7 Renovation Design Trends to Watch Out for in the Upcoming Year

As the year comes to a close, let us sit down and predict the trends which can make a big impact on your home renovation design in the coming year!

#1. Raise of the Smart-er Homes

Image from Designhunter

The IoT digital revolution has heralded an exciting new era in home automation. You can get to enjoy a more mature, secured and improved smart home technologies, especially in areas of remote control, monitoring of common household devices, energy usage which will lead to improved utility savings.

Image from Phys.org

What this means to you? Home automation is especially useful, especially when it comes to making the home more hospitable for the elderly or those with special needs by improving their quality of life while giving you, the caregivers, a peace of mind. Solutions such as environmental sensors to detect a fire, gas or water leaks, video surveillance for you to check on your loved one remotely. Mobile devices to control daily tasks such as turning the lights on and off, locking the doors and windows automatically helps to make your home more convenient and safer for them! Discuss with your renovation professionals on how to effectively incorporate these into your home design.

#2. Arrival of Bigger & Better TVs

Design: The Roomakers

The amazing growth rate in the TV screen size is taking the industry by storm; what was considered a large screen only a few years ago is now considered small. In fact, the technological advancements and consumer high expectations for a larger and better TV screen is unstoppable. In 2009, 32 % of the TV sold is measured 40 inches or bigger and by 2014, this percentage has more than doubled. By next year, 50 inches or bigger TV screens are expected to take up one-third of the entire all global TV sales!

What this means to you? Since the size of the TV screens is going to increase, you should not feature built-in carpentry around the TV for your feature wall since this will constrain the size of the TV. In addition, do consider using a universal TV wall mount bracket. This is because installing a universal TV wall mount which is able to withstand the additional weight allows you to upgrade to a bigger TV screen sizes in future. Nevertheless, having an enormous TV shouldn't stop you from having striking TV feature wall treatments such as using unusual vertical rounded shiplap cladding and half-round oak dowels.

#3. Open Kitchen becomes Mainstream

Design: Absolook Interior Design

Housing Development Board (HDB) has finally made it official for new flats to come equipped with open kitchens in Feb this year! With this move, "the wall dividing a kitchen from the rest of a flat's living space will no longer be offered under the Optional Component Scheme - where buyers pay for additional features such as floor finishes, sanitary fittings and room doors". So what does 2019 have in store for the open kitchen concept? With the wide adoption of open-kitchen, there would be an emphasis on creative hidden storage to hide all the messy pots and pans from the guests so that it can morph into a clutter-free living environment within minutes.

What this means to you? Expect significant cost savings since you do not have to spend to hack the walls. Nevertheless, the ironic thing about having an open kitchen is that you might find yourself trying to regain some privacy by adding a low freestanding shelf unit or a breakfast bar counter to create a semi-closed kitchen to hide away things which you do not wish your guests to see. Hence, discuss with your renovation professionals how to achieve this creatively and within your budget.

#4. Chilling "in" Home Cafe Lounge

Design: Spire ID

Chilling out and dining at cafes and restaurants may be a thing of the past since nothing beats chilling "in" comfortably at home without the noisy crowd, slow internet access with overpriced coffee, tea and meals. Hence, homeowners are increasingly looking at ways to recreate the intimate and cosy atmosphere of home dining and cafe at home. Demands on Interior Designers to create a cool chilling in home cafe lounge to chill "in" with your friends over a hot cuppa and delicious home-cooked meals have certainly increased in recent years. Thus, we can expect this trend to proliferate and finally takes traction in the coming year!

Design: The Scientist

What this means to you? Discuss with your spouse whether both of your lifestyles revolve around entertaining your guests during weekends. If this is so, having a cafe lounge inspired home interior design would be suitable concept to adopt. Look out for renovation professionals who have experience in this area, since such interior design concept involves a different kind of design considerations and skillets to create an intimate, inviting space which is meant for unwinding and entertaining guests. 

#5. Bolder, One-of-a-kind Experimental Designs

Design: In Interior Design

Achieving the one-of-a-kind home interior look has gradually become the holy gild of the homeowners. Hence, instead of the "safe" tried and tested classic designs in predictable colors and tones, more and more homeowners are willing to step out of their comfort zones and experiment with never been done before interior design ideas in their quest to be truly unique and different!

Design: The 80’s Studio

What this means to you? Communication. Communication. Communication. The communication need not be done only in words; you can also visually express your idea through various means by hand sketches, mood boards, collection of Pinterest photos and even 3D models done in design software such as SketchUps. By being able to communicate effectively, you will be able to select the right home interior designer to execute your design idea. 

#6. Creative Renovation Budget Hacks

Image from Instagram

With a lackluster economic growth showing in Singapore, homeowners are already started to tighten their budget and actively seeking for renovations don’t need to break the bank. Nevertheless, having a smaller budget does not stop homeowners from looking for the biggest impact for their home! There are already many ways to save thousands and they include avoiding half-hacked walls (since the walls need to fully remove and then rebuild the half-height walls), circular or odd-shaped designs for carpentry works, using overlays instead of hacking away floor tiles and using paint instead of installing fancy feature walls. Hence, in the coming year, you can expect more creative ways to up the ante for home interior design while they hardly make a dent in your bank account! For instance, inexpensive, removable wallpapers in gold, agate, marble or even leather that mimic luxurious materials helps to inject an elegant and classy arty-gallery vibe for just a fraction of the price!

Image from Decorpad

What this means to you? Draw up a detailed budget plan for your home renovation before meeting up any renovation professionals. The budget should minimally make up of the 3 parts; renovation, furnishing and home appliances and electronics. Remember to set aside at least 10% of the budget for any unexpected expenses too.

#7. Amazing Ways to Utilize Forgotten Spaces

Design: Design Chapterz

As the trend towards living in smaller spaces gains traction and our apartment and flats continue to shrink in size, space has become increasingly more precious. Hence, we foresee an increase in demand for professional home interior designers are skilled at innovative ways to utilize every inch of the "dead" or forgotten spaces; be it areas under the stairs, voids, alcoves and even ceiling spaces! Yes, a hidden child's playroom can be carved out from the void under-the-stairs, small alcoves can be easily turned into drinks or wine storage and in fact, an experienced renovation professional can transform every hook and canny into either a functional space to cater to all your needs or wants.

Design:  A.W.A Design Office

What this means to you? Having a smaller apartment do not mean you have to make do with less space; having an experienced renovation professionals will help you to be storage savvy and have as much usable storage area as the bigger apartments. Therefore, take stock of all your existing processions and pay extra attention to the big-sized items which you intend to bring over to the new abode. Space planning involves quite a fair bit of planning and be prepared to spend a bit more on a quality multi-functional furniture and customized carpentry works which lasts.

 

---

Browse through the list of Interior Designers, their reviews and portfolios at http://www.renonation.sg/professionals/interior-designers/

Submit your renovation enquiry: