为什么美国的家庭装修会激增

为什么美国的家庭装修会激增

"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。现在这里成了一片夏日绿洲，”阿斯托丽亚·卡米尔说，她在母亲密苏里州堪萨斯城的后院建造了一个水景景点，用的是一个旧的储水池和53袋豌豆砾石。

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

电动工具的声音在美国各地的社区里轰鸣。

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.

在密苏里州堪萨斯城中部的布鲁克赛德社区，约翰·布尔的自己动手项目(DIY项目)从车库顶部到地下室都有。

"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侵袭，我们就需要一个孩子们可以玩的地方，”布尔说，并指出附近的公园已经关闭。“所以我们先在地下室建了一个玩具屋，然后发现孩子们非常喜欢它，于是我们就着手建造了一个客厅。然后我妻子需要工作的空间。”

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.

所以现在布尔正在为他的妻子建一间办公室，就在车库上面一个未完工的阁楼里。他还在设计一套独立的公寓，供他的父母和岳父母长时间来镇上看孩子时使用。

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

布尔说:“由于COVID，这一切都变得非常必要。”

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.

约翰·布尔现在花了很多时间整修他在堪萨斯城的家。他正在为年幼的孩子们建造一座玩具屋，为长期看护孩子的祖父母建造一套公寓，还为在科技行业工作的妻子建造一间办公室。

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

必要性是推动建筑热潮的一个因素。美国人被迫用不同的方式充分利用他们的房子。

"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."

“这是历史最高水平，”安德森表示。“就美国可测量的历史来看，这是我们所见过的最高水平的家庭装修支出。”

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.

家庭装修支出一直在稳步增长，因此美国房主今年的支出将超过以往任何时候都不足为奇，但需求的激增令人震惊。

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.

在过去的三个月里，安德森所在的公司追踪了3.3亿宗美国谷歌家庭装修类的搜索，这比去年同期增长了近50%。园艺是最重要的家庭装修类型，但项目范围遍及整个家庭，包括内部和外部。

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.

安德森说，自COVID-19流行病开始以来，就有超过四分之三的房主已经完成了一个大型(装修)项目，大约同样比例的房主的项目处于设计阶段。年龄在40岁以下的房主最有可能在今年完成房屋项目。

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.

他说，这远远超过了平均水平，部分原因是像堪萨斯城的旺达·泰勒这样的房主发现自己手头还有一些额外现金。

"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."

泰勒笑着说：“我和我的搭档都很喜欢旅行。”我们喜欢戏剧。我们喜欢现场音乐。这就是我们花钱的方式。但突然间一切都停止了，所以，如果我不能旅行，我就选择把精力放在我现在的地方。”

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。她正站在一间新装修的地下室里，里面有一个舒适的小房间、一个酒吧和一个食品储藏室——这些都是冠状病毒流行病以来新建的。