Written by Emma Moses

As we currently face our third lockdown in less than a year, with the message being to stay at home, it’s no surprise that people have taken more of a focus upon interior design. 

With the nation suddenly having more time on their hands than ever before, DIY projects were said to be the most popular form of distraction in the first lockdown, leading to many people repainting rooms and rearranging furniture.  

B&Q owner, Kingfisher, announced that within the past two months alone, their online sales have grown by more than 150%, proving that nearly a year in, it is still very much a new hobby for many. 

Zoom was one of the most downloaded apps in 2020 due to both adults and students alike suddenly having to work from home, which itself is also said to have put more pressure on our home interiors, as finding the perfect background has become yet another aspect of our new way of life.

Companies like Unsplash now even offer fake Zoom backgrounds to download, whereby you can place an image of a living room or kitchen of your choice to have as your background when you’re on your meeting call. 

The home improvement retailer Wickes has recently called this new problem that many people now face as having “housebarrassment”, due to the issue of having “dated kitchens, grubby bathrooms and dodgy DIY” suddenly on show to your entire group of work colleagues. 

In a recent study, Wickes found that “61% of homeowners are embarrassed about an aspect of their homes,” which is likely to be on the rise due to video calling currently being an essential part of working life. 

Research has shown that over a third of UK employers will remain working remotely after the pandemic is over, suggesting that this may not just be a trend of the times and could in fact be our future. 

Zoom calls aside, as we are all spending more time in our homes, with it being one of the few places that you may feel truly safe during a pandemic, many people are simply focused on making it a beautiful, relaxing space to spend time in.