During the height of the COVID-19 era,<\/span> there was a mad race for more space. Everyone seemed to want a larger house on more land where they could spread out, set up a home office and gym, and safely entertain friends and family on their terraces, decks, and patios.<\/p>\n Many of those home trends that took off are still going strong. Others, meanwhile, are on their way out.<\/p>\n \u201cWhile the needs that arose during the pandemic may have shifted, many of the trends they inspired haven\u2019t been forgotten,\u201d says Mitchell Parker, a senior editor at Houzz, a home remodeling and design platform. \u201cHomeowners are emerging from the last couple of trying years with renewed vigor for creating lively homes full of color, pattern, texture, and optimism.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe pandemic has really created significant changes,\u201d says Doris Pearlman, president of the Denver-based Possibilities for Design. Her interior design firm works with builders on model homes throughout the country. It \u201cchanged the face of housing, and I don\u2019t see that things are going backward.\u201d<\/p>\n So which trends are here to stay\u2014and which have fallen out of favor faster than DIY face masks sewn out of old T-shirts?<\/p>\n The No. 1 thing on the wish list of most folks during the most claustrophobic days of the pandemic was more space. However, in the aftermath of those years, mortgage rates shot up and home prices stayed high, making larger homes prohibitively expensive for many buyers.<\/p>\n Builders responded this year by trying to keep prices down by creating smaller, more affordable homes that \u201cedited out all of the functions which aren\u2019t absolutely essential,\u201d says Mikaela Arroyo. She runs the New Home Trends Institute, which is part of John Burns Research & Consulting.<\/p>\n The average size of a new home today is about 10% (260 square feet) smaller than it was in the years leading up to 2020, according to Ali Wolf, chief economist of the building consultancy Zonda.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople don\u2019t want these big, soaring, open spaces like they used to. They\u2019ve realized: You\u2019ve got to maintain it,\u201d says Angela Visbeen, director of sales and marketing at Visbeen Architects, an international firm based in Grand Rapids, MI. \u201cPeople are looking for smaller, but smarter home designs.\u201d<\/p>\n Smaller homes are forcing homeowners to do more with less square footage. This is giving rise to more multipurpose \u201cflexible space\u201d in homes, which can be used however the occupants choose.<\/p>\n \u201cIn the past, someone wanted a guest room and a home office,\u201d says Wolf. \u201cNow, you can do a home office with a Murphy bed.\u201d<\/p>\n Open floor plans were all the rage in the years leading up to the pandemic. However, after families spent time isolating in their homes together, more of them are now seeking solitary spaces.<\/p>\n This can be a den or office with a door that closes, a man cave or a she shed, or some other area where folks can go to get away from one another.<\/p>\n We are \u201cseeing a growing interest on Houzz in adjustable design elements such as living room dividers, shoji screens, and partition walls that create temporary separation to add privacy, mitigate noise, or create some visual delineation of purpose in an open area,\u201d says Parker.<\/p>\n Many people are still working remotely, either part- or full-time. That means home offices aren\u2019t going anywhere, but they might be adapting to smaller home footprints.<\/p>\n Some builders and contractors are creating \u201cpocket offices.\u201d These are generally smaller rooms placed wherever they can fit, often on the main floor.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople are more flexible in their idea of where to work,\u201d says Visbeen. \u201cThat doesn\u2019t always mean a separate, door-closed, dedicated square footage for a home office.\u201d<\/p>\n Home gyms have remained standard in luxury homes, but they\u2019ve begun falling by the wayside in middle-income homes where space comes at a premium and Pelotons are now collecting dust. Many folks have preferred to return to gyms and group fitness classes where they don\u2019t have to work out alone.<\/p>\n \u201cHome gyms were a quick burn,\u201d says Arroyo. \u201cThey were here for a moment when people couldn\u2019t get into the gym and were very quickly one of the first areas to be subtracted out.\u201d<\/p>\n During the pandemic, biophilic design\u2014which merges indoor and outdoor living\u2014took off as folks didn\u2019t want to feel caged inside their homes. The trend has stuck and is growing in popularity, say designers.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re seeing the blurring of lines between outdoors and indoors,\u201d says Visbeen. \u201cThe whole inside-outside thing is really big right now, regardless of climate. \u2026 We\u2019re seeing it in Michigan the same as we\u2019re seeing it in Florida.\u201d<\/p>\n Homes are receiving more glass sliding doors, larger windows, and phantom screens to let in more light and outside views. The outdoors is coming indoors as wood and stone applications are being used as indoor design elements and homeowners are adding plants and living walls throughout their homes.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is the back to basics, being centered, being grounded, being one with nature,\u201d says Visbeen. \u201cIt has to do with health and wellness, fresh air and sunshine.\u201d<\/p>\n Another trend that isn\u2019t going anywhere is the emphasis on outdoor living. Renters are seeking out outdoor spaces, like a backyard or terrace, and homeowners are transforming their backyards into so much more.<\/p>\n \u201cOutdoor spaces are hugely important,\u201d says designer Pearlman.<\/p>\n Yards have become additional living space, a place to entertain friends and family or simply to relax and retreat from the rest of the world.<\/p>\n Scenic pergolas with dining tables underneath, patios outfitted with couches and rugs, and vegetable gardens offering folks the opportunity to get their hands dirty all got a boost during the pandemic as folks escaped from their homes into their yards.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat used to be just a deck or a patio, it\u2019s the new underutilized opportunity,\u201d says Visbeen. \u201cNow people are amplifying it and making tremendous use of that, from outdoor kitchens to entertaining or relaxing spaces.\u201d<\/p>\n Fancy primary bathrooms, the kind typically found in a spa or upscale hotel, became all the rage over the past few years. Homeowners were seeking calming areas in their abodes, and bathrooms were one of the places where they could create \u201ca retreat where people can get away from it all,\u201d says Pearlman.<\/p>\n The Zen-like bathrooms are still popular, but now homeowners are incorporating more universal design elements to help them to age in place, according to Houzz.<\/p>\n These include grab bars, nonslip flooring, and other tweaks that can help folks to stay in their homes for longer without assistance. <\/p>\n Realtor.com\u00ae<\/a> is an open real estate marketplace built for everyone. Realtor.com\u00ae<\/a> pioneered the world of digital real estate more than 25 years ago. Today, through its website and mobile apps, Realtor.com\u00ae<\/a> is a trusted guide for consumers, empowering more people to find their way home by breaking down barriers, helping them make the right connections, and creating confidence through expert insights and guidance. For professionals, Realtor.com\u00ae<\/a> is a trusted partner for business growth, offering consumer connections and branding solutions that help them succeed in today’s on-demand world. Realtor.com\u00ae<\/a> is operated by News Corp [Nasdaq: NWS, NWSA] [ASX: NWS, NWSLV] subsidiary Move, Inc.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The pandemic trends that are here to stay and the ones that are so over. During the height of the COVID-19 era, there was a mad race for more space. Everyone seemed to want a larger house on more land where they could spread out, set up a home office and gym, and safely entertain friends and family on their terraces, decks, and patios. Many of those home trends that took off are still going strong. Others, meanwhile, are on their way out. \u201cWhile the needs that arose during the pandemic may have shifted, many of the trends they inspired haven\u2019t been forgotten,\u201d says Mitchell Parker, a senior editor at Houzz, a home remodeling and design platform. \u201cHomeowners are emerging from the last couple of trying years with renewed vigor for creating lively homes full of color, pattern, texture, and optimism.\u201d \u201cThe pandemic has really created significant changes,\u201d says Doris Pearlman, president of the Denver-based Possibilities for Design. Her interior design firm works with builders on model homes throughout the country. It \u201cchanged the face of housing, and I don\u2019t see that things are going backward.\u201d So which trends are here to stay\u2014and which have fallen out of favor faster […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"no","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7958","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-featured"],"modified_by":"Build Des Moines","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.builddesmoines.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7958","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.builddesmoines.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.builddesmoines.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.builddesmoines.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.builddesmoines.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7958"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.builddesmoines.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7958\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7959,"href":"http:\/\/www.builddesmoines.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7958\/revisions\/7959"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.builddesmoines.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7958"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.builddesmoines.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7958"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.builddesmoines.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7958"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Homes are getting smaller<\/h4>\n
\u2018Flex space\u2019 has become the must-have home amenity<\/h4>\n
Open floor plan vs. private spaces<\/h4>\n
Home offices are here to stay<\/h4>\n
Home gyms are often the first to go<\/h4>\n
Merging of indoors and outdoors <\/h4>\n
Prioritizing outdoor spaces<\/h4>\n
Bathrooms now resemble spas<\/h4>\n
\n