We live in a world where, if you’re hungry, you can just pull up a phone and have access to dozens of different cuisines that can be in front of your door in less than an hour. If you’re lonely, you can just text a couple of friends and get a response right back. A world where almost any movie or music that has been released so far can be watched from your phone.
Everything is at the reach of a button press (e.g., instant food, instant social connection, instant pleasure, instant gratification, etc.).
We’re basically living in a world of comfort.
Sure, there was a time when design was associated with glamour – something you’d say when you’re talking about fashion. If design was used in real estate, it was to achieve beauty for a picture, not for living. Clean lines with bold statements and carefully placed objects on the main stage.
Think about it – imagine having the most beautiful chair in your office. With it, the office looks stunning. But even though it looks sublime, almost like a piece of art, you can’t sit in it for more than 15 minutes, because it’s so uncomfortable. That’s what we meant when we said that you can’t live in the place. The focus was purely on presentation; everything else was sidelined.
And yes, this made sense when the design was looked at from afar through some catalogues or television.
But today, that gap has shrunk, and we as a society have started to spend more time at home. Often sharing spaces and using one room for more than one thing. There’s a great growing awareness about how the places we live/work affect our physical health. In comes functionality.
And comfort? Comfort is no longer an option; it’s the norm.
Why Comfort Matters More Now?
It matters more because our day-to-day lives have changed so much.
One of the big reasons why, as we mentioned already, is work from home. Plenty of people have noticed that their homes weren’t designed for a day of work.
Just sitting in a random dining chair isn’t very comfortable.
Also, if you turn on your lights when there’s no sun, and you fall asleep, that’s not productive work time. Poor lighting can make you tired quickly. At the same time, noise and other people lurking around can make it harder to focus. These are the tiny issues that become more obvious when you encounter (or deal with them) on a daily basis.
And that’s yet another reason why comfort matters MUCH more in smaller homes.
If you live in the city, it’s still the same story. Most likely, you’re going to have one room that has to serve many different purposes. A living room that also might be an office during the day.
This is why furniture and layouts need to be flexible and have practicality in mind.
Social media, among many things, has also influenced design.
Now we tend to focus more on making a room more comfortable. A place where it’s easy to live. We no longer look at comfort as a luxury.
It’s something that people expect every day around them.
What Makes A Place Comfortable?
Good design can be very subtle and often invisible. You can move through a space intuitively, without too much thinking.
Nothing gets in the way, and it feels natural.
When something is wrong, people are gonna notice. Suppose it’s a couch that blocks the path, or corners that are cramped up and don’t have a lot of space. The place could also be either too bright or too dark.
Regardless of what it is, you don’t want to jump over things or work your way around to get to a place.
This can also be a safety issue.
Nursing homes are a great example of how comfort AND safety are present in design decisions from day one. This has to do with the fact that residents require layouts that are easy to move through (e.g., clear and wide pathways, proper lighting, supportive materials/tools, etc.). If any of those design elements are missing, even a small/simple everyday action, such as walking, has a higher chance of risk – something you’d definitely want to avoid in places like nursing homes.
If you take a dense city with very limited space, like NYC, you’re more likely to see tighter layouts followed by heavier foot traffic. With improper design decisions, there’s a greater risk. You can see similar patterns in Chicago nursing home slip and fall claims, where again space constraints are an issue.
Materials, Lighting, Furniture
What you see and feel every day gives you comfort.
Comfort comes from how a space feels to be in. We have materials that make the room feel more inviting. Like a comfy chair or a couch, making you not want to get up for hours. Or we can have practical choices, like some grippy floors in the kitchen to avoid slipping away if it gets wet.
When deciding on lights, opt for natural ones where possible, and artificial ones to fill the gaps, rather than investing in a couch just because it’s a perfect fit. Try it out to make a decision.
The small things cumulated together affect the way we feel in a space, too.
Conclusion
In the same way, design used to focus on what something looks like, design now revolves around comfort. And yes, designing something so that it looks nice is still important. But if the cost is downgrading comfort, then it’s a no-go.
Good designs will blend beautifully with something that’s usable in order to create a space people want to spend time in every day. In the end, people are going to go for a feel of a room, not only visuals.
We don’t just build places for them to be seen.
We build them to live in.