Four Growing Home Trends You Need To Know
Our TVs and internet are inundated with information about home trends relative to building improvement and renovation in this extraordinary current real estate market. Here are four home trends to consider when building or buying your dream home!
Smaller Size
In 2013, the average size of a single family home in the United States was 2,598 square feet. Today, more and more people are gravitating toward smaller, more manageable houses that require less maintenance (and less down payment). Whether it’s the “empty nester” Baby Boomers that are downsizing or the Millennials that are looking for a cost and environmentally-conscious option to serve as a “landing pad” versus a place where most of their time is spent, smaller homes are affecting all demographics. Couple that along with rising housing costs, people are seeing the desire and need for smaller housing. Hence, the need for less room.
Recently, this trend has been taken to the extreme with the concept of “tiny houses.” These structures are the epitome of functionality and minimalism, ranging in size from 100 square feet to more “luxurious” 300-square-foot models. And to accommodate today’s “on-the-go” minimalists, many of these tiny houses are portable!
Green Roofs
The concept of using the flat rooftops of city high-rises for vegetable gardens and topiaries is catching on in America’s urban landscapes, but what about for single-family houses? Why not? Green roofs not only can be beautifully aesthetic, but have many economic benefits as well.
A green roof can:
Reduce the chance of water damage from overflowing runoff from gutters
Extend the life of your roof because it protects it from excessive sun exposure
Reduce your air conditioning demand load by keeping your house cooler in the summer
Reduce your grocery bill with homegrown vegetables.
And for those neighborhoods that offer little to no yard space, green roofs can double as a back yard entertainment area!
“Smart” Features
Today’s home trends when it comes to technology are all about convenience and time-savings. Gone are the days of getting out of your car to punch in the code in the little box outside your garage to open the door. Access to a myriad of features to enhance your home’s comfort and security is as close as your smart phone. Turn the lights on (or off), turn the thermostat up (or down), and lock (or unlock) the door remotely.
Voice-controlled products like Amazon’s Alexa are literally making it possible for your home to “come alive” at the sound of your voice. Companies that offer complete comprehensive automated home systems are popping up all over to ensure that your home’s lights talk to the security system and the thermostat, and A/V components and Wi-Fi routers are not only stylish, but multi-functional as well.
Wide Open Spaces
Floorplans of the past were reminiscent of those mazes that mice go through to find a piece of cheese! Design trends are going more contemporary with clean, simple lines and openness throughout the floorplan. Instead of nooks and crannies that serve no purpose and hallways that seem to go nowhere, the trend in home architecture is following the “convenience and maximum use” philosophy already mentioned above. Disappearing and sliding barn doors, glass everywhere and more useable space with multiple rooms that blend into each other provide ultimate efficiency, flexibility and usability of every square foot of space.
If you’re ready to move from watching reality TV shows about tiny homes and fix-and-flips to actually planning and building your own dream home, RMG can help you turn your “napkin thoughts” into reality. Call us today for a consultation.
