We’re Open to Closed-Off Spaces “Open-plan isn’t suiting everybody,” said Miyar, referring to how households have had to live, work and play all together in one space during lockdown. “We’re looking at more seismic shifts in the way people are living,” Rumbold said. “Acoustic separation and things like that are going to be massive shifts.” Rumbold foresees us using our spaces in a multifunctional way for a while. “I don’t think we’re going to go back to the way we were before, so our personal spaces are going to have to work really hard,” she said. She added that designers will need to come up with clever solutions to help zone a space at different times of the day. “It could be a physical zoning, such as an internal door, or perhaps a storage solution that means that when function A is finished, everything goes away so function B can commence,” Rumbold said. “I think we’re going to have to be even cleverer at listening to our clients’ requirements.”
The room is very narrow and long, so we chose a rich indigo in a high-gloss lacquer for the millwork, which wraps around the space in an L. We then painted the remaining walls in the same color but in an eggshell finish. The lacquer and sheen brighten up the indigo by about 20 percent, so whenever I’m asked what the color is on the millwork, I always give the caveat that the paint chip — Benjamin Moore Lead Gray — looks nothing like the eventual color.
Comfort also includes individual pieces of furniture. For example, even if the current work-from-home movement doesn’t last, a proper ergonomic chair is a worthy investment.
Q