OPENING UP THE INDOORS

Get the scoop on the latest home trends and ways to reimagine rooms into fun, fashionable and functional spaces.

by rachel hagenbaugh

Maximizing square footage — that’s what it’s all about in today’s homebuilding and remodeling industry. That means wide open spaces and seamless transitions from room to room, including outdoor living areas. As people continue to spend more time at home, they’re redefining what’s important to them, placing a heavy focus on entertaining and getting the most bang for their buck.

“When people walk into these homes, they want to see open spaces. They want entertainment spaces,” says Pat Perrino, president of Perrino Custom Builders LLC, a custom homebuilding and remodeling company in Chesterland. “Open kitchens blending into family rooms and dinettes — we’re seeing a lot of that.”

Along with open-concept living comes a desire for big kitchen islands, many large windows and covered porches to expand living areas.

“The thing that we learned over the past three years is how we can make houses more practical and livable. A lot of people are spending a lot of money making their homes more livable and expanding them,” says Tim Lynch, sales manager for the trade/new construction segment at Gunton Corp., a distributor for Pella Windows and Doors in Bedford Heights. “Today, we’re seeing more contemporary, open designs, less closed off spaces, less interior walls. All of that is attributed to the architectural community in Northeast Ohio. There are just some incredible designs out there and some incredible projects right now that have been completed and are in the works to open spaces up.”

One such design feature is the movable glass partition — a floor to ceiling folding or sliding glass door that creates easy transitions from kitchens and great rooms to outdoor living spaces, which continue to skyrocket in popularity. From pizza ovens and fire pits to bars, hanging televisions, in-ground pools, hot tubs and more, it’s all about expanding the entertainment footprint.

“That’s definitely seen a huge spike in the past three years, and I think that’s going to continue,” Lynch says. “We put a premium on the time that we spend outdoors in Northeast Ohio. As soon as spring hits, we’re outside until as far into fall and winter as we can go.”

Ten years ago, entertainment looked a lot different. Instead of outdoor spaces, layouts featured a home theater.

“Usually it was on the lower-level, and you could go downstairs, shut the door, it’d be dark, and you had your surround sound, and you loved that experience,” Lynch says. “I don’t see as many of those today, but every house I see has outdoor living built into it. It’s just a place where the family can get together.”

Not only do people get a lot of use out of in-ground pools because they are heated, they also add aesthetic appeal.

“I’ve had a pool in my yard in various houses I’ve owned for the past 30 years,” Perrino says, adding that since the pandemic started, it’s something that’s on people’s wish lists. “They also just add a great appearance in your backyard. It makes it more of a resort-style living space.”

Office Space Comeback

Overall, the open-concept reigns supreme. But, with more people opting for hybrid or 100% remote work environments, homeowners also are finding an increasing need for quiet, private spaces to focus and conduct business.

“I think the whole work from home aspect is bringing in a different way of looking at things, where you have a place to be able to work from home, but it’s not on your kitchen countertop,” says Bo Knez, president of BR Knez Homes, a market rate developer in Painesville. “It’s a segmented room that is allocated for that. Once you’re done working, you can leave the room and close the door. It’s more like a mini office — or offices if more than one person is working from home — usually in a space where they won’t be distracted or distracting others if they’re on a call or having meetings online.”

Brett Dawson, division vice president for Payne & Payne Builders, a homebuilding company in Chardon, agrees that the work from home dynamic is very prevalent and continuing to change today’s floor plans. He adds that instead of just one office space, a lot of people are looking at two office spaces, or even flex spaces that offer a little more privacy than the open spaces of the kitchens and great rooms. Think pocket offices, which are located close to the kitchen and offer small, cozy spaces for people to open a laptop, store paperwork and work without being closed off from the rest of the first floor.

“With more people working from home, we’re seeing a demand for those separate office spaces, which for the large part, were starting to go away to some extent,” Dawson says. “But we’re still seeing that large open concept where people want the eating area attached to the kitchen attached to the great room. That’s still a pretty popular concept having not as much of a designated dining space but utilizing it as part of the great room space.”

Because the kitchen has become a prominent destination for mingling with guests, homeowners want that space to remain clean and free from clutter. This means expanding the pantry, allowing for space to store large appliances (sometimes even the refrigerator), as well as including an island to provide a closed off space to temporarily set aside dirty dishes.

“So you can use your kitchen to entertain and serve people, and then you can put that leftover stuff into a large pantry space and close the door so it’s instantly clean,” Dawson says. “So if people are gathering in your large, open great room or dining space, the food isn’t out for hours, and it allows for a quick cleanup.”

Winner

Accommodating Custom Living

One of the results of the pandemic is that people are spending more money on homebuilding and remodeling projects. Although some of this can be attributed to people using money they would have spent on vacation toward upgrading their homes instead, it’s also a testament to homeowners spending more time at home and redesigning spaces to accommodate their lifestyles. To that end, people are not as concerned about the overall value projects add to their homes. Instead, it’s all about customizing spaces to fit their needs.

“We’ve had areas where people are putting money into remodeling their houses where the remodel is worth more than what they could have bought a house for,” Perrino says. “They’re putting in that money because they want to stay where they’ve lived for the past 20 or 30 years. They’re not worried about the resale price.”

When it comes to new builds, Perrino says customization is key. About 80% of his clients customize the company’s existing floor plans, of which there are more than 30. The other 20% want designs drawn from scratch.

“We’re completely custom,” he says, adding that clients are customizing everything from ceilings and trimwork to built-ins. “We’ll do whatever they want.”

Whether it’s new home builds or remodeling projects, trends are leaning toward putting modern twists on traditional designs. For example, modern farmhouses saw a huge spike in 2020. And although that style is still popular, people want to see different variations of it. This includes adding gray stone to the exterior, which offers a little more dimension.

“You know how they’ve taken the Chevy Camaro or the Ford Mustang, and they’ve modernized the car but kept some of the traditional features? That’s what we’re doing with our homes,” Perrino says. “There’s nothing like taking an older home and transforming and modernizing it. It’s a huge feeling seeing these homes come from dark woods, darker walls and being brightened up.”

“Years ago, it was an upgrade to go to a granite countertop. Now, it’s very limited. Quartz has pretty much taken over granite,” Knez says, describing quartz as having less deflection in coloring than granite. “There’s also a lack of fabric in the home. Everything is pretty much hard surface. The reason for that is green building is a big push, which we’re a huge advocate of.”

Perrino points specifically to the popularity of white quartz.

“It’s just top-of-the-line,” he says, adding that the quality of materials has significantly increased during the past couple of years and is