For homeowners with a taste for the contemporary, a recent report projects the top home design and remodeling trends. The Neil Kelly Company, an award-winning design-build remodeling firm based in Oregon, enlisted a team of 20 experienced design professionals to come up with the top trends.
“While every homeowner has specific ideas on style, the overall trend is toward simpler living and low-maintenance design,” the company reports, “but with accent marks of color and splash that don’t overpower … from clean and simple kitchen cabinetry to ‘bulletproof’ countertops, prefinished wood flooring and solid ‘pops’ of glass, color and sparkling textures. The trend toward simplicity is also manifested in a growing demand for safer, healthier and more sustainable homes.”
Here’s a glimpse at the top 10 trends along with some helpful Extreme How-To article links, so you can beat your neighbors to the punch:
Kitchen Cabinets. “A clean, simple, contemporary look will be popular with homeowners looking to economize and eliminate unnecessary clutter and fussy details.” For a budget-friendly remodel, re-facing or refinishing cabinets will offer more bang for the buck.
Cabinet Building Basics for DIY’ers – Extreme How To
Reconfiguring Kitchen Cabinets to Install a Dishwasher – Extreme …
Painting Kitchen Cabinets – Extreme How To
Replacing Kitchen Cabinets in Existing Construction – Extreme How To
Countertops. “While granite isn’t going away and still has many die-hard fans, the new king of countertops will be quartz composite—the closest thing to no-maintenance, bulletproof countertop materials available today.”
Installing Granite Countertops – Extreme How To
Hardwood Floors. “Pre-finished and engineered wood flooring will become more popular than the once gold-standard of site-finished flooring. Pre-finished woods provide a hard, durable finish, are an installation time saver, and eliminate the sanding dust dilemma.”
Hardwood Flooring Tips From a Pro – Extreme How To
Refinishing Hardwood Floors for the DIY’er – Extreme How To
Glass Backsplashes. “Glass mosaic tile is on the way out. Taking its place are glass/stone/tile mosaic composites that can add more texture and visual interest and that tie in more readily with stone or quartz countertops.”
DIY Quick and Easy Backsplash – Extreme How To
Simple Sinks. “With accessories such as fitted colanders and dish drains, deep single-bowl sinks have all the benefits of a divided sink, plus the large size. Stainless is still popular, but the quartz composites are a great value and durable option.”
Outfitting a Kitchen – Extreme How To
Color Palette. “Charcoal is the new black. 2013 will find this silky color everywhere as it blends the right amount of chocolate, grey and a touch of green.”
Bathroom Stone. “Calacatta marble will find its way into both traditional and contemporary bathrooms. Calacatta is a rarer stone than Carrara marble, but is quarried in the same region. It is valued for a whiter background and bolder grey veins.
Texture and Sparkle. “Glossy glass tile backsplashes and sparkle on polished nickel fixtures trend in 2013.”
Step-By-Step Guide to Upgrading a Bathroom Faucet – Extreme How …
Living In Your Home Longer. “Designers predict a growing trend to help aging baby boomers safely ‘grow old’ in their homes, for as long as possible. Watch for easy kitchen and bath upgrades to enhance functionality, comfort and safety.”
Healthy Living. “Green and sustainable design is here to stay. More homeowners are taking advantage of federal and state incentives to evaluate their home’s energy efficiency and overall performance. Upgrade trends include the use of low-VOC materials to improve indoor air quality, testing combustion safety and radon mitigation.”
Frame a Home for Energy Efficiency (House Framing for Energy …
— M. Weber
