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After spending most of their time at home for the last 21 months due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many homeowners are looking for ways to make their homes fit their new realities.

Open floor plans are out; dedicated spaces for remote work and learning are in. Yards are being transformed into entertainment spaces, and walls are being repainted.

At the same time, increased demand and safety concerns can make the remodeling process take much longer than before.

Here are five trends to watch for this home-remodeling season:

1. A focus on dedicated spaces

At the start of 2020, “the most requested design concept was open space,” said Jimmy Dollman, principal of Dollman Construction in Roanoke, Virginia.

“But now, we face a different set of design implications because everyone’s living conditions have changed.” Dollman noted that remote workers and learners need privacy and quiet.

“A year ago, it was rare for one family member to work from home,” he said. “Now, [parents] and kids find it difficult to get work done because of the noise in the open design.”

This year, expect to see homeowners spending less time knocking down walls to open up shared areas, and more time transforming spare rooms or nooks into dedicated spaces.

That might mean adding a home office or home theater, for instance, or transforming a nook into a space for distance-learning.

2. Making room for home offices

To add home offices to residences, “homeowners aren’t adding square footage,” said Doug King, owner of King Contracting, a design-build firm in St. Petersburg, Florida.

“Rather, they’re taking out rarely used closets, like in the hallway, and moving interior walls to make space.”

And the home office trend isn’t going away anytime soon. “Even when the pandemic is over,” King said, “there’ll be a lot of people still working from home.”

He also noted that, because of this trend, use of home technology is increasing as households install items such as ethernet cables for computer networks and Bluetooth speakers.

3. More outdoor living

One cure for that cooped-up feeling is outdoor living areas.

“People want their back yards to be their oasis,” King said. In his area, pools are the number-one thing being added to back yards. Outdoor kitchens and fire pits are the next most popular.

Homeowners spending more time at home may also start to seek out remodeling projects that bring beautiful outdoor views inside — for instance, by installing larger windows or glass doors that let in more natural light.

4. Longer wait times

Besides shifts in design trends, homeowners can expect a continued slowdown in the industry.

In some cases, safety concerns have changed how contractors and workers approach projects. Supply chain woes are also making it take longer, or in some cases to be nearly impossible, to obtain desired products.

Getting permits can also take much longer than usual as demand increases and those who approve the permits adapt to new working conditions — for instance, working at home rather than in the office, or working with a limited staff.

5. Bold colors

For homebound do-it-yourselfers looking for affordable ways to make rooms more welcoming this year, adding a colorful fresh coat of paint will likely be high on their list.

A sign that bold colors and color combinations could be gaining favor: They featured prominently among Color of the Year winners for 2021 announced by brands including Sherwin Williams, Pantone and Benjamin Moore.

Sherwin Williams selected Urbane Bronze (a dark brownish-gray), for instance. Benjamin Moore selected an Aegean Teal (a blue-green color). Pantone selected a color duo: Ultimate Gray and Illuminating (a gray tone alongside a bright yellow color).

For homeowners, painting walls in striking colors like these could be an appealing low-cost way to add depth, excitement and personality to a room.

—AP/NerdWallet