The idea of making a home into a place for others, as opposed to one?s self, is falling out of style Lindsey, 27, considers herself a social person?when she?s on her phone. She lives in Raleigh, North Carolina, in a two-bedroom apartment in a sleepy complex popular with retirees and young professionals. There?s a community pool, an adjacent park, and narrow, sloping streets ringed by oak trees and ample parking. After her roommate moved out, she made the large master suite her bedroom and turned the second bedroom into an office/home gym/storage space. The living room is her least-used space; the couch is a hand-me-down from the frat house of a local college, and the TV is mostly for watching sports or noteworthy series, usually on the rare occasion she invites someone over. She spends most of her time in the kitchen or bedroom. ?I work at a job that requires all-day chatter, and coming home to my solitude is necessary,? Lindsey says, noting that her workplace has an open floorplan, and conversation between employees is so frequent the company has instituted quiet hours. On an average weekday, she returns home from the gym and cooks some variation of a chicken dish for herself while texting her boyfriend, who lives in another city, and managing group chats with friends that toggle between topics like The Bachelor and impeachment. She eats on her couch while scrolling through TikTok or Twitter while The Great British Bake Off plays in the background.
?I don?t usually ...