You may have seen that we are a member of the online design and renovation platform Houzz.com. Houzz is a shop window for our services allowing you to view galleries of past projects and search for images and styles of kitchens. Each time a Houzz user clicks on a link or makes a search, that information is recorded. With this information and what our clients have been requesting most this year, alongside some insights from KBB review magazine, there are some definite trends emerging. Our position as an independent design studio means we can and have turned our hand to most interior projects and can add that bespoke element that makes a room just a little more wow.
Bedrooms
Searches for wardrobes and fitted furniture for bedrooms has seen an incredible 218% rise this year, with Navy blue still topping the charts as the most requested colour. We predict there will be a shift to a warmer neutral colour trend, not unlike with kitchens, mirroring the global interiors trend for more natural finishes and earthier colours. Sliding mirrored doors are still popular to create walk in wardrobes and to bounce light around. One of the biggest searches has been ‘Hotel style bedroom’ leading to richer use of colour and more dramatic styling with more attention to hardware and lighting. Perhaps linked with the rise in people going up into lofts there has also been an increase in searches for bespoke wardrobes with angled features and with that, the most popular add-on to bedrooms has to be pull-out shoe storage. Showcasing your favourite shoes and always having matching pairs to hand. Eat your heart out Carrie Bradshaw.
Utility room
A 36% increase in searches for boot rooms and a 27% rise in interest in utility rooms is no surprise to us. Historically the poor sister to the kitchen, the utility has long been the place where kitchens go to die. Having a new kitchen? Just put the old units into the utility, that sort of thing. With the rise in popularity of platforms such as Pinterest and Instagram these have now been elevated to places of awe-inspiring storage and Marie Kondo levels of household organisation and with the same luxurious palette of materials used in the main kitchen/dining and living spaces.
Fusion Studio TIFF File
Pantries and larders
If you haven’t read our separate blog post on Pantries and larders, then please do and you might understand why they are also part of the next big thing. We are in the process of creating a one-stop larder shop, off the peg designs but with bespoke elements that make the larder work harder for you. And an easy addition to your existing kitchen. But more on that to follow…
Boot rooms
Boot rooms have traditionally been the preserve of the to-the-manor-born. We have fitted many a boot room to a country house, but they can be an invaluable asset to any home, especially where kids/dogs are concerned. They can transform an uninspiring hallway or vestibule, into somewhere quite pleasant to remove one’s muddy wellies or be incorporated into a utility to become the ubiquitous ‘bootility’.
Media Walls
The next surge of curiosity has been in the direction of Media walls. Functional yet beautiful storage, long a feature in our North American cousins’ homes, these are working their way over to this side of the Atlantic and finding a spot on the main wall of our living rooms. A great choice for family rooms and libraries, especially where there is a lack of focal point such as a fireplace, they combine much needed storage for all the TV and AV equipment, but can be designed with the same meticulous level of attention to detail as our kitchens. With almost endless colour and door combinations, all bespoke designed and manufactured to work with your space. If you want some extra deep storage for toys, no problem. A reading nook built in with cushioned bench seating. Of course.
We hope this has provided some food for thought and if you have any interior projects that you would like to discuss with us, either in the comfort of your own home or in the surrounds of our lovely showroom in Daventry, Northamptonshire then please feel free to give us a call on 01327 300 506 or drop us an email on enquiries@paulrowles.co.uk we’d really love to hear from you.