Healthy Home, Healthy You!

Designing for Health in 2021

As we enter into 2021, we wanted to share some “Winsome Wisdom” with some ways to brighten your home and the trends we’re forecasting for the new year. In last month’s newsletter, we touched on the effects of COVID 19 and how we’ve begun to “Rethink Home.” In reflecting on the changes to come, we welcome the opportunity for continuous improvement and joyful creation in rethinking how we use, define, and design spaces.

Visual Interest

Incorporating more color in the home, especially those in earth tones. The “all white everything” trend has been at the forefront. However, with people spending more time at home, there’s more emphasis on creating visual interest with color and creating more immersive spaces, rather than a backdrop between coming and going. Colors in rich hues of blue, green, mustard yellow, and clay are piquing interest. Winsome Construction’s Interior Designer, Emily, has put together a Pinterest board that elaborates on colors, kitchens, baths, and more for healthy homes!

Bringing the Outdoors In

Spending time at home and outdoors is gaining popularity.

Complimenting the above, in creating less minimalist and more personalized spaces, there’s a desire to bring the outdoors in by capitalizing on outdoor space as an additional living space and incorporating nature-themed prints in textiles, wallpaper, and textures. Things like floral wallpapers and botanical textiles paired with natural materials like rattan and woven furniture and natural fabrics like organic cotton and linen are becoming more prevalent. These natural textures roll into selections such as tile. The days of a smooth, perfectly uniform tile are fading away, and surfaces with more of a hand made look that show natural variations are gaining popularity.

“There is nothing like staying at home for real comfort.”

—Jane Austen

Colorful islands and natural stone countertops are trending.

Playful Kitchens

We see more playful kitchens with bolder cabinets colors (specifically deep blue and shades of green), whimsical and edgy backsplashes, and an ever-expanding variety of cabinet hardware and plumbing fixture styles and finishes, not to mention the touchless technology and Microban® antimicrobial protection now available.

Work at Home

To bridge the desirable open concept floor plan, with defining spaces for specific tasks as we live, work and play at home, we anticipate a resurgence of pocket doors and French doors to separate a home office from homeschooling and to take a step back from the barn door trend we’ve seen. We’ve realized the importance of defining spaces with purpose – that is, to create a space where you go to do a particular activity, rather than one space where you go to do many activities. Allow yourself room to experience various settings throughout your home, which encourages the task associated with that space (i.e., relaxing space for sleep, inviting or playful space for gathering, and structured place for work).

Home Cooking and Gyms

Cooking at home can be a very enjoyable experience, so I hear…

There’s also a greater emphasis on health and wellness, both physically and mentally. Bigger kitchens (if that’s even possible) as families spend more time cooking at home, which then means pantry space is a must to stock up on a variety of ingredients. Home gyms, or a space that allows you to decompress and reenergize and the ability to vary the activity through at-home workouts and meditations. Take a look at our Pinterest Board Design Ideas for inspiration!

My cooking is fabulous even the smoke alarm is cheering me on.

 

Wherever these trends go, our goal as we step into a new year is to promote overall well-being, and as we “Rethink Home,” let’s embrace change and the opportunity for continuous improvement in the spaces around us, and find joy in creating a new definition of “Home.”

If you would like to ask Emily a design question you can reach her on our FB account,  emily@winsomecontruction.com, or ask the expert on IG!

Winsome Construction is a luxury home builder, crafting high-performance homes throughout Portland, Salem, Bend, the Willamette Valley, and the North Oregon Coast. We invite you to stay connected with us by subscribing to our monthly newsletter  (enter name and email below) or calling us today at 503-472-7402.