Feeling social can be difficult amid ongoing health concerns and distancing rules, however, it is something essential to our fundamental wellbeing. This is why a number of residents across the country are looking to use their home as a safe, comfortable space within which to socialise with family and friends.
While we may already have a few extra chairs at the dinner table, or a spare room ready to be prepared for guests, there are a number of ways that our home’s features and its interior design can be used to facilitate and encourage socialisation.
Transition Space
Coming from the outdoors and into a warm welcome is an essential part of comfort. If a home does not feel immediately accommodating, guests are unlikely to feel they are in a safe space. There are a number of ways in which an entrance can be made to feel warming but it is told most notably through aesthetics.
Storage for coats and shoes, those assets that passively state, it’s time to leave the outdoors behind, as well as brilliant colour contrast, such as a warming orange, are a great method of distinguishing spaces.
Room To Find Oneself
Not knowing immediately where one can or should lay their hat is a simple scenario that perfectly captures what is an important interior design aspect for guests. If it is not intuitive where a person should sit, or if they must compromise a room by moving and adjusting furniture and decor simply to relax, then they will instantly feel like an imposition, which is contrary to their comfort.
An Outdoor Space
Those with gardens are at an advantage since they are equipped with a space that can be enjoyed outdoors and with fewer health concerns. It can be helpful to consider a garden’s design and how it encourages socialisation. Decking areas, those equipped with garden furniture for dining and relaxing, are invaluable and will naturally draw guests to them. While other homeowners are converting their garden sheds so as to use them for social purposes, such as relaxation spaces, games rooms, and even dining rooms.
Independent Living
A guest room by itself is not an innately welcoming space. It should be the space of most welcome within a home, one that not only encourages comfort in its design, with plush fabrics and cosy colours but also its practicality, offering the means for independence, such as with towels and amenities, so that guests feel as if they can revel in autonomy.
Clear and Spacious
While space is an important quality in terms of social distance, it also supports a great comfort of guests, to a certain extent at least. Having the room to move around each other within invading each person’s personal space is important for psychological comfort. However, as the famous Citizen Kane dining table scene tells, too much distance in key social areas, such as where groups eat, will lead to a sensation of distance. Be sure to find the balance in your home, offering space for guests to enjoy while not placing too much of a divide between you both.
