disinfect have also seen a major demand from customers. Along with the need to keep homes safe, spending more time at home and working from home often means more mess, which only added to the need for easy care furniture.
Comfort
Comfort has become a huge trend in furniture these days. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, people are not only concerned about the aesthetics of certain furniture items in their homes, but spending more time at home has also increased the need to be comfortable too. We have seen even more people investing in plush and comfortable pieces of furniture like huge corner sofas, as people spend more time at home and want to be as comfortable as possible while they are doing so.
Storage
With people spending more time at home, the need for things to do while at home has increased. While the internet has provided a lot of the entertainment that we have used to keep ourselves occupied throughout the pandemic while not working from home, many people have also turned to reading more books, playing board games with family, or getting involved in arts and crafts – all of which need good home storage furniture. Bookcases, storage units, and furniture pieces with built in storage like ottoman sofas have only become more and more popular throughout the pandemic as people have started new hobbies and need somewhere to safely store the equipment out of the way.
Home Offices
Perhaps the biggest trend in furniture to come from the COVID-19 pandemic is the rise in home office furniture, says Alan, design and sales consultant at Dino Fino furniture store. These days, office furniture is about much more than just functionality. In the home, people want their office spaces to not only serve the purpose of providing a place to work but to also look great and fit in with the wider aesthetics of their home. Because of this, we are seeing an increase in different office furniture designs and furniture that is specifically designed for home offices rather than commercial working spaces.
Kitchen and Dining
As restaurants closed down and families found themselves cooking more meals and eating at home, the demand for kitchen and dining furniture has also risen as a result of the pandemic. Many people have found that they prefer cooking meals from scratch and have used the pandemic as a means of learning to cook more dishes or getting the family together to share a meal; something that might not have been such a regular occurrence pre-pandemic times. During the lockdowns, many people were able to re-discover the simple joy of just coming around the table to eat dinner together as a family, and as a result, more have been investing in comfortable, quality dining furniture that will help them make this happen more often.
The pandemic has led to several changes, including the type of furniture we need and buy for our homes as people prioritise home life more and more. Have you changed any of your home furniture or furnishings because of the COVID-19 pandemic?
