What home building design trends can we expect in 2017?
Staying on top of new trends, ideas and innovations is key to the success of any building design work. It’s that innate understanding that each building needs to have its own identity, yet blend into its environment. It’s the home’s ability to retain a timeless quality, while also reflect the changing styles and innovations of its era.
Because, as much as some things remain a constant in design, construction, and the building industry, there are always new ideas, new techniques, or even the re-imagining of former fashions. Let’s take a look at some of those trends in building design that we’re likely to see come to the fore over the next 12 months – and possibly beyond.
Back to Nature
Natural finishes continue to maintain an upward curve in popularity over the coming year, with many homeowners favoring a return to a variety of wood and stone materials in their properties. Making the best use of the materials nature provides is certainly not a new idea but the rising popularity of quality stone countertops, or exposed wooden beams suggests that the natural look is very much on the rise.
Open Living Space
Creating the feel of more space through an open floor plan in the living areas of your home is another design trend that’s likely to make further headway into the future. Combining your kitchen and dining rooms, for example, creates a sense of openness that’s proving popular with larger families seeking more time in each other’s company. It’s also ideal for those who enjoy the welcoming feel of home while entertaining friends and extended families.
Space Saving Storage Solutions
Linking into the move towards greater utilization of living space, a challenge for new building designs is to maximize storage solutions while minimizing its impact on usable space in the home.
Again, as kitchen-dining room combinations become the go-to design, that need for an added sense of space grows more important. This might see a burgeoning desire to do away with spreading cupboard and storage units across the kitchen in a traditional sense, moving towards single storage walls, freeing up space elsewhere.
Sustainable Living
As our communities continue to grow ever more environmentally conscious, so the concept of sustainable living permeates into the way we design our buildings and homes. This is likely to take a variety of forms in the coming months and years ahead. For instance, incorporating reclaimed materials such as wood or stone, ties in with the growing aesthetic desire for natural finishes, while adding an environmentally friendly aspect to the building.
In a similar vein, we’d be surprised if there won’t be further incorporation of renewable energy and amenities into the modern home, not only from an ethical standpoint, but also to meet ongoing challenges of energy costs. Solar, wind and other ‘green’ energies are likely to gain further prominence with the incentive of longer-term cost-savings.
Smart Home Technology
The era of the Internet of Things is upon us, where our devices and appliances can be connected and controlled via ever powerful Wi-Fi signals. This is opening up some very futuristic possibilities for both home and commercial buildings in the coming year and beyond.
Incorporating voice activated technology (similar to Siri on your phone) is a now a possibility in the home, and is something that can be built into the plans of a new build or refurb. The potential of a newly designed ‘smart’ home is unlike anything that’s gone before and is a trend that will surely take traction as the technology advances; controlling anything from you’re A/C unit or shower, to the coffee machine and Spotify player.
This is the future – offering exciting new challenges to blend the traditional sense of homeliness and comfort with new, technologically amazing solutions.