A Space Reshuffle
Visiting the same configuration of spaces in your home every day could be a monotonous experience during a lockdown. The same old arrangement becomes too familiar, stagnant and uninspiring to revisit over and over again.
One way we could counter this is with a regular dose of spatial refreshment. We recommend achieving this by reconfiguring your spaces once every few weeks to emulate how one gets refreshed from a short staycation. In this case, however, you are creating the experience within your own home!
How can you go about doing this?
Get creative with the functions of each room and shuffle activities around to refresh your everyday experiences. A living room is only called a living room until all the furniture and decor are removed. So why not do away with these labels and be creative in the way we live.
In this article, we share with you the best approach towards reshuffling your activities and some great ideas that you could emulate to redesign your lifestyle during a pandemic.
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PLAN YOUR SPACE
While shuffling functions around the house may seem easy to do, you could consider the following steps before diving right in
- Maintain a seamless circulation pattern into each space.
- Minimize your horizontal occupancy in each space and consider more vertical forms of material management.
- Large spaces could be sectioned into 3 or more functions to make them multifunctional.
OUR SHUFFLE RECOMMENDATIONS
We dive into commonly practised activities and how they could be shifted to redesign our everyday lifestyle.
Dining
Shift your dining experience into your kitchen…cafe style!
Emulate the concept of a cafe setting, where some of the chic-est dining experiences marry the preparatory process of cooking as well. Cheer the cook, immerse into the cooking process, create a calm ambience with subdued lighting and tabletop plants to enjoy the offerings.
A dining cafe setup could also shift into your living space, preferably near a window/balcony. That could be an idyllic setup for all your meals whilst you soak in the views of the outdoors and enjoy the flavours of your platter at the same time.
Reading or journalling
Everyday reading or journaling are great ways to activate those grey cells, especially in times when the millennial mind is not used to being cooped up indoors for months at a time. In short, indoor distractions aren’t enough!
We suggest creating a library island to set the right tone for some valuable reading or journalling time. This could be pitched best in the living space, bedrooms or dining. You could get very creative with this by simply landing on the floor with a soft rug, a bean bag, ambient lighting and a simple book stacked coffee table.
Get creative with a makeshift coffee table for your library island. Why not emulate the concept of building blocks and build a personalised tabletop with a stack of books that you have finished reading, topped with a serving tray for your cuppa and some decor elements. This forms an attractive and colourful showcase of your interests and passions, all in one simple-to-build table.
Recreational activities, work or home-based learning
Family activities together are great ways to initiate conversation, learn, debate and indeed kindle a few laughs.
Use the dining room instead for study or work, family board game sessions or even for creative DIYs. Most dining tables are spacious and can accommodate all these activities at the same time and could kindle precious family moments together. Why not leverage this invaluable space then and treat the lockdown as a time to bond!
Pampering
You may be indoors 24/7 but a little everyday self TLC ritual could boost your morale in a great way!
Create a miniature yet tempting salon set up in your bathroom or just outside it. Bring in a small but comfortable chair and a vertical rack for all your vanity tools. To make this experience more tempting, throw in a soft rug, bring in some magazines and refresh with plants. A self-care ritual must be thrown into your everyday routine for a happier you!
Gardening
Coming in constant touch with nature is proven to have many positive health benefits.
Why not garden up at every window in your home?! This activity does not have to restrict itself to only a balcony or living space. By spreading this activity out around the entire house, it would ensure more physical activity every day. You could even create a planting theme near each window; for example, a kitchen garden set up in the kitchen, a xeriscape and terrarium theme for the bedroom, tropical planters for the living.
The thumb rule is to go vertical to prevent eating into your circulation space. “Grow wild”, with tall racks for planters, install wall-mounted metal grids for suspending miniature succulents/elegantly draped creepers, or even a few xeriscape miniatures or terrariums that do not require too much water. The possibilities are endless.
We also recommend hydroponics to propagate an active kitchen garden. There are great ways to create DIY miniature systems with a simple large-base opaque plastic container!
Indoor workouts
This one is essential to stay fit and build that immunity!
To refresh that everyday motivation, we recommend shifting this activity on a more frequent basis. Your bedroom, living space, spill-out terrace could be great alternative locations for this. Setting a different workout routine for each space would also add a bit of variety to the monotony that you are trying to break. Yoga in the balcony, cardio in the living space or weights in a bedroom, set it all up in a way that is visible to you at all times. Leverage a wall-mounted grid for light equipment or vertical open racks for the heavier variety.
Visiting your spiritual side
Besides everyday religious rituals, adding a bit of positive spiritual reflection is perfect to set the right tone for your day.
Leverage all the green spaces that you have set up so carefully at each window of the house, be grateful, and now rest assured that you have indeed risen and tapped into a more fulfilling momentum of life.
Take Care!
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