為什么美國(guó)的家庭裝修會(huì)激增

為什么美國(guó)的家庭裝修會(huì)激增

"It used to be a backyard. Now it's a summer oasis," says Astoria Camille of the water feature she built in her mother's Kansas City, Mo., backyard using an old stock tank and 53 bags of pea gravel.

“以前是后院。現(xiàn)在這里成了一片夏日綠洲，”阿斯托麗亞·卡米爾說(shuō)，她在母親密蘇里州堪薩斯城的后院建造了一個(gè)水景景點(diǎn)，用的是一個(gè)舊的儲(chǔ)水池和53袋豌豆礫石。

The sound of power tools is roaring in neighborhoods across the United States.

電動(dòng)工具的聲音在美國(guó)各地的社區(qū)里轟鳴。

In the Brookside neighborhood in central Kansas City, Mo., John Buhr has do-it-yourself projects going from top of the garage to the basement.

在密蘇里州堪薩斯城中部的布魯克賽德社區(qū)，約翰·布爾的自己動(dòng)手項(xiàng)目(DIY項(xiàng)目)從車庫(kù)頂部到地下室都有。

"As soon as COVID hit, we needed someplace the kids could play," Buhr says, noting that neighborhood parks were closed. "So we put a playhouse down [in the basement] first and then found the kids liked it so much that we went ahead and built a living room. And then my wife needed the space to work."

“一旦COVID侵襲，我們就需要一個(gè)孩子們可以玩的地方，”布爾說(shuō)，并指出附近的公園已經(jīng)關(guān)閉。“所以我們先在地下室建了一個(gè)玩具屋，然后發(fā)現(xiàn)孩子們非常喜歡它，于是我們就著手建造了一個(gè)客廳。然后我妻子需要工作的空間。”

So now Buhr is building an office for his wife in what was an unfinished attic above the garage. He's also working on a self-contained apartment for his parents and in-laws to use when they're in town for extended babysitting visits.

所以現(xiàn)在布爾正在為他的妻子建一間辦公室，就在車庫(kù)上面一個(gè)未完工的閣樓里。他還在設(shè)計(jì)一套獨(dú)立的公寓，供他的父母和岳父母長(zhǎng)時(shí)間來(lái)鎮(zhèn)上看孩子時(shí)使用。

"This all kind of became immediately necessary, thanks to COVID," Buhr says.

布爾說(shuō):“由于COVID，這一切都變得非常必要。”

John Buhr now devotes much of his time to fixing up his family's home in Kansas City. He's building a playhouse for his young children, an apartment for the grandparents to use on their extended babysitting visits and an office for his wife, who supports the family working in the tech industry.

約翰·布爾現(xiàn)在花了很多時(shí)間整修他在堪薩斯城的家。他正在為年幼的孩子們建造一座玩具屋，為長(zhǎng)期看護(hù)孩子的祖父母建造一套公寓，還為在科技行業(yè)工作的妻子建造一間辦公室。

Necessity is one factor driving the building boom. Americans have been forced to use their houses more — and differently.

必要性是推動(dòng)建筑熱潮的一個(gè)因素。美國(guó)人被迫用不同的方式充分利用他們的房子。

"This is all-time highs," Anderson says. "In terms of like measured history in the United States, this is the, the highest levels of, of home improvement spending we've ever seen."

“這是歷史最高水平，”安德森表示。“就美國(guó)可測(cè)量的歷史來(lái)看，這是我們所見(jiàn)過(guò)的最高水平的家庭裝修支出。”

Home improvement spending has been on a long steady rise, so it's not too surprising that U.S. homeowners are on track to spend more than ever this year, but the surge in demand is striking.

家庭裝修支出一直在穩(wěn)步增長(zhǎng)，因此美國(guó)房主今年的支出將超過(guò)以往任何時(shí)候都不足為奇，但需求的激增令人震驚。

In the last three months, Anderson ’s the company has tracked 330 million U.S. Google searches for home improvement work — that's up almost 50% from the same period last year. Gardening is the type of home improvement up the most, but the projects range all over the home, inside and out.

在過(guò)去的三個(gè)月里，安德森所在的公司追蹤了3.3億宗美國(guó)谷歌家庭裝修類的搜索，這比去年同期增長(zhǎng)了近50%。園藝是最重要的家庭裝修類型，但項(xiàng)目范圍遍及整個(gè)家庭，包括內(nèi)部和外部。

Anderson says that just over 3 out of 4 homeowners have completed a major project since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, and roughly the same percentage have one on the drawing board. Homeowners younger than 40 are the most likely to have completed projects this year.

安德森說(shuō)，自COVID-19流行病開(kāi)始以來(lái)，就有超過(guò)四分之三的房主已經(jīng)完成了一個(gè)大型(裝修)項(xiàng)目，大約同樣比例的房主的項(xiàng)目處于設(shè)計(jì)階段。年齡在40歲以下的房主最有可能在今年完成房屋項(xiàng)目。

That's way more than average, he says, and it's partly because some homeowners, like Wanda Taylor in Kansas City, find themselves with some extra cash on hand.

他說(shuō)，這遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)超過(guò)了平均水平，部分原因是像堪薩斯城的旺達(dá)·泰勒這樣的房主發(fā)現(xiàn)自己手頭還有一些額外現(xiàn)金。

"My partner and I, we like to travel quite a bit," Taylor says, smiling. "We like theater. We like live music. And so that's how we spend our money. But then suddenly all that stopped, and so, if I can't travel, I chose to put my energy in the place where I am."

泰勒笑著說(shuō)：“我和我的搭檔都很喜歡旅行。”我們喜歡戲劇。我們喜歡現(xiàn)場(chǎng)音樂(lè)。這就是我們花錢(qián)的方式。但突然間一切都停止了，所以，如果我不能旅行，我就選擇把精力放在我現(xiàn)在的地方。”

By that, Taylor means her home. She's standing in a newly finished basement with a comfy den, a wet bar and a pantry — all new since the coronavirus pandemic.

泰勒的意思是她的家。她正站在一間新裝修的地下室里，里面有一個(gè)舒適的小房間、一個(gè)酒吧和一個(gè)食品儲(chǔ)藏室——這些都是冠狀病毒流行病以來(lái)新建的。