Top Design Trends For Your Home; And They’re on Our Parade

The COVID-19 pandemic has provided a renewed sense of home and community for many. After months of sequestration within your home, however, you might also be in need of some fresh scenery—both outside and inside your residence. Design trends provide alluring sources of inspiration for updates, whether it’s a simple splash of color or creating a whole new addition.

Here are a few ideas being noticed across the country:

Have fun with color. One the most popular areas to remodel is the kitchen. Gone are the stark-white cabinets, countertops and backsplashes. Instead, today’s designers are opting for on-trend deep blue and cool aqua tones, as well as dark woods and new, colored textures. Add a pop of intrigue to your kitchen through a bright backsplash, colorful kitchen island or a dropped ceiling with rich wood tones.

Warm and cool color insertions don’t have to stop at the kitchen either. Cool color choices — think grays, blacks, and blues — add a modern aesthetic, while warm colors — especially wood elements — have a traditional appeal. The two combined create a look that is both dramatic and luxurious, yet also comfortable and homey, anywhere in the home.

Another fun idea for 2020? Wallpaper. Not only can it be an inexpensive way to personalize a home, there are so many options to choose from — both in color and texture, as well as low- or no-volatile organic compound (VOC) — to create a vibrant, healthy home.

Get creative with storage. Today’s minimalist culture (thank you, Marie Kondo) lends itself to new trends in storage that are not only simple, but artistic. Open kitchen shelving or a mix of open and traditional cabinetry for upper cabinets, for example, provide practical storage solutions and added visual interest. Other areas that can benefit from this approach include wine cellars or under-stair displays that purposefully blend into the room. 

Connect the outdoors and indoors. Indoor/outdoor connections enhance livability — and look sophisticated, too. New technologies and increased availability of glass walls, pocket doors and large windows can create a seamless transition, both visually and physically.

Visual connections such as large-format windows can also help. Floor-to-ceiling window walls and “glass box” style rooms are trending in all corners of the country, and in all neighborhoods, from urban to rural. 

And above all else, make it yours. Today’s home owners want a home that reflects their tastes. Simple examples include nontraditionally shaped, colored or otherwise unique hardware in spaces such as the kitchen and bathroom, as well as elements like  distinctive stair rails, light fixtures and switch covers in more high-traffic areas.

See these trends and more during the 2020 Iowa City Area HBA Parade of Homes Aug. 1, 2, 4, 6, 8 and 9. Find details at iowacityhomes.thegazette.com and on our Parade of Homes Facebook page.