Confinement: an oportunity for think on confort at home
Next April 14th will mark one year since the end of the first month of confinement in Spain. That moment was the real turning point because a month is longer than couple of weeks. Then, everybody became fully aware that we are about to suffer a life disruption.
1. On what factors does the individual response to confinement depend?
On several which change according to each person circumstances:
a) The comfort and size of the house where one lives: it is not the same to be confined in 30 square meters than in 120 square meters, nor is it the same to have natural light than to suffer its lack .
b) The age of each person.
c) The physical condition and state of health of each person: The physical condition is, according to "rendirse-jamás" website, "the psycho-physical performance capacity of a person at a time. It appears itself as distinct capacities: strength, speed, endurance and flexibility." On the other hand, when we refer to the state of health, the key concept is not performance capacity, but the absence of disease. Both concepts are often used as equivalent because, too often, poor physical condition is the poor health prelude.
d) Spending the confinement living with someone or alone: the company may also consist of receiving frequent phone calls or you can have pets. Thus, people with a "greater social network" are those who resist better to physical isolation.
e) Having a lot of occupations: many people would have put this factor first. We believe, although it is true that reading, doing the housework or ordering what we always left for tomorrow are a shield against boredom or hopelessness without a good home that Finques Feliu offers you here is more likely that our physical and psychological condition will be worse. As the Latin maxim says: mens sana in corpore sano.
f) The character of each person: for everyone the situation was a challenge, however, not everyone faced it in the same way.
g) The place where the confinement took place: a big city is not the same as a village of few inhabitants in which, if there isn't an active outbreak, confinement could be lax .
2. What new things did confinement bring in relation to work and housing?
The extreme situation forced to make compatible compulsory confinement with economic activity there was only one way to achieve it: to implement teleworking. By the way in the image 1 you can see the graph: " Teleworking evolution in the decade 2010-2020" source: Randstad.
This mode of work dedication was embodied in an iconic image: the video call that gathers the whole work team. With respect to home and work, we discovered that many households were not prepared for became an office and that it was a challenge to divide our attention between work and our children with whom we were confined.
After the wide change in habits brought about by teleworking came another fact: we suddenly started living at home all day long. Then, some people asked themselves how comfortable their home was:
- In just a few days it became clear what a huge advantage it is to have an outdoor living space. We are talking about: terrace or even a spacious balcony (not to mention the luxury of a private garden). Suddenly homes with a terrace were the most sought-after. At the same time, among those who already had a terrace before the enclosure arose the urge to have it in accordance with the law. At Feliu we explain how to reach it.
- As whole weeks went by, we fixed our eyes on the state of the dwelling. Thus, according to Andimac, the employer of reforms: "the percentage of those interested in reforming reached 61% of households in Spain in July 2020". These data, corresponding to the quarter after the end of the confinement, provide valuable information on the social reaction.
In our Social Media, many people asked questions on various topics, which we are answering without delay:
How to do physical activity at home? One of the greatest dangers of a strict confinement is called sedentary lifestyle. Find out how to fight against it.
b) Is it legal to use the rooftop of our homeowners' association building for exercise?
Yes, it is legal. It should be noted that it is legal as long as (with the use we make of the rooftop or any other space) we do not harm the other owners. The Catalan Civil Code in its article 553-43 specifies: "the possibility of linking the exclusive use of this or other common elements to one or several privative departments of the building, remembering that they do not lose their nature of common element". In addition, article 396 of the Spanish Civil Code endorses this.
c) Can we isolate ourselves from the noise outside the house?
You can: we explain here how. Before the confinement, it was impossible for people who worked outside their homes to perceive the noise produced in their homes during working hours. During total confinement, being 23 hours at home, we rediscovered the importance of acoustic insulation.
3. How to live and work in comfortable spaces in the future: The role of ergonomics
How do you define the concepts of ergonomics and interior design?
According to the dictionary of Oxford Dictionary "ergonomics" is defined as: "the study of working conditions, especially the design of equipment and furniture, in order to help people work more efficiently". In the same dictionary interior design is conceptualized as: "the art or job of choosing the paint, carpets, furniture, etc. to decorate the inside of a house".
In this third part we are pleased to welcome our head interior designer Pep Feliu to ask him about ergonomics.
Pep Feliu: "To telework I recommend a "home office" with furniture designed to carry out our tasks, well-lit and safe" .
1. Finques Feliu (in the rest of the Interview will be FF): What are the characteristics of a house depending on its orientation in terms of sunlight reception?
Pep Feliu (in the rest of the interview will be PF): For the sake of clarity I will answer schematically:
- A north-facing house: it will never be sunny
- A south-facing house: it will always be sunny
- An east-facing house: it receives 50% of the sun and it does so in the morning
- A west-facing house gets 50% of the sun and gets it in the afternoon
2. FF: What degree of natural light is ideal for the room in which we work remotely?
PF: It is desirable to work in a south-facing room where the maximum amount of light comes in. The more light that enters through the window, the more efficient human sight will be.
3. FF: We understand that working with natural light is better than work with electric light. Now, in case of working without it, what type of artificial light is preferable to use?
PF: As a general principle we must keep in mind that: an artificial light must be warm. My advice is to choose the 2800 lumen temperature.
4. FF: Which room would you recommend for teleworking?
PF: I recommend a "home office" with furniture designed for working (like the one showed in image 2). That is to say, a room for teleworking should not be over-decorated: function is king, it should not only be furniture for working, but also the environment should be inviting to concentrate.
5. FF: How should be the chair in which we sit to telework? What distance should be between the chair and the table we use? And what is the distance between our eyes and the computer screen?
PF: It is necessary to choose an ergonomic chair, reclining that recovers the lumbars and the arms of support allow a level of height adapted to the user.
The distance that allows an angle of your arms of 90 degrees or more that allows a clear reading usually at 70 cm although it depends on the vision and the size of the text on the screen.
In addition to these conditions I do not want to forget that market offers also the "0 gravity" chairs: those where you work seated or semi-streched without an excessive charge in any muscle because weight is distributed harmoniously throughout the space of the chair (image 3). Another option is to acquire a chair for gamers (image 4) that allows us to sit with our back as straight as possible and our neck straight and relaxed (image 5).
6. FF: Is there any interior design furniture that people do not consider using while teleworking?
PF: Generally the enormous comfort that supposes to have a suitable and specific furniture for teleworking, either, double or individual, is ignored.
7. FF: As an interior designer, do you have any personal advice for teleworking?
PF: I always advise to adapt the space to the function that we are going to do in it. Three points of view should rule the adaptation to telework: acoustic, luminous and anatomical. This will result in our comfort and if we are more comfortable the stress is much less, our concentration usually increases and the pains disappear.
Thank you very much Pep! After this interview our readers will be nearer of the confort. The plasure will be the best argument to share this article!
4. Epilogue: heartfelt thanks to all our team, suppliers and customers
Honestly, no one was prepared for COVID-19. In our company we have seen that the fact of adapting to a sudden, shocking and, at times, hard situation involves a great mental and even physical endurance.
Today we would like to publicly thank all our team for: their overcoming and early work that has made it possible to carry out the work and provide you with the service you deserve. Likewise, we want to emphasize the work of our suppliers and, in the face of our customers, to reaffirm that, as our motto says: we play by your side.