12 THINGS TO LOVE IN HOME DESIGN
I t’s easy to get hooked on HGTV home makeover shows or fill a Pinterest board with things you’d love to have in your home.
Our wish lists include new furniture or lighting or whole rooms completely redone. Houston architects, designers and builders have had a busy year creating beautiful new spaces for this growing city.
Then there’s the devastation wreaked by Hurricane Harvey: Flooding and other storm damage left hundreds of thousands of Houstonians planning remodeling jobs, learning new DIY skills or looking for new places to live.
No one wants a new home project under those circumstances, yet here we are, with so many looking for new flooring, cabinets and furniture.
The trends of 2017 are less trendy than the term implies, with great colors and textures, new places for great finds and great style in both high and low price points.
Here are the most prominent trends of the year.
1
MIDCENTURY MODERN: Our love affair with postwar design — they simply called it “modern” then — rages on. Satellite-style light fixtures, iconic chairs by Mies van der Rohe, Eero Saarinen or Charles and Ray Eames are as in demand as ever. Collections recently revealed at the fall High Point furniture market showed midcentury inspiration in virtually every collection.
2
EMBRACING RESALE: With the proliferation of Facebook trading groups, it seems everyone is repurposing these days. Resale stores are prime shopping opportunities for whose with a good eye and an interest in refinishing or reupholstering. And, you get to bring a little bit of history into your home, even if its past life is a bit of a mystery.
3
COLOR GALORE: Pale neutrals may turn your home into a respite from the noise of the day, but colorful homes are bright spots on every block. Go wild in a powder room with shocking wallpaper; mix colors in a living room. Paint your cabinets anything other than white. Pick a color you look great in, and when you’re sitting in a chair or relaxing on the sofa, you’ll look fabulous.
4 RECLAIMED MATERIALS:
Homeowners have bragged in recent years that they bought an East Coast or Midwestern barn. Often 100 or more years old, these old barns are disassembled and repurposed as flooring or even ceiling beams in Houston homes. Many homes, though, want more than old wood. Antique doors and windows from old American schools are
worked into our homes. And the newest prize is architectural antiques from centuries-old European buildings: stone fireplaces, grand statuaries, even rough, old horse troughs.
5 LUXURY: Our desire to indulge ourselves is never more evident than in our homes, where soft fabrics, stellar design and original art is at its functional best. Designers are installing fur chairs, high-tech lighting and custommade everything in homes and high-rises all over the city. The best part is that we’re using these beautiful things every day, rather than putting them in a room no one’s allowed in. Breakfast on fine china? Of course. Wine in a fine crystal goblet at the end of the day? We wouldn’t have it any other way.
6 GRAY VS. GREIGE: Gray, the darling of the color world, isn’t going away anytime soon, but its beigey cousin — greige — is photo-bombing its five minutes of fame. These warmed up grays — taupes, really — are finding their way into fabric, wallpaper and paint palettes. How long this trend will last is hard to say, but tan fans are likely very happy.
7 SPECIALTY ROOMS: Custom homes are designed around wish lists that reflect our passions. That’s why wine rooms and fancy bars continue to get factored into new home construction, and we’re sparing no details on these showpieces. Home tours this year revealed man caves galore, karaoke stages, golf screen rooms and tricked out storage spaces that would make Martha Stewart green with envy.
8 PORCELAIN WOOD TILE: In our flood-fearing, post-hurricane world, smart shoppers are considering flooring options that can handle water and bad weather. For them, improved technology has made porcelain tile, made to look like wood, one of the hottest flooring choices on the market right now. Just a few years ago, we’d turn up our noses at cheesy, pixelated options, but today’s wood tile has color variation, textured surfaces and, if you want them, a knot or two. 9 DOING SOME OF IT YOURSELF: Hacks abound for every home design challenge. So if your decorating budget has limits, evaluate carefully where you want to save and where you want to splurge. Smart DIYers know they can add beautiful trim to affordable curtains, fabric paint designs onto stools or benches or faux paint your nightstands. There are always things best left to professionals, but there are times a clever DIY will look like you spent a fortune.
10 EUROPEAN ROMANCE: Is there a home in Houston that doesn’t have something French? European antiques add flair and romance to every home. It’s not all highly embellished stuff that could make your room too feminine — unless that’s what you want, of course. An Italian crystal chandelier will have your guests asking where you found it. A French marbletopped baker’s table might kick your boring island out of the kitchen or a vignon will find a new life not in a vineyard but in your living room.
11 BATHROOMS AS SPAS: We’re embracing the master suite as our special space more than ever. And inspiration for new bathrooms comes from boutique hotels or popular spas. We’re getting steam showers, fancy lighting, high-end marble or quartz and hanging original art in these spaces where we soak away the stress of the day.
12 SUPER PANTRIES: The new darling of the remodeling world is the super pantry — a combination of a caterer’s kitchen and butler’s pantry, these rooms keep everything in one place, food, cookware, party supplies and even extra appliances. Whose kitchen can really handle a party for 100? The super pantry provides tons of storage space so everything’s together and it’s functional in a way standard pantries never have been.