What’s Your Video Background? Time for Some Home Improvement!

How Being Stuck at Home Prompted More DIY Projects

When Coronavirus forced the country to isolate at home a few months ago, all of us had to adapt to a new way of life. Our living rooms and bedrooms suddenly turned into offices and conference rooms.

With video calls now part of our daily routine to stay connected with clients, co-workers, friends and family, some of us might be self-conscious of our real time backgrounds.

According to a May 2020 survey, 64 percent of Americans on video calls were embarrassed by parts of their living space. Parents (80 percent) feel this more than nonparents (55 percent); possibly due to the toys littering the floor behind them.

Across generations, millennials are the most embarrassed (75 percent), compared to their older counterparts (66 percent of Gen X and 55 percent of boomers).¹ In addition, the survey found that nearly three out of four homeowners (73 percent) were planning renovations this year, down only slightly from January 2020 (77 percent).

In fact, those homeowners were continuing or expanding projects (57 percent) at more than twice the rate of those who were cutting back or canceling altogether (23 percent).

To what extent did the lockdowns turn our houses upside down for the better? What was the impact of COVID on home improvements and DIY projects? We took a deep dive into the data to uncover the trends in this unexpected context.

Time to Spare, Time Well Spent

With almost no commuting time anymore and more quality time to spend with our loved ones, home improvement projects might not have been on most of our to-do lists at the outset of the lockdowns. A J.D. Power study conducted in April at the beginning of the stay-at-home orders showed that only 49 percent of U.S. consumers were considering a home improvement project within the next three months.

Footnotes:

1: https://blog.lightstream.com/home-improvements-during-covid-19/