We usually take comfort in the familiar decor and arrangement of our homes, but because of the pandemic, it’s easy to feel confined and cooped up. Staying indoors for months at a time can be mentally exhausting for anyone, so for a change of scenery, why not give some spaces of your humble abode an upgrade using the tips below?
Build Around Your Work-from-Home Situation
Since working from home is the safest situation for employees these days, most people have built their home offices in their bedrooms, dinner tables, or sometimes even choosing to work from their beds. These setups are indeed comfortable, but in the long run, will inhibit productivity.
To remain focused on your tasks during work hours, having a dedicated space for work will help. You can have your whole work situation in your bedroom, by the window, so you can rest your eyes for a moment by focusing on something else other than your computer screen. If you have a spare room, converting it into a small office will give you space to install additional work equipment and even cabinets and drawers for your files and documents.
You can place your mini office completely separate from your house, whether it be in the empty shed in your garden or built from scratch by a general contracting service so that you can work in a private space during your shifts.
Experience Effective Cardio at Home
With lots of time at home, you might as well invest in keeping your body fit and healthy. Home gyms have been common even before the pandemic, but now that maintaining a healthy lifestyle is imperative to keep the immune system strong against the virus, getting cardio at home is becoming more and more popular. Since most workouts do not need equipment, you can exercise in the empty spaces of your home.
But if you want something more intense, you can purchase equipment or use the things you have at home as alternatives. To remain motivated, you can build a home gym that completely reflects commercial ones. Add mirrors and essential equipment and install a good sound system so that you can listen to your favorite tracks while working out will give you an enjoyable experience that relatively mimics the atmosphere of commercial gyms, sans the membership fees and other people.
Using mats and floor protectors is also needed to keep your floors safe from scratches made by heavy equipment; through this, you can enjoy working out in your own private space for a long time.
Bring Your Entertainment Needs in One Room
Places where people usually go for entertainment have been closed temporarily to prevent large gatherings in close contact. Though we can always entertain ourselves at home, being nostalgic for physical activities and the exciting feeling of walking inside a dimly lit cinema with your popcorn and drink is inevitable.
For a multifunctional recreation room, installing comfy couches, purchasing a projector, and having a projector screen will let you watch movies just like how you did during pre-quarantine days. You can also schedule game nights by loading up with board games that your loved ones will enjoy. If you want something more mentally and physically stimulating, you can get a ping pong or pool table and challenge your family members to casual matches.
Turn Your Garden into a Space for Relaxation
If you’re an outdoor person, staying inside all the time can be stressful. To get your daily dose of the outside world, converting your garden or backyard into a relaxing space will be just what you need. You can plant flowers and greens, make a path using cobblestones, or even make an artificial stream that will meander around your outdoor space to resemble something of a meadow you usually come across during a hike.
Simply setting up a delicately designed dining set will give you a space for relaxing afternoon teas and early morning breakfasts — an experience close to outdoor cafes. To enjoy outdoor activities akin to camping nights, installing a fire pit will warm you up and let you enjoy campfire favorites, like s’mores, hot dogs, and corn on the cob.
Use Sustainable Energy for Your Household
Besides making external changes in your home to make quarantining fun, making adjustments in how you run your household will also help improve your lifestyle. With most family members studying or working from home, having a slight increase in your house bills is inevitable. Turning to eco-friendly ways will help save both your money and the environment. Sourcing your electricity needs from solar energy using solar panels will significantly reduce your electricity bills and decrease greenhouse emissions.
To save up on your water bills, you can harvest rainwater and use your reservoir to water your plants, wash your car, and do laundry. Doing this will let you conserve water and prevent soil erosion and water pollution. By adopting eco-friendly habits, you will get more savings and help the earth while in quarantine.
You may be confined in the corners of your room because of the pandemic, but that doesn’t mean the activities you can do to fill your time is limited. By switching up your home decor and learning new hobbies, you can make the time you spend at home worthwhile.