REMOTE CONTROL

Homeowners’ need to work from home prompts focus on offices and flex space

BY GARTH BISHOP

Among the many, many, many sets of priorities reshuffled by COVID-19 are owners’ priorities for their homes – particularly when it comes to work spaces.

Home offices were not exactly rare leading up to the pandemic and its resultant upheaval, but the novel coronavirus certainly made them more important and changed homeowners’ expectations for what their offices could achieve.

Sometimes homeowners need a fullfledged office space, says Jim Wright, founder, president and principal designer at Residential Designed Solutions. But owners’ needs are often more complex than that.

“Sometimes, having a small table (or) window with a view … is all they really need,” Wright says.

Others have discovered that a single home office doesn’t do the trick anymore – not in households where both parents suddenly have an increased need to work from home. A secondary space could just be a spot to take a video call without having to worry about a messy background or noisy kids.

“That’s not always dual offices,” says Wright. “Many times, that’s … flex space.”

Homeowners are seeing more value in flex rooms than ever before. A room used as an office today could be a homeschooling center, piano room or dining area later as needs evolve.

The changes effected by the pandemic have put the value of a flex space into stark contrast; more and more homeowners are coming to realize how quickly their lifestyles can change and thinking about how they might use a room differently in 10 years, Wright says.

Another key trend coming out of COVID-19 has been a noticeable emphasis on outdoor living. That’s not unique to the pandemic, Wright says, but it has certainly intensified as more homeowners are looking at outdoor pools and pool houses.

Along the same recreation-focused lines has been an increase in the popularity of home exercise spaces. Again, these spaces’ popularity predates COVID-19, but the coronavirus – alongside ever-evolving options in home exercise equipment, such as Peloton bikes and electronic rowing machines – has pushed a lot of homeowners away from public gyms, Wright says.

Wright has also noticed the increasing prevalence of multigenerational homes. Like other trends, it started before COVID-19 but has picked up since. In-law suites have proved useful for situations in which grandparents want to be around grandchildren but don’t want to be right in the middle of the action. They’re also valuable for families with members living elsewhere in the world.

“Some clients have family that are out of the country,” Wright says. “They come and visit and stay for a month or two, so they want a nice space for them to live in while they’re here.”