Along with faux finishes and concrete, renovations are trending. After surveying more than 100, 000 of its registered users, design platform HOUZZ has released its 2017 Report, revealing that homeowners, including millenials, spent 11 per cent more on room makeovers in 2016 than the year before.
Even more impressive, this number excludes kitchens and bathrooms. If you imagined massive living room transformations, think again. The spots that garnered the most monetary investment were two unexpected places that we spend a lot of time in: the laundry and master bedroom.
According to the report, average spend on laundries and master bedroom renovations grew 24 per cent and 23 per cent respectively. Laundries and master bedrooms have become luxury’s final frontier. Kitchen and bathroom remodels cost more than these projects, of course, but that spending has stayed more or less the same.
As for the makeover itself? “The functionality of a laundry is key. Above all, it’s about a well-designed room where the focus is on storage. Plus clean surfaces and organization and creating a great design you don’t mind spending time in. Laundry is a mundane task,
You need durable floor tile to withstand daily floor traffic. Ceramic to cement which resist moisture and require little care. You want storage that is a combo of closed cabinets and open shelving to boost organization. Multiple baskets that are easily accessible can hide smaller items. A working surface that can withstand heat and liquids is ideal, such as stainless steel or wood or ceramic.
Above all, today’s laundry rooms are making it easier to do laundry. In high-end homes, laundry rooms now often come with multiple washers and dryers, lots of counter space for sorting or folding, and custom drying racks. Homeowners are asking for laundry chutes and smart appliances that they can control from the office.
Laundry lovers—or those who hate it enough to want the job done with maximum efficiency—are installing multiple washers and dryers to save time, and building in space for steaming cabinets or rotary irons that press tableware and bed linens within minutes. It’s becoming a favourite room in the house now. As laundry rooms move up in the house, looks are getting more important.
The feeling is: doing laundry is a mundane task; people want to give the room a look that is anything but mundane.
As for master bedrooms? It’s about creating a special space to retreat – when everything else in the world is spiralling out of control, and feels rather illogical, what we want, if not need, from our homes takes on ever more resonance. In this case the notion of (home) and particularly the bedroom as our safe place, personal sanctuary and reprieve from all the madness. It’s the place where a new bravery is emerging – something along the lines of: do within one’s walls as one will.
We’ve rounded up a few of our fave looks. Whatever your design direction, this is a trend with serious staying power, and logic.
