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When you own your own home, you may always feel as if the job of redecorating and renovating it is never quite finished. As we start the new decade, it is a good idea to move forward with our home design plans, and make some of the changes and improvements we’ve been putting off in the years before.
Here are our top ten home design trends that are going to help shape and style homes across the country for the coming decade.
Mixing Materials and Exposing Structure
Many people are exposing brickwork or structural features in rooms to add depth and character to otherwise bland spaces.
Exposing some of the brickwork on a flat wall in a dull and boxy lounge can help turn the room into a more interesting and contemporary space for very little money and effort. Balancing the coarser material of brick with a smooth and natural floor surface is going to be a common sight in lounges across the country.
Surfaces are Becoming Features Themselves
Using interesting and unusual surfaces for flooring and countertops is becoming a popular interior design choice.
Stone and slate are making their way into interior spaces, especially kitchens and bathrooms. Many homes are now using quality wooden flooring instead of laminates in lounges and bedrooms, often with intricate patterns or designs reminiscent of the designs of the 1920s and 30s.
Small and Smart Upgrades Will Have a Bigger Impact
Having a smart home, where many common household devices are connected to each other and the wider world, is becoming more important.
You can now install smart heating and lighting controllers that can be paired with smart home assistants like Amazon’s Alexa and Google’s Home. High-tech features like these are going to be an expected feature for homes in the coming years, so you should look at ways to bring your home up to date with some of the latest home tech.
Taking the Inside Outside – Making Space in the Garden
Having a space on the exterior of your property that you can use for meals and entertaining friends and family is becoming a popular choice for homeowners
Glass verandahs have become the hot choice, offering the perfect balance between a conservatory and an awning. At sites like Nationwide, you can find lots of different styles of verandah that suit any property, and experienced installation engineers that can get the job done in a day. These are great for sunny days in the summer, with late family meals in the evening sun.
Paint and Pastel Shades are Coming Back
Simple pastel shades and painted walls are making a comeback to bedrooms and bathrooms, with a more rustic look becoming popular in these spaces with many homeowners.
Pastel paint is being used to make spaces more relaxing and is replacing patterned wallpaper in homes up and down the country. Balanced with whitewashed or white stained woodwork, these plain colour schemes help complete the rustic style that you are looking for.
Climate Conscious Improvements and Appliances
The changes in the global climate are no longer being ignored, and this is being reflected in our culture in many different ways. This environmental consciousness is making its presence felt in home design, particularly in the areas of home heating, lighting, and insulation.
Solar panels are becoming a desirable feature in many areas, with some home buyers wanting to catch up to the technology by buying houses with completed installations, creating more demand. If you are thinking of replacing a roof, you should consult a solar power installation company to see how you can integrate solar panels into your roof design.
Health and Wellbeing Gets its Own Space
People are spending more time and money than ever before on maintaining good health and wellbeing, often using space at home for exercise, yoga, and meditation.
Integrating a space into your home design ideas for physical fitness and wellbeing is easier than you may think. Many people have converted a small box room into a versatile gym space, using collapsible fitness equipment stored in a robust wardrobe. With the equipment stored away, you have a calm and orderly space for yoga or meditation, and with the addition of a futon or small sofa bed, you can still use it as a bedroom if you need to.
Making Changes That Save Money
By switching to led lighting and more innovative home heating, you can expand your lighting choices and remove ugly radiators, bringing style to your space while saving you money.
Led lighting uses far less power than traditional lightbulbs, and can offer you a range of colours at the flick of a switch. You can also use it to create programmed lighting schemes in your spaces.
Heating solutions like home heat recovery systems, or MVHR, can replace plumbing pipes and radiators with discreet ducting and vents in skirting boards. This can open up more design choices in rooms and save you money on home heating bills.
Design Doesn’t Stop at the Front Door
Having a well-manicured and landscaped garden will be an attractive feature for houses. Well-designed driveways, paths, and front gardens are becoming increasingly popular.
Features like these can give a home the ‘wow factor’, and give a home a unique look amongst the other homes in the neighbourhood. Picking a theme and using unique materials is a popular choice, with many homeowners using hard wearing and low maintenance plants like ferns, and materials like bamboo, to give a garden an oriental or Hawaiian theme.
Smart Storage to Make Life Easier
In-built storage, and clever solutions to common household storage problems, are going to become an important design choice for the future.
For years people have struggled to find ‘functional minimalism’ where there is a place for everything and everything in its place. Clever storage, under stairs and even in old chimneys, is going to be a sought-after feature in the future.
Don’t put off the changes you want to make to your home any longer. Start the new decade as you mean to go on and start styling your home for the 2020s. These ten design ideas have hopefully given you some of the inspiration you need.