This new year has couples working from home with children also working from home. Whether your kids are 8, 18, or even 28 and living at home, there’s more people home more often now than ever with the current shelter in place orders.  People are using their home differently than they ever have before and with more people simultaneously using the same space for different purposes, there’s a demand for more space. This has a lot of folks considering how their space is configured and how they want to use it. 

Remodeling Your Home for Shelter in Place Needs

The increase in demand for remodeling in place has been up 40% year over year. From home offices, kitchen desks, to accessory dwelling units, homeowners are remodeling in place more than ever before. Our homes have now become much more than our family meeting place; now this is our everything place.

Be sure when you decide to jump into this popular pool, that you are prepared and have done your homework; you don’t want to let anyone off the street without proper license and insurance working on your home or you could find yourself in a bind with a worker’s injury costing you a lien.  There are many very reputable firms out there, you just need to ask the right questions and check their credentials.  Here is a great reference tool that gives you 15 ways to check your remodeling firm’s reliability and client satisfaction.

Home Design & Remodeling Space Options to Consider

There are so many ways to configure your home to meet your family’s needs as you shelter in place. From individual office space to independent study space as well as finding that spot for your home workouts. We have been approached to reconfigure home layouts more often this year than ever before in our 34 years of remodeling.

Plenty of families are opting for building an additional dwelling unit (ADU) on their property. California legislation passed congressional law enabling all California homeowners to pursue such options with the necessary local law requirements. This space can be used for so many purposes and often provides more room than you may consider. A standard sized garage can fit 3 offices, a kitchenette, and a restroom. This may solve all of your problems.

Making Office Space in Your Home

An alternate approach is to repurpose a children’s room or guest room to be an office while another worker repurposes a kitchen island. Though remember temporary solutions like a kitchen island may lead to long-term frustrations. Consider this may be a long term solution where you want filing cabinets and the necessary support tools a desk holds; you may find yourself remodeling in place again and finding space for a desk in your kitchen.

Consider our current shelter in place order something many companies will retain with alternate work schedules and shared work spaces as it is working for many companies already. Consider asking your company if they will be providing an accommodations to make your home office an easier place to utilize. Google employees were given a stipend to create a comfortable home office space that enables them to be productive.  And if you’re looking for an overhaul, consider reaching out to design professionals to get your space reconfigured to meet you and your family needs.

Another big request we are seeing with the remodeling in place movement is the need for a space to work out and get fitness equipment set up. It’s reported that home gym equipment sales went up 535% after COVID shelter in place orders were issued. You could find used equipment at this time selling for outrageous rates. Since the initial announcement, things have quited down a bit and you can find equipment back in stock and affordable to fill your home gym space.

There are so many indoor / outdoor options for getting exercise in southern California that we have many design and layout options as well. If you need that extra push to get a gym environment installed, check out our article on 5 reasons clients are building home gyms.

Whatever your struggle may be with family space, purposeful use of space, or repurposing of space, we can help. Our professional designers are skilled at identifying functional needs and solutions within your existing footprint to provide value engineering and deliver exactly what you need in a beautiful design that makes you feel inspired when in the space. And the good news is that some of your home improvements may even be tax deductible. Read our recent blog on which remodeling projects may qualify for tax credits or deductions and talk to your tax professional.