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Design Dilemma: Decor Trends 2014

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Every year brings changes in interior design. One year Chinese garden stools are in,  the next it’s faux mooseheads. Suddenly everyone wants a jacuzzi tub, then everyone wants a sauna. Design trends tend to move more slowly than fashion trends, (thank goodness!), and yet, every year does bring some nuance in the way we approach interior design. This year, more people are installing “u sockets” in their homes to accommodate Ipads, Kindles and other electronic equipment. More people are living at home with adult children or elderly parents, and adapting their interiors accordingly. In addition, people are mixing gold and silver, painting walls yellow and investing in furniture of raw woods and metals. Are you curious about what’s hot and not in 2014? Here are a few trends to watch out for:

1.) Showers, not tubs. This trend has been in the making for a while. More and more of us prefer the simplicity of a walk-in shower to the relative complexity of a tub. It makes sense. The population is aging and tubs can get tricky with age. Plus, tubs are often more difficult to clean. The most popular showers are of the walk-in variety shown above and below. They include seating, niches for soap and shampoo, and often, when space permits, double showerheads. Showers that meld seamlessly with existing flooring, without any sort of a waterguard curb are also gaining in popularity.

 

And here’s another cool look:

2.) Floating shelves.  It’s not that cabinets are out, it’s just that more of us want to break up a large expanse of cabinetry with something a little different. Shelving has a more informal, airy feel. The trend has been specially evident in kitchens, as below:

Or here:

But floating shelves are also making a resurgence in dens and living rooms where built-in closed cabinetry once held sway:

3.) Eco-friendly everything. People are fed up with coming home to a chemical bath. So more of us are demanding formaldehyde-free, chemical-free cabinetry, carpets and furniture. Reclaimed wood has taken the furniture world by storm, and so has bamboo floors and cabinets and bed linens of organic cotton.  Below, carpet tiles are made of renewable and recycled content and have low VOCs. A few companies even recycle your old tiles if you return them when you’re done.

Below here, recycled glass tile spiffs up a kitchen backsplash:

And here, reclaimed wood paneling:

4.) Down-scaled, down-sized environment. Open, decluttered spaces that are not packed with furniture are still in, as they have been for the last few years. Part of this is a long-term trend toward urban living in smaller spaces. Many baby boomers are unloading their huge McMansions, and opting for much smaller city condos that are closer to city amenities and public transportation. Also, frankly, people’s incomes are not rising fast enough to support a heavy interior design budget. The result is a sleeker, more informal look that is closer to a European style of decorating. The kitchen below is characteristic of the look:

So too is this 700 square foot, two-bedroom home:

And this minimalist city apartment:

5.) Bold color. Out with beige, neutral interiors. As a reaction against all the taupe and white of recent years, more of us are electing to adorn our rooms with bold pops of color, in the form of accent walls, patterned wall-paper and bold furniture colors. Yellow is big in 2014, as is black and white. Sometimes the color can be extremely bold in the form of wall color choices and furniture choices, as you see below. Wow, now that’s color!

At other times, color comes in the form of small pops that make a big statement, as in the light fixture and counter choice below:

The takeaway for 2014 is this: our homes are becoming, smaller, simpler, increasingly uncluttered and more personal. People have tired of the neutral, staged, catalog look that was in vogue a few years back. Increasingly, they are looking for a space that reflects their own personal style, that is not afraid of color, pattern and personality. Looks like we’ll be ringing in the new year in grand style!