insight : kathy wall
Strong Home Remodeling Market Means a Promising 2021 Consumers’ renewed focus on home is a plus for window treatment professionals
H BY KATHY WALL
as there ever been a year that people were more ready to say goodbye to than 2020? But that’s not all bad. Rarely has a year held more promise than 2021—and it’s certainly much more than just the empty promise of wishful thinking. Months of quarantining, working from home and spending time in our own spaces has made it abundantly clear how important our homes are. And even when travel bans lift, the significance of home will still remain. Home has taken on a new meaning.
“People have been self-isolating and have had a chance to really look at their homes and all the improvements they’ve been meaning to make,” says the latest quarterly report from the National Kitchen & Bath Association. “People being stuck in their homes … has brought remodeling and renovating to a level of desire we haven’t seen in years.”
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A report from the Home Improvement Research Institute concurs.
“Being forced to stay at home is leading homeowners to finally take on some of the projects they’ve intended to do.” Furnishing and design firms are seeing the impact of this time at home in rising interest from clients.
Not only are people spending more time at home, but they’re using their residences differently. Working from
home has become the norm for many people and has resulted in a demand for stylish and functional home office spaces. And this is more than a temporary trend. Workers are finding great productivity at home, and many companies, including Facebook, Microsoft, Apple and Twitter, are planning for a future where full-time remote work will still be possible after stay-at-home restrictions are lifted.
Interest in dedicated home fitness spaces also continues to rise as people work out at home rather than at the gym. Likewise, people who were forced to cook more at home have discovered they love it—and that’s resulting in an increase in kitchen renovations and
