Modern Home Improvements In 2020 & The ‘New Normal’

The "new normal" of modern home improvements

We can all agree that 2020 has been a disruptive year of change and adaptation, as we have tackled the many challenges of establishing a ‘new normal’ in our day-to-day lives. This is particularly true for homeowners who have felt the knock-on effects of COVID-19 lockdowns and pandemic restrictions, which have reshaped the way we use our homes, leading to a notable surge in modern home improvements.  

We take a look at some of the ways in which our housing needs have changed during 2020, looking at some of the most popular styles of home projects, our growing property footprint and the new era of renovation preferences.


Demand For Modern Home Improvements

This year we’ve been spending more time in our homes than ever before. From self-isolating at home during forced lockdowns, through to working from home, there have been plenty of external forces keeping us indoors and within the four walls of our homes.

The impacts of the Coronavirus pandemic have changed the way we live in our homes, introducing new lifestyle requirements and reshaping our priorities for both comfort and function.

Some of these symptomatic changes which have led to an increased need for modern home improvements including the following:

  • More of us are working from home with the need for a home office set up
  • Home gyms have increased in popularity as a response to lockdown restrictions
  • A periodical time of home schooling made us rethink our home study zones
  • Restaurant closures led to more home dining with more reliance on our kitchens
  • Family members have returned home, placing a great reliance on spare bedrooms
  • Lock down restrictions have led to a higher demand in home entertainment

 

Modern home improvements with man working from home

2020 has seen a surge in more employees in need of a productive home office space. 

 

A Shift In Financial Priorities

Through the various government schemes offered to rekindle the Australian property industry, residents have increasingly used these rebates to fund home renovation projects, with kitchens being a particularly popular style of renovation.

Credit insight specialist Illion recently reported a 59% increase in Australian households investing in the home improvement spending category when compared with a normal week prior to the pandemic outbreak, so there is a clear shift in financial priorities this year.

International travel has been off the table this year so households are also experiencing higher levels of disposable income than usual. Compounded with additional offer of the various rebates on offer, home renovation companies have been inundated with enquiries this year.

“We’ve seen a huge spike in demand for modern home improvements this year simply because households are spending a lot more time at home.

In a financial sense, rather than funding a 2-week holiday overseas to a tropical island, we’re finding that families are motivated to invest this budget into a more comfortable space to enjoy at home for the remaining 50 weeks of the year.”

– Matt Keogh | Director Of Nexus Homes Group

 

Australia Now Has The World’s Largest Homes

Recent data from the stockbroking arm of the Commonwealth Bank has revealed a 2.9% increase in the size of new home builds in Australian when compared with the previous year.

Whilst this may not sound like a large increase, this is in fact the largest annual increase in 11 years, and according to this recent article, now means that Australia has reclaimed the prestigious global title of being the nation that builds the largest homes worldwide!

Further to this, Western Australia leads the way in average home sizes, with an average of 218.5 square metres in floor area, almost 23 square metres larger than the national average.

Modern home improvements shown by Australian home sizes by state (graph)

 

A New Era Of Modern Home Improvements

We have seen a variety of new design trends this year, in what has been a truly fascinating year watching how renovation projects have helped to reshape and transform the way we use our homes.

Natural Materials
One of the notable trends we’ve seen is the concept of bringing the outside in, with vertical gardens and inside plants becoming a popular design aesthetic, helping to introduce oxygen inside our homes to support comfortable working and living areas. We’ve also seen natural textures grow in popularity, with materials like timber and terracotta being preferred due to the earthy nature they bring to interior design.

Kitchen Renovations
Kitchen projects have also become a popular form of modern home improvement, with more of us dining in at home this year due to the lockdown restrictions. Households are choosing to upgrade their appliances and introduce new functional areas like butler’s pantries, secondary dishwashers and eating areas built into kitchen islands, bringing more functionality to one of the central parts of the home.  

Home Offices
The introduction of study nooks and home office set ups have also become a popular request for renovations companies this year. Once you begin to look deeper at your current home setup, areas like linen closets and empty corners can provide fantastic potential for a new home office space, with the preference often to connect these areas to open-plan living areas rather than segmenting off as separate rooms.

Energy Efficiency
With more time spent at home, energy bills have increased this year due to more time spent watching TV, working from home and generally using more appliances. As a result, there has been a shift in how we consider our energy usage, with renewable energy technology also seeing a spike in consumer activity as households look to bring their bills down. We cover some of these techniques in our previous article Going Green In Modern Home Developments

Modern home improvements looking at kitchen

One of our kitchen renovations in Como – see the full gallery here

 

Planning A Modern Home Renovation Project?

Our team are highly experienced in delivering a series of modern home improvements throughout Perth and beyond, with the ability to provide modular installations to save time and money. If you’re considering a future project and are in the planning stages, we welcome you to contact us to begin discussions.

To view some of our previous projects, we welcome you to visit our gallery page or to browse our company blog for a snapshot at some of our feature renovations, as well as tips and tricks to help get you started.