WHY OUR HOMES WILL LOOK DIFFERENT IN 2021

Elizabeth Briggs, Category Manager Sliding, Room & Building, Häfele UK explains why the last year has changed how we use our homes and what this will mean for kitchen fitters in 2021.

The past 12 months have been life changing. The way we live day-to-day was turned on its head and the things we took for granted were removed from under our feet almost overnight.

As a result, our lives, and in turn, our homes are likely to have changed forever. But this change brings opportunity for kitchen, bedroom and bathroom installers, as we adapt our homes to suit our new lifestyles.

Home comforts and discomforts: In 2020, we discovered a new-found solace in our homes. Where we live became a place of safety and comfort, and due to restrictions, it was also where many people spent most of their days. In fact, one survey found we spent an extra eight hours in our homes per day during the first lockdown – that’s almost double what it was before.

Likewise, our homes had to take on new roles. No longer are they just the place we eat, sleep and be with our families, they’ve become schools, offices and gyms too.

Without warning, our homes had to become multifunctional and from spending around 17 hours a day there, we quickly realised their flaws. As 2020 drew to a close, we started to see an increased focus on the configuration of internal spaces. It was no longer enough to improve the face of a room, changing paint colours and wallpaper. Consumers became increasingly interested in making spaces work harder for them and were prepared to make significant changes to create the flexible homes they wanted and needed.

The rise of the home office: Nowhere has this change been more prevalent than in the home office. Almost half the population did some work at home in 2020 (ONS) and in a survey completed by Häfele UK late last year, respondents told us they expect to spend 54% of their working week working from home in 2021. 

Almost half the population did some work at home in 2020 (ONS) and in a survey completed by Häfele UK late last year, respondents told us they expect to spend 54% of their working week working from home in 2021.

Because of this huge change in working practices, our research found that 40% of home workers are planning to create a dedicated workspace in their property within the next 12 months. This planned investment is a massive opportunity for kitchen, bedroom and bathroom installers, as spare rooms, kitchens and dining spaces have become the temporary home of many would-be office workers.

Our survey of 2,000 people found that 31% regularly work at their dining table and one in ten use kitchen worktops. Over two-fifths (43%) of respondents also said they often work from a bedroom, whether that’s their own, someone else’s or a spare bedroom, and 8% work from their dressing table.

While this improvised approach served many home workers well for the first few months, it’s now wearing thin. Over half (55%) of our respondents told us they hated working in a space used for other purposes and 42% are frustrated they can’t shut away their workspace at the end of the day.

As a result, one in five respondents are planning to reconfigure an existing room to make a dedicated home office set up. A further 18% are considering converting an existing room into a dedicated office, while 19% are hoping to build a garden room or convert their garage.

Yet rather than taking the DIY approach, around half of people would speak to a joiner or builder during the early planning process for advice, meaning there’s a clear opportunity for fitters to guide customers on the best way to create a more permanent working-from-home solution in these areas. 

Our homes had to take on new roles. No longer are they just the place we eat, sleep and be with our families, they’ve become schools, offices and gyms too.

The kitchen-diner-office: While home office design might not be the natural territory of many kitchen and bedroom installers, it’s likely a brief they’ll get more of in 2021 and beyond.

Although converting a spare room would probably be the first choice of many wouldbe office workers, an extra room is a luxury many of us don’t have. As a result, many customers are looking to create a dedicated workspace, while not sacrificing a room in their home, and kitchen dining rooms and bedrooms are often natural choices.

Fortunately, there are tonnes of products out there that fitters can recommend to customers to create the perfect workspace.

Our survey of home workers found that the majority of people (83%) wanted a space they could close off or put away at the end of the day and likewise, there was a strong desire for a compact workspace that doesn’t take up too much room (78%).

Combined, these responses give a strong mandate for concealed office designs created using sliding or pocket door systems. Using sliding door or pocket door systems, homeowners can partition off an open plan kitchen or dining area for example, making an office space that’s there when they need it but can be hidden away at 5.30 pm. These innovative systems also have an added space-saving bonus as they take up around 1270mm less operating space per door versus a traditional hung door.

The Hawa Concepta pivot sliding system is one such example. This clever solution hides away within a wall recess and doesn’t need a floor channel, making it the perfect concealed option. As well as being a great solution for the homeowner, it’s also designed for easy fitting with all adjustments carried out from the front, and thanks to a unique scissor technology, it’s highly versatile too. The system can carry up to 2.6m in height and a maximum door weight of 50kg. This allows fitters to create a substantial hidden office space for their customers.

If needing an easier retrofit partition option, installers can recommend the Hawa Junior 80/b top hung system. This solution can be used to create a sliding interior door to divide a room and hide away a working space when not in use.

And for those customers wanting to create a home office in a spare room and still have space for a guest bed, foldaway bed fittings such as the Tavoletto Combi-Fitting are a great solution.

Further opportunities for fitters: While the basics of a home office space are one thing, for kitchen and bedroom fitters who want to expand their offer in 2021, additional home office design services are a huge opportunity and a relatively easy way to bring in extra revenue once you know what’s important to the customer.

As part of our research, we did just that, asking consumers to describe their perfect home office in more detail. In their responses, home workers chose good lighting as their top requirement, with 89% of home workers rating it as a crucial design factor. Technology also ranked as a key consideration, with work-from-homers choosing charging points for phones (84%), power sockets (83%) and ways to hide cables and wires (77%) as other important factors in their dream home office. Storage for paperwork and files was also important (77.35%) and after months of aching backs, adjustable table height was included by almost a quarter of respondents (72.50%).

Looking at this list of needs further, there are so many ways savvy kitchen and bedroom installers can add value.

Let there be light…and power: While lighting has traditionally been an area that some fitters might steer away from, thanks to innovation in this area, it’s becoming easier to provide the full package. Loox by Häfele has been developed specifically for the furniture industry. A simple, modular plug and play system, fitters can easily incorporate it into office furniture – as well as kitchen cabinetry – to create a practical, well-lit working space for customers. The system also features modular USB charging stations and audio systems that can be integrated into designs with ease creating a true 3D experience.

For fitters who want extra support on lighting, Häfele has also launched a freeof-charge Lighting Design Service whereby fitters simply submit their requirements and one of our expert team will return a list of products needed to transform the space.

Simple storage: Another great way for fitters to add value is by designing and building functional home office storage for their customers using a range of innovative components.

If a client has limited space, our pioneering hingeless flap fittings, free space, would be an ideal way to create more storage room within cabinetry by eliminating the need for large cover caps. This reduces the internal installation depth to just 63mm.

Likewise, fitters can also use Häfele to Order to support home office projects as it has recently been extended to feature a bespoke timber drawer service. Through this, installers can submit their requirements and Häfele will supply handmade, high grade solid timber drawers in a choice of wood types, complete with drawer runners.

A year of opportunity: As we start a new year and reflect on the last 12 months, it’s true that how we live and work might never be quite the same, but from this immense change, there is equally immense opportunity. By responding to the ‘new normal’ and working closely with manufacturers like Häfele, there’s a whole new world for kitchen, bathroom and bedroom installers to take advantage of and make 2021 their best year yet.