Don’t Miss These 2017 Design Trends in New Construction
August 14, 2017If you’re looking to buy a newly-constructed home this year, you’ll be pleased to see how 2017 design trends make your life easier. From a focus on efficiency to save you energy and money to clean designs that improve the flow of the space – these trends emphasize giving you exactly what you want, and nothing that you don’t.
1. Efficiency
Perhaps the strongest guiding hand leading construction currently is the push for efficiency. A popular thought is that every bit of the home should help cut costs once construction is complete.
Energy efficiency is a primary target. The focus is on systems, equipment, and fixtures that decrease energy consumption and wasted water – without compromising comfort. Efficiency also translates to the size of the home. Trends shifted away from larger, grand houses to comfortable homes with a great deal of flexibility, but not an ounce of wasted space.
This change may reflect an interest in attracting a new kind of buyer – Millennials. This particular group expresses a strong preference for energy efficiency, but may not have a lot of spare funds to invest in extravagant upgrades.
2. Sustainability
Trends in home building also speak to trends shaping the construction industry itself. With a current labor shortage, builders are looking for ways to make every aspect of home building more streamlined. The focus is on cutting down, not only on waste but also processes that waste time and labor.
It leads to an increase in the use of prefabricated products. These can be created in larger quantities with a lower amount of labor- particularly in HVAC equipment. Sustainability also extends to the development and use of green building technologies. For instance, finding effective replacements for carbon-emitting products like cement.
3. Clean, Simple Designs
If efficiency is the overall goal of many new homes, then efficiency in design also stands prominent among buyers’ preferences. Fading away are the tiny, separate rooms and long hallways. Enter the continued dominance of the open floor plan, with lots of space to move around.
However, most buyers are hoping to get usable space out of every inch of the home. This means that rooms should not be restricted to a specific purpose, but rather be versatile enough that households can shift and redesign as necessary. It also indicates a decrease in buyers’ preferences for perceived “unnecessary” extras, like turrets.
4. Glass and Metal
Fortunately, this doesn’t mean that buyers can only select a really straightforward, modernist design without special features. There are plenty of options available for buyers who want to push the envelope here and there. For example, trends for 2017 show an increase in requests for larger windows, providing ample natural lighting around the home.
This path toward more contemporary designs also brings in all kinds of metal. You can choose from a variety of metal accents throughout the home, particularly in the kitchen and bathrooms.
Waking up every morning in a home built to increase your enjoyment and productivity is a pleasure. With these design trends for new construction, you can create a modern, enjoyable home with lasting appeal should you decide to sell several years in the future.
About the Author:
Kris Lindahl is a Minnesota native and owner of The Kris Lindahl Team with RE/MAX Results.