Gtres
Gtres

On 4th May, the much talked about phase 2 of the coronavirus emergency in Italy began, but in spite of this, Italians will still be spending a considerable amount of time indoors. The home improvement experts at the online portal Habitissimo have been hearing from some of their users to get a picture of what has been keeping Italian residents busy at home during these days of lockdown

New life in the garden

Gardens have become the real luxury in this period of quarantine; a place to breathe fresh air, let the children play and sunbathe if you're lucky enough. Gardens are generally considered a plus but the lack of such areas during quarantine has made Italians find themselves quite unprepared for spending long periods at home. In fact, when asked which area or part of the house they found that they are least satisfied with and that they think they will renovate in the future, the majority of respondents (39%) answered the garden, followed by the living room and the bathroom with 17% and 15% respectively.

The garden can be seen as a place of leisure but that is certainly not its only use; 33% of those interviewed who own a garden also dedicate themselves to looking after a vegetable patch, an activity that gets special attention these days and is considered a real pastime. Together with gardens, the great protagonists of these days are of course, terraces and balconies. These are spaces to be taken advantage of to the maximum with creativity and practicality, despite the fact that the space in many cases is minimal.

Home repairs and DIY

15.5% of those who took part in Habitissimo's survey needed the help of a professional for work in the home during the first month of quarantine. Of these, 6.4% had someone come to their home and solved the problem (28% having heating repairs done, 28% electrical work and 28% plumbing problems). The remaining 9.1% were DIY cases for work considered an emergency, mainly involving plumbing problems. DIY was also the solution for of some interested in painting their houses. Of the 30% of the interviewees who were planning to paint their homes, 10% opted for DIY, while the remaining 20% postponed it until they could call a professional.

Homes become offices

Quarantine has turned many Italian homes into makeshift offices. 44% of respondents from habitissimo say they are in smartworking mode. Of these, 49% already had a dedicated space because they were working from home even before the quarantine, 30% had to create a space and are happy with the result while 14% had to improvise but are not completely satisfied. 70% of the interviewees pointed outalack of ergonomic furniture suitable for sitting for long periods of time, like tables and chairs. 17% complain about insufficient space while 10% say they don't have enough natural light.