Casa Blanca is an app aiming to bring the real estate market into the 21st century. Boasting more in common with Tinder than a traditional brokerage firm, it provides users with personalized feeds of potential homes and digital bookings, making a usually stressful process far more palatable.

Remote working has changed the way people are furnishing their homes. The impermanent nature of WFH might put some off from making furniture purchases, but IKEA has launched the Buy Back scheme – allowing people to trade in used and unwanted items for credit against new purchases.

Online start-up Hello Divorce is working to make divorce easier, less costly, and more equitable, and has raised $2 million in seed funding. The cost and confusion of divorce can keep many Americans in marriages they don’t want, with women disproportionately trapped by financial concerns.

From biophilic design to plant parenting, there are plenty of ways to connect to nature indoors – something people have been doing even more of in the pandemic. BloomingTables is tapping into this desire with a range of ‘living’ furniture, combining functionality and stress relief.

With successful vaccine rollouts putting the end of the pandemic in sight, people are eagerly anticipating the end of social restrictions. But how will a return to physical intimacy play out? Will people approach touching with trepidation or will they revert to pre-COVID-19 interactions?

Lockdown forced many couples in the UK to spend almost all of their time together, causing some to get closer while others barely constrained their tensions. As WFH life looks set to continue in 2021, how can brands help them resolve problems and restore a sense of spontaneity and intimacy?

The pandemic has shown that many people experience extreme loneliness despite having access to online support networks and virtual events. Canvas8 spoke to Dr. Luke Fernandez and Dr. Susan Matt to understand emotional and social fulfillment, and what it means in the digital age.

As online dating has made casual love-hunting easier, it has also made ghosting more acceptable and common. Dating app Match is aiming to change that by introducing nudges, which encourage users to either continue or politely leave the chat with a message, so no one gets left hanging.