Renovation Trends Reflect Post-Pandemic Drive for Comfort, Warmth and Healthy Living
A May 30th article on Houzz.com caught my attention with the headline “7 Home Design Trends Emerging Now.” I’ll post a link to that article at RealEstateToday.substack.com
The trends which the article identified showed a rising interest in “organic” modern style and “dark and moody” interiors. They didn’t mention the pandemic, but it was on my mind as I pondered this dramatic shift in the public’s attitude toward home life. The after-effects of the pandemic and especially the lock-down period are still being felt in various ways, especially in the home design and real estate choices we each make. I’ve written in the past about how the workfrom-home mandates wreaked havoc on the commercial real estate market, especially post-pandemic, as many workers insisted on (with some employer agreement) continuing to work from home instead of returning to the office.
The biggest surge was observed in the use of search terms such as “organic modern,” whether it was for bedrooms, dining rooms or other rooms. I never thought of using the term “organic” for home design, but it seems to be close to what I’ve always called earth tones. This also tied in with the next most common search term, “dark” and “moody.”
bathroom I saw had a shower that was not separated from a standalone tub sitting on a tiled floor with a floor drain. The homeowner could have been Japanese or perhaps an American who lived there and adopted Japanese ways.
To quote from the article by Parker, “These spaces mix deep, dramatic colors and materials to create an intimate, sophisticated atmosphere with a touch of drama.” Pictures of rooms demonstrating results of those search terms are in the online article which you will want to check out.
It’s been a couple decades since the move away from white walls in new homes. Rounded wall corners are now commonplace, adding softness to walls which are now often a shade of gray.
(I enjoyed a visit to Tokyo decades ago, where I stayed in a student house with no bathing facilities. I, like others in the house, went to a neighborhood bathhouse where I squatted alongside others on a stool in front of a low faucet and washed and rinsed my body before joining others in a huge hot tub.)
Another trend cited by Parker is wellness, which is expressed in bathrooms as well as in saunas, steam showers, cold plunges, and yoga rooms. “Home spa” was a search term which jumped 34% from last year to this year.
We’ve long seen pool tables and ping pong tables in homes, but now the big thing is “game rooms.” (This reminds me that in some 1950s one-story homes with basements, I have seen more than one which had a shuffle board court laid out using colored vinyl tiles, usually covered by wall-to-wall carpeting, greatly amusing the homeowner when it came time to replace the carpeting!)
The seventh and last trend identified in the Houzz article was an interest in “kid zones.” Yes, people are still having children, and having a place for them to engage in non-smartphone games is important to many parents, as it would be for Rita and me if we were of that age. (I suppose grandparents would want a kids zone, too, but even our grandchildren are in college now!)
A second real estate impact from the lock-down period was the decision by many homeowners to relocate to homes that were further from their place of employment and/or move to a home more suited to working from home, such as with a separate home office space.
As for home design trends, how does one gauge such trends? For Mitchell Parker, the writer for Houzz, it was done by analyzing the year-over-year changes in search terms used on their website.
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Another trend noted by Parker is reading rooms and walls of bookshelves, which may seem odd in an era noted for its switch to digital and audio books. (I myself am now hooked on audio books, following a previous addiction to ebooks, which are free from the Jeffco and other library systems.)
Japanese influences are coming into vogue, from the living room to bedroom to the garden, with green, including indoor plants like lemon grass dominating room décor. I recently toured a home which had a Japanese style bathroom. Japanese are fond of washing themselves outside the bathtub, and only going into the tub afterwards to soak. The
Development Opportunity in Westminster
The property at 9251 N. Wadsworth Boulevard offers a fantastic redevelopment opportunity in Jefferson County and City of Westminster! Formerly known as the Cheshire Cat Hospital, this 3-acre property operated as a veterinary clinic for the past 20 years and is currently zoned agricultural but is an area of focus for rezoning with both Jefferson County and the City of Westminster. The parcel is close to the Denver-Boulder Turnpike, Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport, Rock Creek Medical Campus, retail, municipal government, higher education and open space. If the purchaser wishes to maintain the agricultural zoning, the property could be used for an equine boarding facility with four horses per acre. In addition to domestic animals, the agricultural zoning offers several permitted uses including telecommunications towers, farming with residence, and stables -- a full list. It is co-listed at $2,490,000 by broker associates Chuck Brown and Austin Pottorff, whose cell numbers are at right. An aerial video tour of this listing created by Austin can be seen at www.GRElistings.com.
Leisure spaces generally are also important to home buyers and home renovators. One search term which jumped by 107% year-over-year was “listening room.” Another was for a piano room or piano living room.
Searches for “race car bed,” “teen lounge” and “tween bedroom” were all up year-over-year.
I found the article, which was filled with photo examples from vendors, very interesting and fun. You will too!
Big Reduction on Home Near Majestic Park
$798,000
The sellers designed this 5-bedroom, 4,603sq.-ft. home at 6714 Field St. in Arvada for entertaining and were the general contractor for it in 1985. Listed last month at $845,000, the price was just lowered to $798,000, which computes to only $173 per square foot! Spaces for entertaining abound both indoors and on the large wraparound deck. There's an indoor hot tub in its own room that is well ventilated to avoid moisture-related issues. Floors are a mix of carpet, oak hardwood and ceramic tile. A guest bedroom on the main floor was used by the seller as a home office and a reading room and sewing room are upstairs. This home is an early example of passive solar design. In addition to the solar thermal panels on the roof which provide hot water for the home, there are solar thermal panels built into the south wall of the great room to capture solar gain in the winter for warming the house after dark. The backyard includes a large garden area and a shed with electricity with two compartments — a storage area with a concrete floor and a south-facing area with gravel floor and windows to capture solar gain for starting plants early. There is no HOA and there’s a gate on the north side of the house for parking an RV next to the garage. Majestic View Park and its Nature Center are a short walk or bike ride to the north. Find more pictures, floor plans and a narrated video walk-through at www.ArvadaHome.info, then come to our open house on Saturday, July 20th, 11am to 1pm. Or call Kathy Jonke at 303-990-7428 to schedule a private showing.
1214 Washington Ave., Golden 80401 Broker Associates:
JIM SWANSON, 303-929-2727
CHUCK BROWN, 303-885-7855
DAVID DLUGASCH, 303-908-4835
GREG KRAFT, 720-353-1922
AUSTIN POTTORFF, 970-281-9071 KATHY
303-990-7428
:
, 303-868-1903 Note: All “Real Estate Today” columns are archived at www.JimSmithColumns.com.
No HOA!
INVENTORY INCLUDES: haul trucks, directional boring units, excavators, mulcher, sewer jetter trucks, bucket trucks, skid steers, forklifts, crane trucks, wheel loaders, dozers, wood chippers, mini excavators, telehandlers, dump trucks, trenchers, service trucks, digger derrick trucks, and more. All items are sold “AS IS.” 10% buyers premium applies.
TRIVIA
1. TELEVISION: What is the name of the town in the sitcom “Parks and Recreation”?
2. GEOGRAPHY: e Earth’s equator runs through how many countries?
3. MOVIES: Who plays the character Morpheus in “ e Matrix”?
4. MYTHOLOGY: Which Greek hero was dipped in the River Styx as a baby and made almost invulnerable?
5. EXPLORERS: Which English explorer claimed Australia for Great Britain?
6. HISTORY: Which two Native American leaders fought Gen. George Custer’s troops at the Battle of Little Bighorn?
7. GENERAL KNOWLEDGE: What are the two traditional owers associated with the July birth month?
8. LITERATURE: Which poem begins with the line, “Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary”?
9. ANATOMY: Where is the smallest skeletal muscle in the
human body located?
10. INVENTIONS: What medication, originally used to treat eye muscle spasms, later became a success in reducing facial wrinkles?
Answers
1. Pawnee, Indiana.
2. 13.
3. Laurence Fishburne.
4. Achilles.
5. James Cook.
6. Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull.
7. Larkspur and water lily.
8. “ e Raven” by Edgar Allen Poe.
9. Middle ear -- the stapedius.
10. Botox.
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FLASHBACK
1. Name the lm that included these songs in the soundtrack: “Rock Around the Clock,” “Maybe Baby” and “Teen Angel.”
2. Which artist wrote and released “Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I’m Yours)”?
3. Name the girl group that released “Love Is Here and Now You’re Gone.”
4. Which artist wrote and released “50 Ways to Leave Your Lover”?
5. Name the song that contains this lyric: “I told this heart of mine our love could never be, But then I hear your voice and something stirs inside of me.”
Answers
1. “American Gra ti,” in 1973. e lm was so low-budget there wasn’t much money to pay for music licensing, with all publishers getting a small amount. RCA opted out, and no Elvis Presley songs were used on the soundtrack.
2. Stevie Wonder, in 1970. e song netter Wonder a sixth
Grammy nom.
3. e Supremes, in 1967. e song topped charts in the U.S., the U.K. and Canada.
4. Paul Simon, in 1975.
5. “My Heart Has a Mind of Its Own,” by Connie Francis in 1960. is chart-topper was recorded on three di erent days. e nal version was released, but weeks later, for unknown reasons, it was replaced by the second version.
(c) 2024 King Features Syndicate
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This summer, take simple steps for be er air
It’s another hot, sunny, bluesky day in Denver. The air is still and looks clear! Despite the beautiful day, you may feel irritation in your throat or a tightness in your chest while out walking the dog, at the park, riding your bike, or on an afternoon run. Your asthma may also be acting up.
This is likely the impact of ground-level ozone: the Front Range’s most pressing air quality problem each summer. We can’t see or smell it, but this pollutant accumulates the most on hot and sunny blue-sky days, reaching its highest levels in the afternoons and evenings.
While ozone serves an important purpose high up in the atmosphere — protecting us from the sun’s ultraviolet radiation — at ground level, high concentrations of ozone are unhealthy. Ozone makes it difficult to breathe, increases our susceptibility to respiratory infections, and exacerbates respiratory ailments such as asthma.
High ozone levels affect all of us. Even if you are healthy, ozone can impact the cells in your lungs during and after exposure, like
sunburn, and repeated exposure over time can lead to reduced lung function. The people at higher risk of exposure or more sensitive to this air pollution include the elderly, those with respiratory conditions, outdoor workers, outdoor athletes, and especially children, whose lungs are still developing.
Where does this air pollution come from? Ground-level ozone is not directly emitted from any source. It forms in the air when two chemicals, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and nitrogen oxides (NOx), react in the sunshine and heat of summer days. These chemicals are called ozone precursors, and they are released into the air from emissions made by our gaspowered vehicles, gas-powered lawn equipment, and oil and gas production across the Front Range.
Both colorless and odorless, ozone is different than wildfire smoke, tiny particulate matter called PM2.5 or PM10, and the visible Denver “brown cloud” of years past. However, ozone can combine with other air quality issues, and is sometimes referred to as “smog.”
errands, or taking the bus or the light rail to get where you need to go. Don’t forget: youth ride for free on RTD! For shorter distances, leave the car at home and walk, ride a scooter, or your bike or e-bike.
Fuel up your car after 5 p.m. to avoid releasing emissions during the heat of the day. Skip idling your car: instead, roll down the windows and turn off the engine while waiting in parking lots or lines. Consider a low- or zeroemissions vehicle, like an electric vehicle (EV), when it’s time to purchase a new vehicle.
While air quality in the region has greatly improved in the past half century, ozone remains a pressing issue to our health and environment. But as our gas-powered vehicles and gas-powered lawn equipment contribute to its formation, we all have the power to reduce ground-level ozone in the Front Range each summer!
First, sign up for ozone alerts. Visit SimpleStepsBetterAir.org to sign up for emails or text “BetterAirCO” to 21000 to receive air quality alerts on your phone. When the Colorado Department of Health and Environment (CDPHE) forecasts a high ozone day, the Regional Air Quality Council (RAQC) will send you a timely text or email to let you know.
On high ozone days, protect your health by avoiding outdoor exercise or heavy exertion between noon and 8 p.m. Still want to get outside? Plan ahead and spend time outside in the morning, or later in the evening, when ozone levels will be lower.
Second, reduce your emissions! Take some Simple Steps for Better Air: Skip two car trips per week by carpooling, combining
Mow the lawn after 5 p.m. if you still use gas-powered equipment. Even better, upgrade your old gas lawn mower, trimmer, or leaf blower to a new electric one with a 30% state discount at participating retailers this year!
And if your job can be done remotely, work from home at least one day a week and eliminate your commute altogether.
Taking these timely, simple steps in the summer improves our Front Range air quality, our health, and our ability to enjoy the outdoors! Visit SimpleStepsBetterAir.org for more information about how to reduce your ozone impact this summer and help your community breathe easier.
