Many of today's "must have" home design trends quickly become tomorrow's "why did we do that?" For every design trend that has staying power, there are a handful that do not age well. Ohio newspaper The Dispatch spoke with several Ohio home design and real estate professionals, asking the experts what things commonly found in today's home may become outdated in the next decade. While some potential outgoing trends were more predictable, such as trendy colors, several experts suggested major home elements, such as dining rooms or garages, may fall out of favor in the near future.
Trendy Colors
Timeless colors are a part of a timeless design, said Charissa W. Durst, president of Hardlines Design Co., a Columbus, Ohio, architectural firm that focuses on historic architecture and preservation.
“Pantone always has their color of the year,” Durst said. “This year it’s a coral (Living Coral). It’s trendy, but how long will it last before it goes the way of (1970s) avocado-green appliances?”
Colors “that keep coming back are the ones that aren’t an extreme,” Durst said.
Dining Rooms
Many homeowners use their dining room for its designated purpose only for family gatherings at Thanksgiving or Christmas, if then, said Todd Schmidt, president of Renovations Unlimited in Grove City, Ohio. Often, though, the dining room is mostly a place where dust and junk collects, Schmidt said.
“A lot of people hold on to the dining room just because they think they need it for resale,” he said.
But homeowners are starting to think past the formal dining room. What was rarely used space can be opened up to add room to the kitchen or be converted into an office, Schmidt suggested. The dining room now “might be a room where the kids do their homework. But a bigger kitchen island can serve the same purpose.”
Open Floor Plans
Wide-open living spaces are still quite popular, said Joel Walter, owner of N.J.W. Construction in Carroll, Ohio. Homeowners are still asking for great rooms that merge with kitchens, and a minimum of halls and interior walls, he said.
Although huge, open spaces are great for entertaining, a cozier plan is often more practical for everyday living, he said. “It’s hard to locate furniture, hang pictures” with a wide-open floor plan. I think the desire for functionality will kick back in,” he said.
The desire for more openness probably won’t disappear, but instead it might be dialed back a bit, Walter predicted.
Garages
Could there really come a day when car-loving Americans no longer require a separate nest for a private vehicle? Bill Owens, owner of Owens Construction in Powell, Ohio, thinks it just might be possible.
“I’ve run into a few millennials who don’t see any need to have a car. It’s arguable that eventually, with the Uberization of the economy, maybe we’ll eventually just use the car when we need it, but not own it.”
“As long as boomers and Generation Xers are still around, you’ll probably have garages. But if you look to millennials and their sense of homeownership, you can foresee a time when the garage might be downplayed.”
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