The Latest New Home Design Trends

Each year at the National Association of Home Builders’ International Builders’ Show, the Best in American Living Awards (BALA) provide recognition to builders and design professionals who have accomplished outstanding design achievements. Awards are given in all sectors of the residential housing industry, including single-family production, custom, rental, affordable, interiors, remodeling, community and international.

The BALA awards spotlight the latest design trends, and are often a sign of what will become popular in new residential construction around the country. Here are a few of the top trends home buyers can expect to soon see in new home designs, if they aren’t already:

Classic yet Contemporary

Homes that are hot sellers on the market right now are those that successfully blend old styles with new. Timeless and elegant spaces are created by blending modern and traditional elements such as crown molding with fewer or less fancy pieces. Elevations are clean and simple and interiors are fresh and light, not ornate and heavy like the formerly-popular elements such as ornamental columns, complex crown molding and cabinetry with additional applied decorative pieces.

Multigenerational Living

Given the increasing cultural diversity in America as well as the state of the economy during the past few years, many families are all living under one roof. To save money, young adults are living at home after they graduate school, and retired parents are sharing homes with their grown children and their families. Single-family home designs accommodate multigenerational households, such as homes with two master suites, often with at least one located on the ground floor to be more accessible.

Cost Effective Designs

Rectangular home designs are more cost effective, so new homes no longer have the “exploding house” look with multiple, odd roof lines or the unnecessary interior volumes they create. But home designs can still be visually stimulating with creative and innovative modifications that reduce construction and system costs to the home owner. For example, mixing materials such as metal, wood and stone in the façade give a home a modern look.

The Family Triangle

Open floor plans is a trend that isn’t new, but has expanded.  Ground-floor focused, open floor plan living spaces used to be specific to certain regions and generations, but now it is desired by all buyer profiles across the country. Many designs eliminate the living room and add a flex space or den adjacent to the kitchen or family room to allow for privacy when needed, and still accommodate flexibility for many different uses.

Kitchen Entertaining with a View

The kitchen remains one of the most important rooms in the house. Yet kitchens are still a modest size as the average overall square footage of new homes has decreased in the past few years. So designers are incorporating creative storage solutions to both suit the home owners’ unique needs and to allow more windows above the countertops rather than cabinets to retain a feeling of open, light space. 

Green Design Elements that Consumers Understand and Want

The 2011 BALA entries reflected the fact that home buyers now expect a certain level of green design in their new homes that provide both comfort and cost savings. Green technologies such as tankless water heaters and highly efficient HVAC systems that directly impact and reduce operating costs are commonly installed in new construction.

To see all the winners of 2011 BALA awards, go to www.nahb.org/BALA. To find a professional home builder or remodeler in the Grand Traverse Area go to www.hbagta.com.