Homeowners everywhere are diving into home improvement and renovations. With vacations and large gatherings left off our calendars within the last year and a half, this left plenty of time for homeowners to think about home improvement plans instead. What can you do to make your home beautiful, more comfortable, as well as more valuable on the housing market? One of the best approaches is to follow the trends.
Each year we see a new wave of creative, clever, as well as delightful home upgrade trends. Ready for some inspiration for your own Pinterest boards and look books? Let’s take a look at some of the most-loved home improvement and design trends this year.
Top 10 Home Improvement & Design Trends
1. Mixed Metal Fixtures and Features
Mixed metal is a creative new trend that has taken hold of interior design circles. Where once matching chromed fixtures was the height of real estate fashion, today fixtures with character and a color palette rule the magazine covers and practical home renovations at the same time. You can now use your eye for color and shine to blend your bronze light fixture with brass lamps and copper trim and not be considered out-of-date.
2. Built-In Storage and Drawer Pull-Outs
Lately, we’re seeing homeowners steadily ordering custom built-in storage solutions. Pantries are becoming larders and home office closets are becoming filing nooks. Even living room storage is developing pull-out and built-in elements. Done right, these upgrades enhance both the elegance as well as the functionality of household storage.
3. Rich Paint Colors
All-white is out and greige is once again taking a modest backstage to bold paint colors. Neutrals will still sell a house. However, home designers, magazines, and even renters prefer bolder paint colors, jewel tones, darker hues, as well as contrasts considered as ‘brash’ for home design of the past. Black kitchens with light fixtures are now as common as a splashed accent wall in deep mauve. Now’s the time to experiment with color!
4. Industrial and Boho are Chic
Industrial and Bohemian elements are seeping into every aspect of today’s most-requested home renovations and design trends. Hanging chairs and exposed brick walls could both easily be seen in the latest interior design spreads. Metal lattice cabinet doors, custom ironwork vent grates, as well as reclaimed metal light fires, are all hallmarks of today’s trends, and of both industrial and bohemian decorating styles.
5. Outdoor Living Spaces
Verandahs, pergolas, and patios, oh my! Families everywhere responded to lockdown by refocusing on indoor-outdoor living. Outdoor kitchens or just a place to sit and eat can bring the family together while freeing some of that cabin fever of being stuck indoors. For holiday visiting this year, we can also expect to see tons of cozy time spent in outdoor sitting circles, wrapped in blankets around a fire.
6. Home Gyms and Yoga Studios
Another side-effect of the pandemic is the increase in home gyms. Home offices are, of course, a leading priority right now. But home gyms have also skyrocketed as those at home take an interest in their health. From a place to do yoga and ballet to a place to lift weights and punch bags, home gyms — for many — have become a must-have.
7. Vinyl Wood Flooring
Right now, vinyl board flooring is the most cost-effective, attractive, practical, and comfortable. It is a pressed board layered and coated in vinyl to keep it sealed and mostly immune to moisture. These boards are also springy and cold-resistant like wood but are moisture-resistant enough to put in a bathroom or kitchen. Until something better is developed, the vinyl board will continue to be the top interior flooring choice for home renovations.
8. Functional-Luxury Design
Functionality has also gone luxury. Towel-warming racks in kitchens and bathrooms, fold-away dining tables, and pot-filler sinks are all the rage right now because they are both cool and functional. Larger homes are also now adopting the innovations we discovered in tiny-home design. All those clever hatches like storage in the stairs and convertible table-shelves are becoming more widely used in home designs, no matter what size.
9. Bathroom Sanctuaries
Homeowners are also transforming their bathrooms into oases of escape. A bathroom may have a large soaker tub with hanging plants and nearby shelves for oil and candles, or it might have a beautiful stone-lined shower stall with a seat and multi-function flexible showerhead. Modern bathroom renovations have color-changing smart lights, integrated water-proofed smart speakers, and at-hand storage for the most relaxing experience possible.
10. Hidden Appliances and Invisible Kitchens
Among the most recent of 2021’s remodeling trends is the invisible kitchen. Homeowners have been choosing to mask appliances with cabinetry to make the covers blend in better in a flush kitchen design. This evolved into hiding even more of the kitchen with elegant design and cabinetry until we reach today’s invisible kitchen, a kitchen you can “fold-away” and disappear when no cooking is needed. For condos, tiny beach houses, as well as sleek in-law suites, the invisible kitchen is a visually clean and delightfully clever solution.
If you’re thinking of making upgrades to your home, particularly if your goal is to sell, our team of real estate experts can guide you on the best path to renovating your home to keep your selling journey as smooth as possible. Reach out to us today!
