5 Home remodeling trends to watch for in 2021
After a year of spending more time at home due to the pandemic, many homeowners are looking for ways to make their homes fit their new realities. Here are five trends to watch for this 2021 home-remodeling season.
1. A focus on dedicated spaces
At the start of 2020, “the most requested design concept was open space,” says Jimmy Dollman, principal of Dollman Construction in Roanoke, Virginia. “But now, we face a different set of design implications because everyone’s living conditions have changed.” This year, expect to see homeowners spending less time knocking down walls to open up shared areas, and more time transforming spare rooms or nooks into dedicated spaces. That might mean adding a home office or home theater, for instance, or transforming a nook into a space for distance-learning.
2. Making room for home offices
To add home offices to residences, “homeowners aren’t adding square footage,” says Doug King, owner of King Contracting, a design-build firm in St. Petersburg, Florida, and president of the National Association of the Remodeling Industry. “Rather, they’re taking out rarely used closets, like in the hallway, and moving interior walls to make space.”
3. More outdoor living
One cure for that coopedup feeling is outdoor living areas. Homeowners spending more time at home may also start to seek out remodeling projects that bring beautiful outdoor views inside — for instance, by installing larger windows or glass doors that let in more natural light.
4. Longer wait times
Besides shifts in design trends, homeowners can expect a continued slow-down in the industry. In some cases, safety concerns have changed how contractors and workers approach projects. For example, Dollman has suspended all work in occupied residences to avoid exposure to COVID-19 “to protect the homeowners and our crews,” he says. Getting permits can also take much longer than usual as demand increases and those who approve the permits adapt to new working conditions — for instance, working at home rather than in the office, or working with a limited staff.
5. Bold colors
For homebound do-ityourselfers looking for affordable ways to make rooms more welcoming this year, adding a colorful fresh coat of paint will likely be high on their list. A sign that bold colors and color combinations could be gaining favor: They featured prominently among Color of the Year winners for 2021 announced by brands including Sherwin Williams, Pantone and Benjamin Moore. Sherwin Williams selected Urbane Bronze (a dark brownish-gray), for instance; Benjamin Moore selected an Aegean Teal (a blue-green color); Pantone selected a color duo: Ultimate Gray and Illuminating (a gray tone alongside a bright yellow color).