10 Top Home Renovations Trends for 2018
BY ALLEGRA MUZZILLO
Looking to find a decent contractor for your small-to-large home renovation? Or maybe you need to flesh out ideas on how best to overhaul your space? Sweeten – a free service pairing reno-focused homeowners (and commercial clients, too) with licensed, meticulously vetted general contractors that bid for the job—has you covered.
The company has recently forecasted the top 10 home renovation trends for 2018 based on conversations with its stable of licensed contractors and their clients.
Waterfall Countertops
Characterized by sleek lines, the waterfall-style countertop upgrade delivers that wow-factor every time. Homeowners opt for waterfall-style countertops to mask under-island cabinetry; typically natural stone (marble, granite, quartz) is the material of choice. Waterfall-style countertops look stunning, as they create a seamless flow of materials from the top of the kitchen island down to the floor.
Sliding Interior Doors
Many homeowners are now eschewing traditional hinged doors in favor of sliding interior doors, which take up much less space. Whether they slide inside walls (pocket doors) or just outside (barn-style), these doors add amazing functionality while mitigating privacy concerns and drawing flexible boundaries between spaces. Plus, they come in every material imaginable—from glass to stainless steel.
Colorful, Patterned Bathroom Floor Tile
Many homeowners tackling home renovations look to introduce color and personality anywhere they can—and the bathroom floor is no exception. These days, tile comes in every color and pattern imaginable, and even a modestly priced installation can yield a huge payoff in the looks department.
Wall-Turned Peninsula
In past years, homeowners who loved the idea of an open floor plan concept would simply remove kitchen walls that separated the space from the rest of the home. Increasingly, people are now turning one of those offending walls into a functional peninsula that increases counter space while providing a new eat-in option with room for stools.
Shared Bathrooms
Do you have the square footage to accommodate two people in the bathroom at once? A shared bathroom space – in which two people can actually move around freely without argument – is an amenity more homeowners seek. Whether via the installation of separate toilets, dressing areas or double sinks and vanities, any extra breathing room gained is positively a luxury.
Skim Coating
Rather than knocking down an uneven wall or starting from scratch to eradicate a bad taping job, homeowners are opting instead to have drywallers skim-coat, or apply thin layers of joint compound, to make walls look like new. Skim coating also lays the perfect, ultra-smooth foundation for wallpaper installation – think of skim coating as a facelift for your walls.
Panel-Ready Refrigerators
More homeowners are concealing their refrigerators with cabinet panels for a seamless, custom result that lies flush with the rest of the kitchen cabinetry. Corcoran clients Ainsley and Simon paneled their fridge in a kitchen that shares space with their living and dining areas. “They’re more formal, which is typical of older brownstones,” Ainsley says. “This way, we got our modern fridge without having to compromise on style.”
Adding Creature Comforts
Comfort and efficiency are playing a huge role in home renovations this year. Whether it’s trading out that window air-conditioning unit for central air, adding soundproofing to shared walls in attached homes or splurging on radiant-heat flooring in the bathroom, creature comforts can make all the difference in how we experience our homes.
Wall-Hung Toilets
Wall-hung toilets—previously seen only in commercial or institutional applications (and well-known for their water-saving capabilities) – are being increasingly requested in residences with smaller bathrooms. Homeowners (and Corcoran clients) Meredith and Jason chose a wall-hung toilet for space reasons. “We have a small New York City bathroom and the old toilet partially obstructed the doorway,” Meredith says. “Obviously, we needed a clear path in and out.”
Blue Kitchen Cabinets
In the past few years, the trend in colorful kitchen cabinetry has been gaining steady momentum, with bold, playful shades of blues such as navy, cornflower, indigo and royal all in increasingly high demand. Blue has become a popular color, whether you live in a sunny, warm climate or an urban setting.