By Wendy Dessler
The interior and exterior of your home have the potential for memorable design in the coming year. As the 20s of the 21st century are upon us, a combination of classic chic and modern savvy are combining to make new homes something to marvel at.
Related: 4 Awesome Additions for Your Custom Home Design
Here are a few different design families to help stimulate your imagination:
Mainstream Interior Decor Styles
A few interior decor trends you can expect to see include: kitchens firmly eschewing the "white" color stylings of years past; more floor plans including formal dining rooms; restrooms including seats that aren't just toilets; tile tub aprons making bathtubs look built-in to walls or floors; cheerful laundry room decor; and fully-wrapped powder rooms where decor encircles the space. Mirrors, designs, obscure paint schemes—many creative solutions exist here in terms of "wrapping" a space. It's not just powder rooms that get this treatment. Because of home prices and economic fluctuation, many interior design trends are focused on space maximization.
Creative Space Maximization
There are a few schools of thought on this, among them floor-to-ceiling mirrors, partitions and multi-purpose rooms. As an example, a room that's approximately 15-feet-by-15-feet can be cut in half with a partition down the middle and used for multiple purposes. Furniture goes in front of the mirrors. By doing this, it feels like you're in a room made of windows, and something much larger than 225 square feet. Certainly, you don't need partitions or floor-to-ceiling mirrors to make a room multi-purpose. Many tiny homes have Murphy beds that do the trick just as well.
Technological Implementation
LED lights can be found in colors that feel warm even as they use much less energy than traditional filament bulbs. Smart-home design can be used to proactively manage energy. If you're unfamiliar, smart technology essentially marries internet connectivity with basic home appliances and decor.
You can control all the lights in your home from slide bars on your smartphone—basically, a WiFi device has been fitted to the electrical array maintaining the lights. The same can be done for heat, AC, refrigerators, garage doors, surveillance systems, and more. Home design in 2020 will likely feature an increase in smart home designs.
Also, as technology has miniaturized, pursuits once only possible for the extremely well-to-do are affordable to the average person. A home theater is simple with a room where the light can be controlled. All you need is a white wall and a projector—many are cost-effective and small enough that they can be held in your hand. Projectors can even be aimed at high ceilings, if that suits your home, while the family sits at a relaxed angle like they're at a planetarium.
Modular Housing and Possibilities
The tiny home movement has become so popular you can buy a $19,000 tiny home from Amazon.com. If you have a house, thousands to spend and a few weeks you can spare, you can build a tiny house in your backyard. Make it adjacent to an alley, install a mailbox and rent the space out at $1,000 a month and you can quickly recoup your investment—you now have a Passive Income Generator (PIG) on your property.
Certainly, a tiny home DIY kit isn't exactly modular housing, but there are modular housing options that exist and allow you to add rooms to your property. In 2020, you can expect some homes to be cobbled together piecemeal according to need, looking hodgepodge from outside and in. Due to economic flux, technology and housing prices, there are going to be some strange properties designed and inhabited in the coming years, and that's not necessarily a bad thing.
Maximizing Possibilities in Your Home
You don't have to totally rebuild your property to capitalize on some of the trends mentioned here. Interior remodel could change a kitchen or bathroom, and add a formal dining room. You could simply paint your walls white, shutter the windows and add a projector for a theater room. Or you could go the technological route if you'd like, or add to your property with small builds. Instead of a tiny home, you might put a gazebo in the backyard with a garden underneath and vines stretching up the supporting struts. There are many affordable possibilities; it all depends on what interests you. Get creative this year and see what best matches your property!
Wendy Dessler is a super-connector who helps businesses like Cabinet City find their audience online through outreach, partnerships and networking. She frequently writes about the latest advancements in digital marketing and focuses her efforts on developing customized blogger outreach plans depending on the industry and competition.
