If you are looking to renovate in 2019, these 5 trends should give you some inspiration, ideas and maybe some pause for thought about how you might approach your project.
Some of these trends aren’t new but show no signs of going away, others have emerged more recently and look likely to influence home renovation this year and into the near future.
1) Sustainability
Concern that climate change is creating more frequent hot weather events means more people are using the opportunity of a home renovation to build sustainability into their homes. They want to combat the heat and decrease their reliance on fossil fuels.
And the good news is that both can considerably lower your power bills.
As we explored in our recent article about creating a sustainable home, renovating is the perfect time to incorporate solutions like a multi-strategy approach to stop heat getting into your home.
We’re also seeing wider adoption of better-known solutions for promoting water efficiency, as well as taking advantage of cheaper solar panels and advances in home battery storage.
Interior designers are sourcing furnishings from second-hand stores and reuse centres.
Sydney is blessed with an array of options from a number of small second-hand stores on the southern part of Newtown’s King Street, to the giant second hand ‘warehouse’ of Lunatiques, to the ‘reuse centres’ like The Bowerin Marrickville – all are committed to reducing landfill.
2) Renovating for ‘Needs’ More Than ‘Wants’
Whilst temperatures are rising, Sydney’s housing market is cooling, so homeowners having to add space to accommodate a growing family or for other reasons (see “Multigenerational Living” below) are focusing more on ‘needs’ rather than ‘wants’.
This is also prompting homeowners hoping to build a high-quality renovation on a tighter budget to be a little smarter and more discerning with their choices.
As we explained in this recent article on adding space for less, by using standardised design and materials, building and labour costs can be dramatically reduced.
Some builders have standard plans and packages specifically designed to take advantage of the new Housing Code for Complying Development.
This means that if your current house and land meet certain criteria, you can obtain approval within 10 days of submission which in turn means that we can be potentially building your new home within 4 weeks of your decision to add space.
3) Colour Trends
Dulux has continued to be on the front foot when it comes to colour trends, recently releasing their annual ‘colour forecast‘ guide.
Their 2019 report reflects some of the themes already mentioned above with sustainability and recycling very much at the forefront.
Their four key trends of ‘repair’, ‘wholeself’, ‘legacy’ and ‘identity’ each come with a variety of suggested colour palettes, and there is a marked undercurrent of achieving harmony with nature, reusing of old materials, and using colour to promote tranquillity.
4) Multigenerational Living
This continues to drive a higher proportion of renovations than in the past.
Demographic and other changes are driving the reemergence of ‘multigenerational living’.
A century ago, multigenerational living was common, but as the 20th century progressed, we started to live more and more as ‘nuclear’ families, with a maximum of two generations under the one roof and children leaving in their late teens or early twenties.
That’s not so much the case now as more children are staying home further into their twenties, even thirties, and more older parents are moving in the homes of their adult children.
Homeowners are using a renovation as a chance to create distinct spaces for each generation living under the one roof.
Even developers are seeing an opportunity to remodel houses to make them more attractive to the increasing number of buyers who want to accommodate their extended family.
5) Electronic Home Assistants
We used to think that opening the garage door with a remote control was pretty good, but technology is becoming more and more embedded into many of the appliances we are using in our ‘smarter’ homes.
Home assistants are becoming more accurate and easier to use, as well as more useful in terms of the range of operations that can be controlled by voice alone.
Recent research tells us that home assistants are being placed in lounge rooms, kitchens and bedrooms which gives you a pretty good idea of the range of connections they can make.
Remote use of home assistants is also becoming more common with people now able to turn on appliances when away from home using their phone, as well as seeing who is at the front door and opening it!
The latter may even be useful when you are at home and get that unexpected ring at the door!
