Isolation bestowed upon us a seemingly endless amount of time for self-improvement. Whether self-care and updates to one’s skincare routine, or physical home improvements within the four walls we spent all of our time for months on end.
As the zig-zagged lines at Bunnings indicated, so many of us embarked upon small home renovation projects, and who could blame us? There wasn’t a lot else to do and it was rather nice to have extra time for carrying out those little jobs around the house, that ultimately made spending time at home feel more enjoyable.
Now, as lockdown measures continue to lift around the country (though not everywhere just yet — Melbourne and other parts of Victoria are re-entering strict lockdown), we’re looking back on those interior projects that caught the most airtime.
Referencing some recent data, plus some of our own insights, these are the home improvement projects that proved most popular between March and now.
☆ Indoor plants
What’s not to love about indoor plants? Provided you’re confident in your ability to keep them alive (go easy on the watering), indoor plants can improve air quality and quite literally make you happier at home. What’s more, they’re great company and make for easy aesthetic pleasure, and so it’s no wonder plant sales spiked majorly while the world stayed home. Many nurseries even shifted their offerings from in-store sales to online delivery. Here are some of our favourites indoor plant delivery services.
☆ Foam mirrors
The DIY foam mirror is still having a major moment on Instagram. Impossibly chic and absolutely on-trend, the foam mirror is easily made at home with only a few affordable items from your local hardware store. We even wrote step-by-step instructions to help you replicate the interior magic at home.
☆ Line art
As reported by Livingetc, and according to research carried out by Hotel Follower that analysed the most-Googled interior trends from March 20 through to June, line art was one of the fastest-growing search terms in the interior design space during iso. While there are some magnificent line artists creating wall murals, prints and textiles with line drawings, it would have appeared that so many at home seeking a creative outlet gave the style an amateur go.
☆ Trash terracotta
Influencer Geneva Vanderzeil is credited with kicking off the trash terracotta trend in iso. She takes dated ceramic or glass vases and vessels and applies terracotta paint to give them the look and feel of genuine terracotta pots. Following the demand for a white option, Vanderzeil came up with a new solution that uses acrylic paint and baking paper. You can find out more about replicating her creations on her blog.
☆ Study nooks
Some saw working from home as an interim solution to being in the office. Others found carrying out their roles remotely to be an incredibly productive way to work and achieve a work/life balance. Some businesses found the arrangement to be so effective, that they’ll now be looking to pursue more flexible working arrangements moving forward. As such it makes complete sense that those WFH would have made over a small corner of their places into a more permanent office space. The nook under the stairs, often referred to as ‘dead space’, saw many a revamp during the months of iso to become a functional home office space or study nook.