Homes are in high demand across the country, and builders are racing to meet that demand with a wide variety of new developments. First-time homebuyers are particularly willing to purchase new home construction these days, especially if they can save a little money. This has led to a number of new home trends and design plans focused on new buyers. Let's take a look at some of the most interesting choices so you have an idea what to expect.
Layered Kitchens
The rise of layered kitchens solves a problem that home dwellers have been facing for years now. An open floor plan for the kitchen and connected areas is an effective way to make a home feel larger and roomier…but it also means that guests and everyone else can see your dirty dishes and the messes that come with cooking.
A layered kitchen is one of the new home ideas designed to fix this unsightly issue when you don't have quite enough time to clean. The idea is that low walls, columns, screens, and even converted spaces behind doors serve as prep areas where all messy parts of cooking can occur. Then the front of the kitchen is used for basic display and serving, so guests end up seeing only the best parts – and you get to create food how you like without any guilt.
More Versatile Spaces in the Home
Design trends are always looking for ways to maximize space and make sure everything has a purpose. Modern homeowners, however, tend to want a little of everything depending on widely varying life/work balances. Some may need a home office for remote work, while others want a baby's room, playroom, or gaming room. Still others may be more interested in a guest room they can rent out, or a home gym room. And then some owners may want all these things at different periods of their lives!
One of the trendy house solutions is a greater focus on versatile rooms in the home that aren't specifically designed for any one purpose, but rather made to accommodate a wide variety of purposes as needed. This provides more options for placing and spacing rooms while giving homeowners what they want.
The Indoors and Outdoors Continue to Merge
More and more, backyard spaces are being adopted as parts of the house with extensions like sunrooms, outdoor kitchens, outdoor theater areas, and more. These architecture trends are well-suited for homes with planned-out patios and decks, and lend themselves to many innovative approaches. Weather considerations may be an issue in some seasons, but there are few other downsides.
At the same time, people are bringing more touches of the outdoors inside their homes. Modern home decor styles are focusing more than ever on natural materials like natural wood finishes, stone or concrete substitutes, weaves, and earthy colors that invoke nature found outside the windows.
Reinventing the Suburbs
Suburbia is seeing interesting changes. Young professionals have seen an increased desire to move into the suburbs to find bigger, cheaper housing something made even easier with the remote work trends we've seen in recent years. They may not necessarily be interested in starting families yet, but they do want to bring as many urban amenities with them as they can.
That has led to a new approach to residential developments with greater density, and careful planning that makes room for more affordable, even multi-family housing – along with more shops, parks, and restaurants within easy walking or biking distance.
This type of planning has a variety of names, such as "gentle density," and is seen in many new developments across the country. For example, one popular strategy, sometimes called transect urbanism, is to build a dense core in the center of a development with commercial areas plus smaller housing options or apartments, then progress to less dense sections until the largest lots and homes are found on the outskirts of the area.
Sustainability Continues to Evolve
What does residential sustainability look like these days? It's a lot more than just making sure that appliances have an Energy Star rating: Instead, green developers are moving toward bolder sustainability choices as homeowners become more willing to adopt new ways of living. You may see more trendy house designs embrace pre-installed smart meters for energy regulation, tankless water heaters to save on energy, greater reliance on water-saving xeroscaping, and more. Just take a look at California, which recently passed a mandate requiring all new residential construction to include solar panels.
Bigger, Better Windows
After more than a year of lockdowns and work-from-home situations, it's not surprising that homebuyers want more natural light in their spaces than ever before. Future home design ideas are focusing on how to position large windows for maximum sunlight, while avoiding heavy window treatments that block out the light. It's also no surprise that skylights and other innovative types of windows remain a popular solution.
More Smart Technology
Developers have noted how popular certain kinds of home automation are, and we're seeing more and more smart devices appear on brand new construction. This can vary from smart thermostats to help save energy to video doorbells for security. These devices have high value for new buyers that want some of the latest tech solutions without needing to install them personally.
Final Note
Are you looking for a partner that can provide the (latest house design) and help you find open houses to see before you make a decision? Contact Lancia Homes today: Our home specialists can arrange safe meetings and virtual home guides with the information you need.
