‘It was lockdown five years ago that first made us tune into our interiors and how we can coexist in them and I wonder whether it catalysed a shift away from open-plan living back to separate individual spaces – ones that can be discovered, ones that might suit differing moods and ones where you can be alone!’ As well as the obvious benefit of delineated spaces providing privacy and meeting the needs of various family members, they also often work better in period houses. Large open-plan spaces can be hard and expensive to heat, which isn’t exactly the best idea in a world of rising energy costs and limited resources.