Interior design and home renovation professionals found themselves surprisingly busy throughout the pandemic as homeowners began to reevaluate how they used existing spaces—often deciding to make big changes to even the smallest of rooms. As shelter-in-place orders stretched out longer and longer, many envisioned creative ways to enjoy their surroundings and connect with friends and family like never before, all while adding incredible value to their properties.
AD PRO talked to experts from across the country to uncover a few of the most surprising pandemic-inspired design trends—not involving a home office—that appear to be sticking around for good.
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Home Cocktail Bars
For one of her favorite clients, designer Kari McIntosh created the perfect setting for a pint of lager—in an underutilized poolhouse. “We completely redecorated it in the style of an English pub, which meant layers of plaid and velvet, and a painted concrete floor inspired by tile on the floors of Trinity Church in Dublin,” she tells AD PRO. Complete with a custom-designed bar and Ping-Pong and shuffleboard tables, the room was christened with a socially distanced graduation party for one of their children last summer. “It’s served the family well, as their three adult children spent most of the last year back at home while working or studying remotely,” she adds. “More of my clients are requesting hospitality-inspired spaces—I’m wrapping up a ‘Bourbon Room’ and just started an equestrian-style saloon for a barn in Atherton [California].”
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“A bar is a big thing,” AD100 designer Sasha Bikoff says with a laugh. “Listen, you either drank your way through the pandemic, or I don’t know what! You couldn’t go to bars or nightclubs, so why not build something along those lines in your own home?” And that’s just what she did for a client’s home on Central Park South in New York City: “I custom-made a bar for my client because he was always hosting after-parties. If you have the room to put in a bar, it presents a new space where you can feel removed from the home environment and more like you’re at an actual venue.”
“Homeowners are asking for a special space or zone to get creative with craft cocktails,” says Leigh Spicher, the national director of design studios at Ashton Woods, a custom home builder. “Initially, one of the responses to not having the opportunity to visit friends at a favorite local restaurant or bar was to research fancy cocktails and try their hand at making those at home.” For many, that hobby has become a passion, requiring space for getting crafty. “Homeowners want storage for fun glassware, small fridges or freezers, and of course, a beautiful way to display the bottles themselves,” she adds. “As with any good personal space, we’re finding they also want to add bold backsplashes, paint colors, and even statement lighting.”
“Pre-pandemic, people wanted bars, whether for coffee or cocktails, that held all the necessary accoutrements without really being in your face,” adds interior designer Jim Dove. “So we were always coming up with clever ways to conceal the nuts and bolts of a bar with proper doors and other bits of bespoke cabinetry. People [now] are suddenly okay with always-visible bottles and glassware—artfully displayed, of course.” Dove believes this trend is here to stay: “People want to see their arrays of small-batch bourbons and single-malt scotches, no matter whether it’s cocktail hour or not. It’s almost as if the various bottles and related bar necessities have become actual visual elements to be truly considered—I love it!”
Multipurpose Spaces
“Before stay-at-home orders, the goal was often for large open-plan homes, with few walls and a sense of openness and flexibility,” says Keren Richter of New York design studio White Arrow. “Now after a year of working from home, Zoom school, and attempting to exercise indoors, it’s wise to revisit the idea of the ‘classic six,’” she says, referring to the prewar apartment style commonly found on the Upper East and West sides of Manhattan. She explains that today’s multitasking home might have Murphy beds and Pelotons, and adds that “homes with pocket doors or retractable walls provide added functionality and quiet when needed.”
“I think one of the lasting effects is the continued defenestration of the so-called ‘open concept,’” says architect and designer Nicholas G. Potts. “My clients are looking for a lot more complexity and diversity in their spaces—something that a single room with everything exposed can never achieve. At the same time, I’m seeing the definition of rooms with specific functions completely melting down—we’ve all realized the need for flexibility,” he tells AD PRO. “Our rooms need to be more than just hyperprogrammed containers for a single use, and I’d anticipate that our spaces will start being more agnostic about use and adaptable to reconfiguration.”
Creative, Tech-Free Zones
According to Spicher, tech-free spaces may be one of the silver linings of the pandemic. “At some point we all got tired of staring at our phones or watching our kids stare at theirs—enter the technology-free space. Pre-pandemic, these types of spaces didn’t really exist, and people weren’t asking for them from a design perspective. Now they are a necessity.”
A creative space was a beloved feature in a recent project by Bay Area interior designer Eche Martinez. In the 1880s Victorian mansion, “I knew there was a series of rooms on the third floor, but never had any exposure to them,” he says. “At one time the spaces had probably been used by chambermaids and for things like a sewing room and storage, but in recent decades it was just unused square footage that [the clients] wanted to transform into usable space.” Having studied art, one resident wanted to turn one of the rooms into an artist’s studio. “As shelter-in-place orders continued, it became, as she describes it, ‘a COVID-proof haven,’ and throughout the pandemic she’s become extremely prolific,” he adds. “It’s been a really great place for her to stay creatively engaged and productive.”
A rise in creative hobbies isn’t just apparent in speaking to designers; entrepreneurs who teach in creative fields have seen a boost as well. Kimberly Brooks, a Los Angeles–based artist and author of the newly published book The New Oil Painting, says her art instruction classes are booming even as the pandemic recedes. This might be thanks in part to her virtual format: “For several years I was conducting workshops around the country to help artists set up chemical-free studios in their homes and learn to paint,” she says. “Then it occurred to me that an online class might reach more people.” In 2019 she created a comprehensive 10-week course called “Oil Painting Fluency and Flow,” and since the onset of COVID-19, her student count has skyrocketed. “Now every month I meet with students from all over the world eager to expand their knowledge. Many have converted their home offices into art studios with my guidance.”
A New Landscape for Outdoor Living
In the era of social distancing, this past year has inspired a celebration of the great outdoors. And designers believe this sentiment has staying power. “Since 2020, I think that the outdoor landscape has become valued in a new way—it’s being perceived more as an extension of the home,” says landscape designer Christian Douglas. “Clients are wanting to create spaces that are more practically usable for recreation and enjoyment.” And, he adds, for healthy living: “Every single property we’ve worked on over the last year now has a kitchen garden.” Specializing in sustainable landscaping and edible gardens, Douglas notes that most of his firm’s recent projects include not only vegetables but also fruit trees, berries, culinary herbs, and flowers. He tells AD PRO that business has not slowed down after a busy 2020. To help new clients get started on their own, he offers the online course Farm in Four Weeks to teach the basics of backyard farming. “There’s so much potential in our exterior spaces to enrich our personal and family lives—things like pools, outdoor kitchens and living spaces, and of course gardens.”
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“People are bringing what they love about their indoor spaces outdoors, expanding their usable living space by optimizing their entire property and enjoying being closer to nature,” notes Lori Greeley, CEO of home furnishings brand Serena & Lily. “We’ve seen our outdoor business more than double so far this year, and it’s showing no sign of slowing down. People have discovered that outdoor dining—and living—can be enjoyed almost year-round, and they’re taking the same considerations of how they approach interior design to bring it outdoors.” Greeley also believes that as we emerge from the pandemic, there will be more focus on entertaining at home rather than going out to crowded places, especially for families with children. “We’re seeing clients opt for larger outdoor dining tables and larger lounge seating, which suggests people are more excited to entertain family and friends at home,” she says.
