Home Building Trends 2017

New home on the horizon? If you’re after an on-trend home, it’s time to ditch plans for an all-white, high gloss kitchen, neutral grey walls and copper accents. 2017 has arrived with a bang. Get ready for an explosion of unique materials, colours and textures that’ll wow you if you care more for setting the pace than following the flock. Here’s the most exciting home building trends heading your way.

Clever design and cabinetry

2017 signals a distinct swing away from in-your-face appliances. Less is indeed more. Opt for precisely designed cabinetry paired with flush-fitting or concealed appliances. Concealed fridges and rangehoods are on the way in. It doesn’t just make for a sleeker, more streamlined finish, either. It’s also a great way to

• maximise available space
• eliminate dust collection points, and
• reduce cleaning time.

Paired with handleless or push-to-open, soft-close cupboards and drawers, this trend pays homage to minimalism’s ongoing influence in home building trends.

Home automation

Once the exclusive domain of wealthy tech savants, home automation’s now de rigueur. Home automation systems are now smarter and more affordable than ever before. Take control of your heating, cooling, lighting, laundry, cleaning and home security via an app on your smartphone or device. Sure, home automation systems can be retrofitted to an existing home. But building a new home presents a fantastic opportunity to get it right: a fully-integrated system with all the bells and whistles, installed from the ground up.

Green homes

Making your home as green as possible isn’t just a home building trend: it’s a lifestyle choice as much about saving money as saving the planet. Innovative design that thoughtfully balances style, luxury and conscience makes a statement. Feel free to flex your eco-friendly credentials. Think sustainably-sourced or recycled flooring such as cork or stone, reclaimed wood wall and ceiling panelling, solar power, water tanks and composting systems. Get in touch with the natural world and make your home more of a haven.

Fun with floor plans

A focus on practicality has seen a slight swing back away from open-plan towards a more marked delineation of your floorplan based on the function of a space. That said, it’s not so much about building more internal walls. It’s about finding brilliant ways to

• improve privacy
• create sanctuary
• reduce noise
• zone areas for heating and cooling, and
• stop cooking smells from permeating the whole house.

There’s also a step away from sole-purpose rooms such as dining rooms or home theatres towards rooms that can be repurposed to suit lifestyle changes. Thinking ahead means you can maximise potential for a room to be seamlessly converted from bedroom to home office to separate accommodation for an ageing parent. That makes perfect sense irrespective of whether you’re building your forever home or planning on selling up in a few years’ time.

The colour palette’s warming up

Grey has had its heyday. Everything’s thawing out and warming up, so expect to see more terracotta, taupe and beige. It’s a great way to complement the shift towards a texture-heavy focus on natural fibres such as jute, cork, rattan and hemp.

With the colour palette branching out and embracing a distinctly retro vibe, jewel greens and purples are also making a comeback. There’s a definite shift away from stark white, impersonal design towards a more homely feel. You can expect to see less marble and more quartz, quartzite and other varieties of stone making an appearance in home building trends. It’s also time to blow a kiss goodbye to copper and rose gold. Say hello to brass and brushed brass. You might be surprised to hear that laminate’s also making a comeback on the back of its versatility and range of colours. Finally, expect to see a lot more textured and heavily patterned wallpaper. There’s never been a more exciting time to build a home.

How to stay on-trend

Home building trends come and go, but great service, old fashioned workmanship and attention to detail never goes out of fashion. Planning your dream home? Murchie Constructions can help! Click here or call us on (07) 4132 7777. We’ll give you the advice and expertise you need to plan and build your on-trend new home.

Need help or advice about the latest home building trends? Talk to the design experts at Murchie Constructions today.