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Design trends
Good design may be timeless, but staying up to the minute on home trends has become a round-the-clock national obsession.
As television design shows and glossy decorating magazines and catalogues vie to keep consumers current, people of every age and income level are becoming more and more savvy about what constitutes good design.
They’re also becoming much more determined to personalise their home to reflect their specific taste. In developments, especially, rules often restrict the design changes an owner can make to a home’s exterior, but inside, people really want to make a statement.
Clean lines and looks
Simple and sleek is the look of today. Even homeowners who like a more traditional look are requesting fewer accessories and less “fluff.”
Square arms and simple, pointed legs dominate chairs and sofas. Shades and blinds are used in lieu of heavy draperies or in conjunction with simple stationary panels. Elaborate trims and tassels are being replaced with leather and other sleeker materials.
Another variation on the trend toward cleaner lines is an emerging revival in art deco, the geometric look first popular in the 1920s and 1930s.People are much more eclectic in their environments, more willing to mix traditional and contemporary. Call it ‘traditional with a twist!’
Simpler, more informal looks also make it easier to up the comfort quotient, another widespread design trend. People want rooms they can actually use.”
Making space count
Built-in window seats with storage, beds with drawers underneath, and dining benches that allow visitors to face the table or turn to form conversation, all echo the multipurpose goals of today’s furniture designs.
Screens and movable walls, or shifts in colour from one area to another, can take the place of walls, opening up more living space in smaller urban footprints.
The pervasiveness of open kitchens and their growing role as the centre of the home has promoted a new level of decoration in those spaces. Sconces, chandeliers (which are growing in popularity), and more decoration of all sorts are now almost as important as functionality in a kitchen space.
Warm, clear colours
Colour, perhaps more than any other aspect of design, is a personal preference.
The sophisticated use of rich jewelled colours — purples, yellows, and burnt orange — are on the upswing. Chinese reds and blacks also continue in their popularity. Homeowners are getting more comfortable with colour.
Metallic accents, such as burnished golds, coppers, warmer silvers, and pewters with a golden undertone, can give a home an of-the-moment look, and decorators are focusing more and more on metals, from door hinges in brushed nickel to bronzed gold switch plates.
Texture and pattern
In a shrink-wrapped world, the appeal of hand-crafted, textured surfaces seems a natural. Pillows with raw fabric edges have replaced braid for a tailored yet tactile look. Chenille continues to be popular, as do suede and leather. Fabrics are more intricate, with damask, embroidery, and beading offering a more handmade feel.
Texture also extends to the walls, as that reviled relic of the 1980s, wallpaper, makes a comeback. Technology advances have made wallpaper much more exciting, allowing for a wide variety of designs from retro to traditional.
It’s now possible to print life-size images onto paper for a truly custom look.
Individuality trumps trends
Perhaps the most important thing to keep in mind about home design trends today is that there is no one trend. Access to more design ideas in the media has spurred consumers to trust their own taste.
People are making space more personal.
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