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What’s trending next with home remodeling?

- By Tamie Sanchez

The pandemic has influenced the way people want to live in their homes, seeing their home in a new light. The home has become offices, classrooms, “restaurant­s” and “movie theaters”. Going forward these experience­s will affect some trends in future remodeling.

Open layouts are still desirable, but flexible, multi-functional spaces are gaining in popularity. Multipurpo­se spaces will be a must have for those working or schooling from home. This might include a larger kitchen island for preparing food and dining with built in charging stations or charging stations hidden in kitchen drawers.

It’s a space that will support multiple needs of multiple family members for cooking, working, and gathering.

During the pandemic people were doing more bulk shopping to reduce trips to the store. An emerging trend is a working pantry with plenty of storage, specialty drawers, and room for small appliances with working areas for coffee makers, blenders and toasters.

Now there is more of a desire to transform those underutili­zed or unfinished spaces in your home such as an attic or garage. These are great locations for creating an additional bedroom, office, or media room.

The pandemic also reinforced the necessity for cleanlines­s. Natural, durable materials, easy-to-clean and maintain surfaces like quartz remains the most popular countertop choice.

Touchless faucets, automated soap dispensers, and smart toilets with touchless flushing and self-cleaning features will relieve you of your toilet-scrubbing duties. In addition, there is large demand for laundry rooms with lots of storage and working space located near an entrance for sanitizing purposes or bedrooms for convenienc­e.

Homeowners are looking for ways to reinvent their living spaces to make them more functional, productive and aesthetica­lly pleasing for their specific lifestyles. It’s a new normal to find the perfect balance for people’s homes and lives.

This article was provided by a member of the Remodelers Council of the Greater Houston Builders Associatio­n. The Remodelers Council is dedicated to promoting profession­alism and public awareness of the remodeling profession through education, certificat­ion and service to the Houston community. For more informatio­n on this article, contact Lorraine Hart at lorraine@idealconsu­lting.net. To join the council or to find a profession­al remodeler in your area, visit www.ghba.org.

 ?? Photo courtesy of Lone Star Building & Constructi­on Services Inc. ?? This kitchen remodel features easy-to-maintain countertop­s and more storage.
Photo courtesy of Lone Star Building & Constructi­on Services Inc. This kitchen remodel features easy-to-maintain countertop­s and more storage.

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