Which COVID-19 trends will go the distance in a post-pandemic world?

Can you hear that? It’s the majority of Australians, inhaling sharply while they contemplate a new reality, post-COVID-19 pandemic.

And while this country has managed so far to avoid the catastrophic impact of the coronavirus crisis, we’re still left with a recession along with some psychological scars, like the screams of “I’m bored!” from our children, or the lingering paranoia that comes after you switch off Zoom and you’re not wearing pants.

But as we emerge from our isolation, the question must be asked: What household trends will remain? Plants can die, bread goes stale, but renovations can drive you crazy for months.

For those who have been able to afford it, kitchen renovations have led the trend. Even small changes to the kitchen, like “Victory Sills” where you throw your vegetable scraps in glasses of water and watch them grow on your kitchen windowsill, have become a thing.

But for those people who decided to dive into something more permanent, there is sobering news – pets and bidets are for life, not just for lockdown. And both were selling like hotcakes at the peak of the curve.

Sales of the toilet paper alternative that clips easily onto your toilet so you can wash rather than wipe reportedly rose by 500 per cent in March. And while there are no official figures on pet purchases, Georgina Grauer, a mother of three, says people were panic-buying kittens and puppies.

“When I went in search of a Burmese kitten, the breeders pretty much laughed at me,” she says. “They told me they had unprecedented interest in people wanting a kitten – I could put my name on a waitlist but [should] be prepared to wait until next year.”

Grauer theorised that if 2020 was anything to go by, next year might not ever materialise. So, after seeing a kitten pop up on her local pet shop’s Instagram page, she knew she’d found the one.

“I took my two girls with me to the pet shop and my husband said, ‘Just go and look, don’t buy her yet’,” says Grauer. “That was never going to happen! We walked in the door with our little Lilac and now she is the boss of the house.”

But if the cat has taken over their home in Sydney’s East, the backyard is still hallowed ground, especially since they bought a trampoline, another trend that’s set to stick around for a few years after lockdown – provided you can find one.

“The size we wanted was completely sold out – my sister lives in Queensland and the size she wanted was sold out as well” says Grauer, who describes the trampoline as a “lifesaver”. “We knew our three children would drive me insane unless they had something at home to use to exert some energy. Luckily, they love it.”

Another backyard trend? Barbecuing. “I always made barbecues as a hobby. I basically taught myself through trial and error,” says Charlie, who has a background in carpentry and lives in Newtown. “I made an asador cross to cook a whole lamb at my wedding last year as well as an Argentinean-style parrilla grill for bacon and egg rolls the next day.”

But when isolation hit, it turned into a passion. After showing off a few charcoal-dusted meals on Instagram, Charlie’s friends wanted to know where he got the barbecue. That’s when he decided to turn it into a business.

“Not only did we have the time on our hands to do the fiddly stuff like creating websites and social media pages [especially as my work had dried up to next to nothing], but it also felt like the right time.

“Restaurants were closed so you couldn’t eat out. Everyone was home cooking. [I] figured if people were teaching themselves to make sourdough then they may also want to learn to cook with charcoal, which is a billion times easier.”

Charlie and his wife Alex decided to call their barbecue business Pig & Pilgrim, and it is currently booming.

“We still use our barbecue every day,” says Charlie, who admits to throwing everything from chicken to a wheel of brie on his grill.  “The response has been excellent, I think because charcoal cooking can be really easy, cheap and makes your food taste so good.”

But if it all goes belly-up, Charlie and Alex have a consolation prize: the puppy they bought in lockdown.