Let Fairy Say Happy Holidays
By: Sepideh Masoudinejad
Tags: Wellbeing, Housing, Home, Architectural Design, Covid 19

Residential buildings need more flexible personalization policies in the Pandemic Era

An access corridor in a residential condo, Toronto, Canada. Photo by author, Dec.2020

Working remotely in a corner of my apartment, I heard someone knocked on the door. I had no idea who was behind the door … a woman seriously said “you are not allowed to use these ornaments in this building”.

She pointed to a small crystal fairy hanging on the front door. The fairy did not cause a problem in the building appearance or for neighbors but played a meaningful role for us particularly for my young fairies at home. During a cold pandemic time, within a strange city, and along a monotonous corridor with repetitive gray doors, the shiny fairy said this door belongs to us; this is our HOME.

People personalize their home to make it more pleasing and develop their desired atmosphere. Beyond this, they deliberately decorate their home to reflect their identity. People use personal and meaningful items to give meaning to their home; to remark it as their own home, and shape it as they are. Home “as a mirror of self” (Cooper Marcus, 1974) is a particular place in which people express themselves and impress a self-image. Personalization can deliver a sense of home and enhance residents’ symbolic and emotional attachment to their home.

The environment is important to people to the extent that they give it their own meaning (Rapoport, 1978). The meaning associated with symbols and personal touches to the home can help residents to cope with stressful situations. Studies present that personalization can reduce negative physical, physiological, and psychological effects of living in an undesired situation or environment- such as illness, stress, and anxiety. It also can increase people’s satisfaction with their living environment. Overall, it is thought that home personalization is associated with residents’ psychological wellbeing.

Despite its positive effects, personalization is forbidden in many residences particularly in the exteriors. In contrast with a house that offers many opportunities for the addition of personal touches to the exteriors (i.e. the front yard, back yard, porch, entry, windows, and the façade), residential apartments restrict dwellers in personalizing their home. As living in a plain and low-stimulus box with the same units, apartment residents are in a strong need for an assertion to identify their own home and distinguish it from neighbors’. Most people need to leave their mark to make their home unique.

In many cases, the entry door is the only place where the addition of personal touches is feasible for residents. However, building authorities limit this opportunity. What they perceive as chaos is perceived very pleasing by residents. Access corridors are not just for walking back and forth to home but also should welcome residents and facilitate some touch of uniqueness for every single home. The entry has a symbolic meaning and is a desirable place for personalizing and laying claim to the territory; residents like to see their personal touches while going and coming and express themselves to neighbors and visitors. From this viewpoint, access corridors can take a role in creating a pleasing ambiance and bring happiness into the residence.

This is a notable message for both housing designers and policymakers; designers should consider opportunities to accommodate and encourage personalization to suit the resident’s expectations and policymakers should facilitate it. Besides fire safety codes and infection-control policies, residential buildings require some strategies to support residents’ psychological wellbeing. Particularly, in quarantine time when people are confined at home and deprived of many pleasant amenities and events even a simple gathering, small enjoyments such as a hanging fairy on the front door become more significant. It is a time when residential buildings must apply more flexible policies to subtly improve the residents’ happiness and wellbeing.