Every year at a meeting of the National Association of Home Builders, hundreds of room photos are viewed to award the best designs for the Best in American Living Awards. The designs that are repeatedly seen, in the hundreds of photos that are entered, can be harbingers of design elements that will show up in homes over the next few years. An article from the February 23, 2014 Chicago Tribune describes these trends.
Future Design Trends
- Kitchens that were decked out entirely in white, with shiny surfaces added as contrast.
- Bolder colors are showing up on the exterior of houses. The colors are also showing up on shutters and doors.
- Sheltered courtyards, more traditional in warmer climates, are starting to become more common in the North.
- Pendant lighting, or lights shaped like orbs, used to highlight architectural features of uniquely shaped ceilings.
- Traditional architecture, with a more modern flair. An example of this would be a farmhouse from the 1880’s with a open concept floor plan.
- The outdoor oasis continues to be a trend, with banks of windows or doors, that open up to the outside.