5 Ideas on How to Make Your Home Function Better During Covid
Elissa Morgante, AIA
Founding Partner at Award Winning Chicago Architects, Morgante Wilson
Nov 17, 2020 - 5 min read
It’s probably safe to say that back when you moved into your home – whether that was a decade ago, or just last fall – you were not imagining you’d be working from it day after day. Or that you’d be home-schooling your children in it. Or that you’d be doing both, at the same time, at a cluttered kitchen island. But here we are.
If you’re like most of us, your house is being asked to function in ways it was never intended to. But there are plenty of things we can all do to help our homes run more smoothly right now. At Morgante Wilson, we’re used to solving problems through design.
Here are five quick and easy ideas that will help your transform your home make it function better during Covid.
1. Rethink your space
If you live in a two-story house, take a good look at your stair landing. It may be able to accommodate a comfy floor cushion or two, yielding a cozy reading nook or study area for your kids. If you’ve got a bit more room, consider adding a small table or desk and an upright chair to create a quiet homework station. Beanbag chairs on a stair landing are another great way to carve some away-from-it-all space in your home.
2. Trade tables
Most of us are using our kitchen and dining room tables as classrooms, study halls, conference rooms, and work desks. But many of those tables are just too small. Trade up to something larger and you may even be able to add a craft station at one end, and a place to play board games at the other. There are so many attractive, and reasonably priced, options online that buying a bigger table is one of the easiest ways we know to make your home more functional.
3. Study your walls
Look around: is there an empty window or piece of wall you can push a desk or table against to carve space for an “office?” Having a dedicated place to keep your laptop and files will help your home feel more organized. It may also help promote work-life balance, since you’ll have a place to “leave” each evening – unlike if you’re working from your sofa. Pro tip: if the best you can do is push a table against a blank wall, prop a mirror on top of the desk to reflect light and views from nearby windows.
4. Divide and conquer
One of our favorite projects a while back was designing a model unit at the K2 apartment building in Chicago, Illinois. As designers, our challenge was to make a relatively small space live large. One of the tricks we employed was using a freestanding bookshelf to separate a single room into two distinct areas. The bookshelf we used featured open cubbies, which would make great spots to stash office supplies stored in pretty baskets.
Take it outside
If you’re lucky enough to live in a temperate climate, consider setting up a workstation outdoors. Your deck, a terrace, or even a front porch can probably all accommodate a table and a chair, giving you physical and psychological space alone to focus. If you need shade to work comfortably on your laptop, there are many helpful and attractive sail-type shades that can help. And if you’re up for a project on your downtime, consider building a pergola to provide respite from the sun and a comforting sense of enclosure.
For more great ideas on how interior design and architecture can enhance your lifestyle, head over to our website – or follow us on Instagram!
Morgante Wilson Architects provides architectural and interior design services in Chicago, Deerfield, Evanston, Glencoe, Glenview, Highland Park, Kenilworth, Lake Bluff, Lake Forest, Northbrook, Northfield, Ravinia, Wilmette and Winnetka – along with Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, New Hampshire, New York, Ohio, Utah, Wisconsin and the U.S. Virgin Islands.