Britons add paint, shrubs to their virus stockpiles of loo roll

Bloomberg

As most Britons were clearing the shops of pasta, toilet paper and painkillers to weather the coronavirus outbreak, Jenny Yeo’s thoughts were elsewhere: her daughter’s room, which she’d been planning to decorate.
The barrister from Penarth, south Wales, headed to her local branch of home improvement store B&Q and spent 200 pounds ($240) on paint, wallpaper and wood paneling.
“It started off as a joke because everyone was stockpiling toilet rolls, and I thought: ‘I’m going to stockpile decorating stuff so that when I have to spend lots of time in my house, I can decorate it,’” said Yeo, 58. “I shall probably continue to visit B&Q until they close their doors.”
It turns out Yeo isn’t alone. Last week, purchases of paint surged 12.9% on the same week a year ago, according to market research company GfK, while sales of building materials jumped 12.2% and those of tools were up 9.8%.
Britons, it seem, are keen to have something to fill their time as the government advises them to spend prolonged periods in isolation at home to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
“With more of us confined to our homes, the opportunity to undertake home improvement increases— as does our urge to make our home environment as attractive and calming as possible, and our need for domestic activities to combat the boredom,” said Kelly Whitwick, UK retail lead for Market Insights at GfK.
Helen Boguzas said it’s actually about toning down the colours in her home.
“I’ve finally been spurred on to buy some paint to cover the awful bright pink in our spare room that’s been there for four years,” the 41-year-old teacher said. “Whether I actually get to do it while homeschooling two children and working remotely part-time we’ll see!”
For others, it’s as much about whiling away time as improving their homes. Roger Bennett, a 42-year-old civil servant from Salisbury, said he’s spent 250 pounds on painting materials because his dance classes had been cancelled and “I had to find something to keep me sane.”
Trisha Bhattacharya, a solicitor, said she’d stocked up on house plants for her one-bedroom apartment, from where she’ll be working for the foreseeable future. “I can’t have a pet or anything, so this is the closest thing to a living thing
I can have,” she said.
And it isn’t just the home improvers who are stocking up: gardeners are at it too.