There is an upside to spending more time at home: researching your dream house, down to the cabinet handles.

To decipher what dream home means in a global-pandemic world, Mansion asked the editors of three house-centric websitesHouzz, Decorilla and The Real Houses of IGto identify their most popular images from the first half of the year. We examined photos that home-dcor followers are clicking, liking and scrolling through to better understand todays trends.

The verdict? Its in the details.

People simply have more time and are going to greater lengths to plan out, and to seek inspiration for, their dream home, says Kate Rumson, founder of The Real Houses of IG, a home-and-design Instagram account with 2.4 million followers. Many are in the process of building their homes, she adds, and they are committed to making perfect choices, no matter how small. Questions about wall colors, window treatments and furniture that appear in the background of photos she posts are frequent fodder. "My followers do care about every detail," she says.

These days, many are ushering in brass-adorned kitchen cabinets and high-contrast living rooms, and are rethinking office areas. They seem to be saying goodbye to the all-white kitchen, acoustically challenged open-floor plan and unequipped outdoor space.

More: Bright Ideas for Outdoor Lighting

Homeowners also are moving away from a single style of home throughoutbe it contemporary or farmhousetoward mixing and matching dcor elements, says Houzz editor Anne Colby.

The company had a 58% surge in demand for home-renovation and design professionals in June 2020, compared with June 2019.

"Weve seen particularly strong interest in major outdoor projects," says Ms. Colby.

Todays homeowners are mindful of overall size, choosing realistic footprints. "Were not in a period of economic optimismthe dreams are somewhat different," says Catherine Wallack, an architectural archivist at the University of Arkansas and a trained architect. "The marketed dream home is something thats aspirational, but its possible."

In the spotlight: the home office.

More: How to Choose the Right Couch for Your Space

Homeowners want versatile, well-lighted spaces that are soundproof and can be closed off from the main living area, perhaps via sliding or pocket doors.

They are interested in the notion of separable spacehaving the option to be part of the living space, says San Francisco-based architect William Duff. In some instances, families request two or more nooks to accommodate quiet areas for everyone in the home, including children needing space to do classwork. In past projects, he says, home offices were set up in a spare bedroom as an afterthought.

Overall, construction costs in 2020, to date, are $700 to $900 a square foot, compared with $600 to $800 in 2018 for high-end homes, says Mr. Duff. "People may spend more money on elements of their homes because they are valuing them in a different way," he adds.

He says homeowners are upping spending on areas that dont have a wow factor for visitors. They want top-of-the-line HVAC systems, in an effort to make indoor life safer and more comfortable. Other choices are solid-wood doors for quiet, and custom, built-in storage throughout for more space.

Ms. Rumson has noticed increased interest on her Real Houses Instagram account for utilitarian spaces, including the laundry room, mudroom and walk-in pantry. These private areas are getting a makeover for the benefit of families, not guests, she says. Daring wallpaper choices, funky floor tiles and thoughtfully chosen wall sconces or chandeliers help these smaller areas feel more playful.

More: First Impressions: Front Entries That Are More Than Functional

"They are spending a lot of time in those rooms, and they want to make them functional and beautiful," she says.

Meanwhile, the dream kitchen is getting more down-to-earth. Popular photos show soft greens and browns, with wood accents that complement brass or mixed-metal fixtures. Light-colored oak shelving is another common accent.

"All-white is less popular," says Ms. Colby, whose site now has more than 20 million images. "People are leaning toward a two-tone or three-tone kitchen."

San Francisco interior designer Caitlin Flemming designed a two-tone kitchen that was popular for its simplicity. She used Farrow & Balls Pigeon paint for some of the brass-adorned cabinets, then installed a plain white quartz countertop instead of one in veined marble. "It is all flowing together; sometimes marble can be a little distracting," Ms. Flemming says.

Bathrooms are getting their own updates by blending neutral colors with interesting textures to make small spaces seem bigger, says Stephanie Fryer, a Newport Beach, Calif., interior designer. In one of Houzzs most popular photos, Ms. Fryer hung a painting above the toilet and expanded the shower tile to the entire bathroom to create a cohesive modern space. "It makes it more like a room than just where to use the toilet," she says.

More: Designing a Home Gym With Distinction

When it comes to dining areas, homeowners are focusing on statement lighting or modern wood elements that give a polished feel and set the spaces apart visually from the kitchen, adds Devin Shaffer, lead designer at Decorilla, a company that offers 3-D renderings and product suggestions.

Average project costs rose to $1,205 this year, to date, compared with $990 in 2019, because people are renovating more rooms, he says.

Living and dining areas are using high-contrast black or blue elements, says Ms. Colby. The wall color has switched from darker hues to simple whites.

The pandemic is influencing the outside of the dream home, too. Favored outdoor spaces have dcor and lighting that wouldnt be out of place indoors. Covered cooking areas with built-in grills, fire pits with comfortable seating and dining areas are making it easier to relax or to work outside.

"The patio and the deck are really just another room in the house," says Ms. Colby.

More: Bringing Your Lawn to Life With Sculptures

Many homeowners are asking for easy-to-open walls that can create indoor-outdoor spaces to bring in fresh air and make it easier to entertain during a pandemic, adds Mr. Duff.

For most families, the idea of a dream home shifts with their values and goals, adds Lindsay T. Graham, a researcher at University of California Berkeleys Center for the Built Environment.

"That notion of Im going to do this once and its going to be done is kind of a misnomer," she says. "We grow, so our spaces are going to grow."

Tips for How to Handle a Labor of Love

Decades after falling in love with California wine country, Gordon Rudow, decided to build his dream home in Napa. It took four years to perfect the 4,000-square-foot, prefabricated, modular 1950s designat a cost of $4.75 million. He offers tips on organizing the process:

Start with a concept. Mr. Rudow, working with Jennifer Jones, founder of Niche Interiors in San Francisco, had what he called his brand wordsluxury eco-resort spato guide the design process. "Every choice we made, we shared the same filter," says the leadership consultant.

From Penta: A 1966 Ferrari 275 GTB Becomes the Most Valuable Car Ever Sold Online

Decide on must-haves. Rudow and his wife, Sophia Rudow, who live with their two school-age daughters, opted for natural wood throughout. It took months for them to find a hypoallergenic couch without MDF elements, and a latex mattress. They also installed a $100,000 water-filtration system.

Customize. For the Rudows, it was about perfecting form and fit. The couple went so far as to measure the length of their thighs to tailor built-in seating around the fire pit; custom indoor couches conformed to the same measurements. The team also studied the sun to determine the best angle for the outdoor canopy. "We belabored every one of those measurements and geeked out on them," he says.

Read the rest here:
Top Design Trends of 2020: From Home Offices to Two-Tone Kitchens - Mansion Global

Alexandria, Virginia, a port city on the Potomac River, just below Washington, D.C., is often celebrated for its rich industrial history. As early as the 18th century, its lively waterfront became a bustling hub of tobacco trade, hemp and flour exports, and, as time passed, manufacturing. Often overlookedor, perhaps, just told in a separate chapter of the history bookis the fact that Alexandria was also an epicenter of domestic slave trade, with one of the largest slave markets in the U.S.

So when Brooklyn-based artist and architect Olalekan Jeyifous was tapped by the City of Alexandria to create a public installation in Waterfront Park (1 Prince Street), he decided to confront the issue head-on.

Stories that are uncomfortable are often sidelined, explains Jeyifous, who learned about the citys role in the slave trade while researching Alexandrias industries and meeting with local community groups. I wanted to make something that combined these histories into one narrative.

Jeyifous stands beside his work, Wrought, Knit, Labors, Legacies.

The resulting installation, titled Wrought, Knit, Labors, Legacies, opened on March 21. At the site, overlooking the Potomac River, four ornate, powder-coated metal profiles with benchlike seating emerge from a colorful ground that resembles the traditional quilts commonly made by African Americans. Icons of Alexandrias industrial history are cut from the profilesrailways, armory, flour, tobaccoand more are incorporated into the floor: fish, bricks and trowels, church windows.

Each figure embodies iconography that pertains to four of the major commercial industrial enterprises that Alexandria is known for, Jeyifous explains.

The figures are strong, noble, and black. Most of the time you see a monument for a historic figure, its for a general that did this or that, Jeyifous says. It lionizes an individualusually male, usually whiteit doesnt acknowledge all individuals.

Another view of the public installation, which has been temporarily fenced off due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but is still highly visible.

When Wrought, Knit, Labors, Legacies opened to the public at the end of March, the coronavirus pandemic raged, and stay-at-home decrees were already firmly in place. History was writing a different sort of story for a public art installation. Right now, a low fence keeps visitors from getting up close with the installation, but walking in the park and surrounding trails is still permitted.

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On the day I spoke with Jeyifous, he was sheltering in place back at his home in Brooklyn, while keeping an eye on the project from a 24-hour camera that streams the park. I like to see whos out there, he said. At the moment he could observe three or four people, safely distanced. Im excited to see what resonates with people. At a time when a short walk outside has become a luxury we ration and savor, he certainly has a captive audience.

Read more here:
A New Public Art Installation in Alexandria Confronts the Citys Ties to the Slave Trade - Architectural Digest

Evalution Flooring has joined forces with Recycle 4 Africa Waste Management (R4AWM), a company specialising in waste recovery, to offer decentralised container systems capable of transforming plastic waste into building materials such as bricks or paving stones.

The two companies have already installed a first plastic waste recovery unit for the Grandwest Hotel in Cape Town. Called the Enviro Brick, the waste recovery system consists of a compartment in which plastic waste is disposed of. The plastic waste is powdered before being heated. After the used plastic is melted, a binder is added and the mixture is poured into moulds, which are then cast into blocks or paving stones. Anyone who has received training from R4AWM in block making can use the machine, explains Evalution Flooring.

According to Evalution Flooring, the container also eliminates bacteria, and thus makes it possible to process non-recyclable or even contaminated waste. The eco-bricks can then be used to build solid and durable single-storey structures, which is not only more energy efficient, but also more cost-effective, as the production process is cheaper, says the South African company.

Such an initiative to use recycled plastic in construction is not a first in South Africa. In September 2019, the South African company Shisalanga Construction started work on a 1.7 km stretch of road in KwaZulu-Natal province using recycled plastic material. For the construction of that section of road in South Africa, recycled plastic waste is used as a binder in the asphalt, thereby replacing bitumen.

However, questions are likely to be raised about the long-term resistance of the materials, but also about the benefits of living in plastic constructions, which would then replace local materials The short-term advantage of this type of solution probably cannot hide the need for a longer-term response to the proliferation of plastic waste in Africa.

Jean Marie Takouleu

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SOUTH AFRICA: Evaluation and R4AWM install waste recovery containers in Grandwest - AFRIK 21

SPONSORED by Beth Hobart, Mainframe Real Estate: This beautifully updated three-bedroom, two-bathroom home is tucked under mature trees, with a landscaped yard, a two-car carport, and great curb appeal.

Refinished hardwood floors are featured throughout the home, and the open floor plan has tons of natural light thanks to a wall of windows looking out to the fully fenced yard.

The updated kitchen features newer stainless steel appliances, slate floors, and white cabinetry.

The master suite has an updated master bath and French doors that lead out to a spacious backyard with an expansive deck; ideal for grilling out and entertaining friends and family.

This home boasts a custom whole house sound system, new HVAC installed in 2020, a newer roof installed in 2016, and updated plumbing and electric.

Located at 308 S. Hampton Avenue [GMap] this home is within walking distance to Carl Langford Park, Dickson Azalea Park, and all the shops and restaurants in the Milk District and Thornton Park. Youd also be a short bike ride away from Lake Eola and have easy access to all major roadways.

The asking price is $345,000.

Click HERE for the listing or contact Beth Hobart, Mainframe Real Estate, at [emailprotected], http://www.BethHobart.com to arrange a tour immediately.

All photos by Gil Levy, Framed Listings.Instagram @framedlistings

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House of the Day: Beautiful 3/2 home in downtown Orlando asking $345000 - Bungalower

Consulting giant PwC is developing a mobile app for corporate clients that can track which employees are in close contact with each other, and alert human resources who may be at highest risk for coming down with Covid-19.

PwC will sell the app to its clients, and will require the app internally as the 275,000-person company returns to its offices. Currently, it's being tested in the company's Shanghai office.

The app is a preview of the type of technology that large companies could deploy as employees return to work. As workplaces re-open, companies are grappling with how to handle future Covid-19 outbreaks and make employees feel safe enough to return.

PwC believes that digital contact tracing can answer those questions. Using signals from user's phones, it can tell how far away and how long two people were in contact. If someone at a workplace tests positive for Covid-19, HR can then look up which other employees are at the highest risk using the digital contact tracing system.

Governments are currently building apps to do digital contact tracing on national and statewide scales, and Apple and Google have teamed up to build technology into their smartphone operating systems that makes these apps easier to build and more appealing to use while trying to guarantee some degree of user privacy.

But contact tracing software works best when it's widely deployed, because the more devices emitting signals the more chances the system has to pick up when two people were in contact. And countries can't generally force citizens to download and use these apps, which limits their effectiveness.

An app that employers require before allowing workers to return to the office doesn't have that problem, and PwC says it has robust privacy, access and retention controls to ensure that only company administrators can access the data.

"I think an employer-led model that can drive adoption to their employees, right now from surveys that we've done, I feel like we'll have a higher adoption rate," said Tom Puthiyamadam, a digital leader working on the project for PwC.

Here's how it works: Workers load a mobile app onto their work phone (or personal phone, with permission). The app asks for the employee's email and instructs them to turn on Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, then runs in the background throughout the day.

Whenever the phone's GPS says it's in the workplace, the app allows the phone to become an "observer" and collect information, like the strength of Bluetooth signals from other nearby phones. The contact tracing software analyzes those signals and figures out how close the phones were for how long, then summarizes that info into a dashboard that company leaders can use to make decisions about office layouts, closures and productivity.

PwC said that company execs and leaders in HR and operations are increasingly looking for tools like these to help re-open workplaces and that it's lined up hundreds of client calls and demos for the software.

One benefit for management is the ability to pinpoint infection so that entire offices or floors aren't shut down from a single confirmed case of Covid-19.

Puthiyamadam explained that earlier this year, employees at the company would get emails about being potentially exposed to Covid-19, and it seemed like an inefficient way to handle the virus in a workplace versus tracing exactly who might have been exposed.

He describes receiving emails with unhelpful messages like "'If you happen to be in the office on these dates and all these floors, you may have been exposed. If you were, you may want to self isolate.' We were getting those notes constantly," Puthiyamdam said. "That's why we went ahead and built something for our clients. And yes, we built something that will also be deployed at PwC when we begin to return to work."

Once an employee tests positive, "then it's up to the HR team to say, 'Alright, who do you want to notify?'"Puthiyamdam said. "They could say 'go in 14 days of isolation' versus saying, 'hey, we're going to shut down this entire floor of the office, and everybody go home for 14 days.'"

PwC, which is privately held, will sell the software starting in mid-May with a subscription fee. It's part of a product called Check-In which also includes tools for remote work.

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Companies could require employees to install coronavirus-tracing apps like this one from PwC before coming back to work - CNBC

Online Exhibit: Saturday, May 9, through Sunday, September 6Hosted by: Figge Art Museum, 225 West Second Street, Davenport IA

Currently Installed in the Figge Art Museums second-floor orientation gallery, the Davenport venue's new exhibition Seen & Heard: The Art of Empowerment will be available for online viewing from Saturday, May 9, through Sunday, September 6.

Drawn from the Figges collection, Seen & Heard: The Art of Empowerment features works by 13 women artists including Marisol, Grace Hartigan, Louise Nevelson, Lee Krasner, and Alison Saar who asserted their artistic empowerment despite social and cultural barriers. In addition to empowering themselves, several of the artists on view give voice and visibility to the marginalized through their artistry.

The featured artists have created innovative and significant bodies of work, and have also tenaciously pursued artmaking for decades, determinedly brought their creative visions to life and forged innovative methods and techniques. One such artist was Louise Nevelson, a creative force who went decades before receiving recognition. An outstanding example of her wall assemblages, Nevelson's 1984 piece Moon Zag III is on display in Seen & Heard. A number of the artists also created work concerning womens experiences, establishing that it was a subject deserving visibility and recognition. Other artists created work that brought attention to societal injustices and traditionally marginalized groups among them Carrie Mae Weems, who probes the racial, social, and, cultural inequities in art history through her 2001 piece Not Manets Type. Whether pursuing individual or communal agency, the artists featured here have contributed to a more inclusive environment in the art world and beyond.

While opportunities and representation for women have improved, there is still gender disparity in the art world. According to a 2018 study by cultural economist Clare McAndrew, only a third of solo exhibitions in museums and galleries feature women artists while major museums demonstrate even lower figures. The Figge is working to help change those numbers, and the museum's second-floor orientation gallery will be installed with works by women artists until at least May of 2021.

Figge Assistant Curator Vanessa Sage says, We are proud to present these dynamic artworks from the museum collection, including several recent acquisitions. While issues of inequality and representation remain prevalent in the art world, the Figge is dedicated to better representing the world in which we live and the artists who are an essential part of it.

Seen & Heard: The Art of Empowerment will be available for online viewing from May 9 to September 6, and can be seen by visiting FiggeArtMuseum.org.

See the article here:
Seen & Heard: The Art of Empowerment, May 9 through September 6 - River Cities Reader

CLEVELAND, Ohio The Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority will install barriers separating drivers from passengers on RTA buses, and require all employees to wear face masks, the agency announced Tuesday.

The clear barriers, made of marine-grade vinyl, will be on all 350 RTA buses by the end of next week to guard against the spread of the coronavirus, a news release said. Plans are in the works to outfit paratransit vehicles with the same type of barriers.

The barriers, secured with Velcro, will extend from ceiling to floor, and from the back of the bus drivers seat to the farebox, creating a secure enclosure for drivers, the release said.

Beginning May 12, all RTA employees will be required to wear face masks onboard RTA vehicles, or on RTA property, the authority said in a news release. Prior to the requirement, only drivers and workers who face customers were required to wear masks.

RTA is strongly urging riders to wear face masks as well.

Eight RTA employees have tested positive for coronavirus. Two are bus drivers, one is a paratransit driver, one is a police dispatcher, and four are operations staff who do not work with the public.

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Greater Cleveland RTA to install barriers around bus drivers, require face masks for all employees - cleveland.com

Upon reopening, how will museums treat works that usually depend on physical interaction for meaning, like the "candy falls" of Felix Gonzalez-Torres? In this photo: untitled (Placebo-Landscape-for-Roni) (1993) by Felix Gonzalez-Torres installed at Crystal Bridges Museum in Bentonville, Arkansas.

Support Free COVID-19 Resources for the FieldThe current crisis is taking a distressing financial toll on cultural organizations, and AAM is no different. The Alliance Blog is supported by membership dues and donations. In these challenging times, we ask that if you can, consider making a donation or becoming a member of AAM. Thank you for your much-needed support!

Last year, I began a research project on how museum audiences understand the candy fall installations of the artist Felix Gonzalez-Torres, which consist of piles of hard candies that are installed on the floor of a gallery space. At the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas, I observed visitors interacting with Untitled (Placebo-Landscape-for-Roni) (1993)inspecting the installation, reading the label, and hesitantly taking candy from the pile. I planned to conduct a similar study in a different location before finalizing an article. Then the pandemic hit. Ive begun to see my research in a new light: While I expect many museums to reopen by the fall of 2020, it is difficult to imagine visitors picking candy up off a public floor and ingesting it, in the wake of new hygiene and physical distancing protocols.

As museums reopen, new protocols will need to be developed to keep visitors safe, including ways to display and interact with interactive art objects. While I want to consider some of those approaches applicable to interactive objects, I also want to reflect on how the interaction itself lends to meaning-making for both the objects and the museum space. What approaches can museums use when displaying interactive objects post-pandemic to keep audiences safe while still allowing the objects to fulfill their conceptual functions?

In the case of Gonzalez-Torres, this conceptual function relates to the politics of touch during the AIDS crisis. The early candy fallsrepresent the body of the artists partner Ross Laycock, who passed away from complications related to AIDS in 1991. As visitors take and eat the candy, they are participating in a sensual and metaphorical ritual of ingesting the art body, which over time diminishes and wastes away, similarly to the wasting effect of AIDS on the real body. In the new world of vigilant hand-washing, mask-wearing, and physical distancing, touching and tasting an unfamiliar body seems unimaginable. So, if the candy fall pieces are shown when museums reopen, I suspect they will remain mostly untouched, and museums may even choose to rope them off to prevent contamination.

For works like these, which specifically relate to wellness and sickness, museums could offer special educational and interpretive programming to emphasize their relevance to the current crisis. Many museums have items in their collection that directly relate to previous pandemics, like the AIDS pandemic or the 1918 flu pandemic. For instance, the artists Edvard Munch and Egon Schiele were impacted by the 1918 pandemic, and Schiele and his wife Edith died from it.

While some pieces may retain or gain new meaning regardless of whether direct interaction is possible, others will suffer if they are completely sequestered. Consider a sculpture like untitled (musical sculpture)(1968) by Harry Bertoia, which appears in the galleries of the Spencer Museum of Art at the University of Kansas. In this work, numerous thin metal rods project vertically from a plain black base. The piece comes to life when viewers move their hands through the rods, putting them into motion and emitting a warm trilling sound. Without touch, this object will not perform its intended function, as visitors will not experience the vital component of sound.

Works like these require activation to be meaningful, but it will be hard to allow that safely in the near future. We know the virus that causes COVID-19 lives longer on hard surfaces than other materials, and methods for disinfecting artworks are limited and likely to lead to unwanted wear. One option could be to require visitors wear disposable gloves to interact with the sculpture, but these are in demand as personal protective equipment for healthcare workers, and would lead to other issues like educating the public on their use, finding funding for them, and ensuring their proper disposal.

If these issues prove unfeasible, pieces likeuntitled (musical sculpture)could be used in educational programming where the sculpture would be demonstrated by museum staff only, to limit the public interaction with the object while still showing how it performs. Or, to limit touch even more, museums could film a video of the object in action and display it nearby, which could be featured on social media or the museums website for broader access.

But solutions like gloves or videos are not appropriate for all works.For example, Yoko Onos instruction paintings are small square artworks created from several printed pages bound together, each of which contains the same conceptual instructions to the viewer on how to create an artwork. The pages are perforated at the top, and visitors are invited to tear off and take a page from the piece.

Because they are made of paper, these instruction paintings would be difficult to sanitize. While museums could request visitors use gloves to touch and tear the piece, visitors are still intended to take the paper with them, leaving room for possible transmission when visitors need to remove the gloves.

If a museum is not able toshowinteractive works as intendedby the artist, particularly those like the instruction paintings that cannot be meaningfully displayed without touch,should they be shown at all until the pandemic has concluded?Regardless of when that is, how long will it take for visitors to feel comfortable touching public objects again?

As my research with the Gonzalez-Torres works showed, interactive objects can have a significant impact on visitor experience and understanding, changing how visitors relate to works and perceive museum spaces. With the candy falls, the relational aspects of the work and the challenge to normal museum protocol struck the visitors as most important. After hearing or learning about the background of the piece, many visitors stated that they related to how the work shared the self with others, and saw this sharing as a token of care or love. The majority of their comments also touched on how the invited interaction upset museum protocols and allowed visitors to have unique experiences of both art and the museum space. Visitors were excited by the invitation to be active in the space and participate in the meaning-making of the work. Their interactions with the piece were central to their understanding of the content.

To make sure this experience is preserved as much as possible, museums will need to continue to be innovative in their solutions for visitor access and education. Incorporating modified educational programming, new safety protocols, and object-specific digital tools long-term will aid in allowing visitors to experience interactive works safely and meaningfully.

Rachel Trusty is a doctoral student in Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, KS. She received her MFA from Lesley College in Boston, MA in 2011. Trustys dissertation research examines the historical discourse around and audience understanding of art created by LGBT+ artists.

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What Will Become of Interactive Art When Museums Reopen? - aam-us.org

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Retailers are reopening stores after weeks of closures because of widespread shelter-at-home orders amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Nordstrom, Best Buy, Macys, Gap, and Kohls are among the companies that are planning to start welcoming back shoppers.

But as shoppers return to stores, they will notice many changes.

Nordstrom and Macys, for example, will close some fitting rooms and temporarily quarantine items that have been tried on before returning them to the sales floor. Gap is planning to close fitting rooms altogether.

Heres what to expect at each retailer as stores reopen:

Nordstrom said earlier this month that its preparing to open its stores in phases and laid out a number of changes that shoppers could expect when they visit.

In reopened stores, Nordstrom plans to:

Macys reopened 68 stores this week and plans to reopen most of its 775 of its stores by mid-June, the company said in a recent presentation.

The states where Macys stores have already reopened include Georgia, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, and Tennessee.

In reopened stores, Macys plans to:

Best Buy said it planned to reopen stores gradually in May.

Customers will be able to make appointments for in-store consultations at about 200 US Best Buy stores. The company will also offer curbside pickup at its stores.

Heres how the appointment system works:

Gap said Wednesday it planned to reopen up to 800 of its Gap, Old Navy, Athleta, Banana Republic, Janie and Jack, and Intermix stores before the end of May.

In the reopened stores, Gap will:

Kohls plans to reopen stores in 14 states by May 11.

The company said it would make the following changes:

Ulta Beauty said its planning to open 180 stores starting May 11.

In reopened stores, the retailer plans to:

The rest is here:
Kohls, Macys, Ulta Beauty, and Gap are reopening stores. Heres how your shopping experience will change. - Business Insider

It isnt a hard rule of thumb, but it is correct far more often than it isnt these days: the first way to tell whether someone at the Minnesota Legislature is Republican or a DFLer is whether you can see their faces.

Mask-wearing at the statehouse as in other parts of the United States has become a partisan preference, with DFLers far more likely to wear face coverings than Republicans.

The difference extends to legislative staffers, and is most visible to anyone watching the floor sessions via the Legislatures livestream: the staff running the DFL-controlled House are mostly masked up; the staff operating the GOP-controlled Senate are not.

The divide goes back to the first session day following the unprecedented March shutdown of the Legislature. On the first day back, DFL House Speaker Melissa Hortman wore a mask, as did House Chief Clerk Patrick Murphy, during the hours-long session.

In the Senate, meanwhile, Sen. Jeremy Miller, the Republican from Winona who presides as president of the Senate, and Senate Secretary Cal Ludeman, have gone sans-mask throughout. Since the announcement this week that a GOP staff member has tested positive for COVID-19, however, use by Senate staff on the floor has increased.

But the partisan divide has mostly continued, with the handful of lawmakers who sit on the House and Senate floors during session following the pattern, with DFLers wearing masks and GOP lawmakers not. Thursday, Kent wore a mask while Gazelka did not, Majority Leader Ryan Winkler has been wearing a mask while Minority Leader Kurt Daudt has not.

Senate Media Services

Sen. Jeremy Miller, presiding as president of the Senate sans-mask.

And for days when they have been in session, a rare occurrence since March 16 but one thats becoming more frequent as the Legislature approaches adjournment on May 18, both the House and Senate have implemented new seating arrangements and voting protocols to lessen personal contact.

The lawmakers who take seats on the floor are widely spread out. Others sit far apart in the public galleries or in meeting rooms near the House and Senate chambers. Many of each chambers members listen in from home.

Voting is also much different with members in the capitol either voting in turns by voice or via the electronic tally board or by phone, sometimes from cars in nearby parking lots. Members not in the capitol call in their votes.

MinnPost photo by Peter Callaghan

Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka speaking with Sen. Warren Limmer in close proximity on the Senate Floor.

Hortman said Thursday that she has recommended that House members wear masks when in close contact with others, but she has not made it a requirement for the House sergeant-at-arms to enforce.

It may be that that becomes the standard, that people are required to wear masks even while speaking on the floor and that we ask the sergeant to enforce that. Im hoping we get there through voluntary compliance, Hortman said.

She didnt feel she had enough data on the effectiveness of masks to mandate their use. I didnt have access to clear scientific data showing the difference between transmission with and without masks that I could identify, (so) I decided not to go to the enforcement level with the sergeant at arms just yet, Hortman said.

She said House staff are mostly deciding on their own to wear masks. The House reported that a staffer had tested positive for coronavirus in mid-March but has not revealed any further information about that case since.

MinnPost photo by Peter Callaghan

Democratic Senate Minority Leader Susan Kent speaking with her chief of staff John Pollard on Thursday.

We have been notified that a Minnesota Senate employee has been confirmed to have COVID-19, Ludeman wrote to members and staff on Wednesday morning. All staff and Senators who may have come in contact with this individual have been notified and have been advised to self-quarantine.

The Senate has installed plexiglass between some workstations, closed public access to Senate offices without appointment and even put down yellow stripes in hallways to encourage people to stay apart when passing. Elevators are limited to four people.

We have also been able to acquire a very limited number of disposable masks and hand sanitizer, Ludeman wrote. These are for voluntary use within the Senate Building and Capitol complex.

MinnPost photo by Peter Callaghan

Republican Sens. Michelle Benson and Karen Housely shown during yesterday's session.

I have openly stated my serious concerns with the Senate holding frequent floor sessions and am renewing a call to only reconvene the body when absolutely necessary and for the requirement of protective face masks on the floor so we can finish the legislative session strong and reduce the risk of exposure, Kent said in a statement released Wednesday.

Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka said last week during a session at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs that mask-wearing is the only social distancing recommendation that he doesnt see broad acceptance of around the state.

I dont think the science is out on that, he said.

He said small business people who want to reopen have told him they and their staff will wear masks because they want people to feel safe.

Gazelka said last week he was sympathetic with Vice President Mike Pences decision not to wear a mask during a recent visit to the Mayo Clinic because he was going to be speaking to a lot of people, and a mask makes it difficult to be understood.

At 60, I have hearing aids and its harder for me to hear people who have that mask on, Gazelka said.

There have been some widely shared Facebook posts deemed false by the social media site quoting health experts who say masks for healthy people do little good.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recommended cloth face masks as a way for asymptomatic people to prevent virus transmission to others.

And this week the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce distributed information to its members about how to safely return to work. One item on its Return To Work Employer Checklist is: Encourage use of source control masks, such as non-medical cloth masks.

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The partisan divide at the Minnesota Capitol now extends to mask-wearing - MinnPost