Feather your nest

MAKE YOUR HOME A HAVEN WITH THESE LUXURIOUS FEATURES.Feather your nest

FOR MANY OF US, THE MEANING OF “HOME” HAS CHANGED DURING THIS UNPRECEDENTED TIME. Our homes have become more than places to sleep and recharge between work and school or financial investments. Instead, they’re multitasking centers of family life—our schools, our workplaces, our playgrounds, and our sanctuaries. In the process, we’ve redefined what makes a home luxurious. Right now, luxury isn’t necessarily about showy bells and whistles; it’s about security, solace, and comfort. We want—we need—our homes to nurture, entertain, and even inspire us.

Outdoor escapes Spending time outside in beautiful Southwest Florida is an instant stress reducer and source of joy. And thanks to our balmy weather and sea breezes, you can enjoy outdoor living most of the year. Lavish outdoor spaces are a hallmark of the region’s luxury homes, from architecture that blends indoors and outdoors to gorgeous pools and decks, patios, and porches with big-screen TVs, fireplaces, and comfy, custom-made furniture. Outdoor kitchens come with high-tech grills, pizza ovens, ice makers, hibachi griddles, and dazzling design details such as exotic-wood decking, teak-edged cabinets, and counters topped with quartz and faced with glass, stone, or mirror.

Any gardener will tell you that caring for your plants can relax you, and home gardens are on the rise across the country. Local nurseries tell us people are buying and planting more herbs and vegetables; they’re also creating other specialized gardens, including those that attract colorful butterflies and birds.

The sounds and sight of water can soothe the most troubled soul. Our region offers Gulf, bay, river, and lake views, each with its own charms, and what nature doesn’t supply, human ingenuity can. Manmade ponds, waterfalls, and other bubbling features grace many gardens, while misters keep things fresh and cool. We’re also famous for over-the-top pools and spas, with features from water slides, stone grottos, and infinity edges to swim-up cocktail bars and “lazy rivers” that wind and rush through expansive backyards. There’s even a TV show about the extravagant pools built by a Sarasota company—Insane Pools, on Animal Planet.

For every trend, of course, there’s a countertrend, and pool designers say they’re beginning to get requests for smaller, simpler pools that are seamlessly integrated into the home’s architecture and serve as quiet places for repose and reflection. Pools are getting shallower, too; some have submerged shelves that enable you to lounge in a foot of water.

The final touch, and one that’s too often overlooked: lighting. The right lights can add safety and drama to your outdoor space. Lighting designers like to install multiple light sources, from wall-mounted and path lights to trees draped in sparkling white lights and flickering outdoor fireplaces. For waterfront owners, glowing underwater dock lights attract and illuminate fish, shrimp, and other marine life, providing hours of evening entertainment.

Expansive kitchens People are buying more food, cooking more, and eating most meals at home. And everybody in the family is getting into the act— like the 12-year-old who spent his months off from Sarasota’s Pine View School for the Gifted fermenting Kombucha, perfecting pizza crust, and baking endless batches of chocolate-chip cookies. All that activity requires more counter space, more appliances, bigger pantries, and more seating.

Among the Gulf Coast kitchen trends recently highlighted in Sarasota Magazine: high-tech features like touchless faucets, ovens that turn on from your phone and automated cabinets doors; expanded refrigerator space, as families make fewer shopping trips and buy in bulk; storage spaces for all the new blenders, stand mixers, air fryers and instant pots; expansive islands with lots of seating—and charging outlets for multiple phones.

And with so much going on in the kitchen, design gurus advise keeping the bones of the room clean and simple—flat cabinet doors, minimal hardware, and neutral or solid colors. As one design expert told the magazine, “Less is definitely more right now.”

Fitness rooms Home gyms were already on the rise, but the shutdown accelerated their popularity. Dumbbells, weight benches, and other workout equipment were back-ordered, as customers carved out space at home to stay energized and in shape. Sign of the times: the New York Post reports that a floorplan for a pricey new one-bedroom co-op on Manhattan’s Upper West Side shows a “Peleton area” where the buyers can pedal away on the $2,245 exercise bike. That space might previously have been called a foyer.

Home gyms here are bigger, with space for varied equipment, yoga mats, and even “recovery” areas like spas and small massage rooms. Whatever your space, keep the design simple and serene, maybe with some soothing water features and natural accents.

Get smart You may already have a smart security system and a doorbell that shows you who’s at your door no matter where you are. But that’s just a sliver of the sophisticated technology that can make your home safer, easier—and more fun.

Hollywood was an early adapter of smart technology. Oprah Winfrey has a radiant heat system that melts the snow on the driveway of her winter home, and actress Sofia Vergara’s smart home lets her watch movies in her personal theater and use a mega-screen for her social media and Skype calls. Mark Zuckerberg has a customized app that serves as his butler—voiced by actor Morgan Freeman.

But you don’t have to be a movie star or mega-mogul to have a smart home. With the right connected devices and for a relatively affordable price, you can keep your home secure and enjoy endless entertainment options. You can lock your doors from afar, listen to any music you choose, instruct a voice assistant to research your next big work project, schedule a dry-cleaning pick-up, adjust the air conditioning, and much more. Our region has top-quality professionals who have created ultra-smart homes for high-profile tech entrepreneurs, sportscasters, and retired corporate executives and can do the same for you.

Personalized home offices Sales of home improvement items rocketed by 71 percent during the first month of the pandemic, and they’re still surging. A good chunk of that spending has gone to create workspaces for both adults and kids. In smaller homes, designers are converting nooks and closets into tightly designed work stations. And despite the long-held rule that bedrooms are only for sleeping and relaxing, The New York Times reports that desks are appearing in bedrooms in upscale Manhattan apartments, not only because of space constraints but because people want their technology close to them all the time.

In the Gulf Coast’s more spacious homes, offices tend to be stand-alone rooms, with some couples requiring separate his-and-her offices. With all the distractions and demands of working at home, it can be hard to focus, so everything you can do to keep your office inviting and efficient helps. Investing in a good desk chair is paramount, as anyone who spent the shutdown hunched over a computer in a back-wrenching chair at the kitchen table can testify. Also, consider adding a comfortable lounge chair for reading and reflection. And don’t feel constrained by traditional office design. Your home office can express your personality, whether that’s sleek and streamlined or warm and quirky. The more wires and cables you can tuck out of sight, the better. Today’s office furniture offers ingenious ways to hide tech equipment, or you can stash it in a closet.

Still want to keep your work separate from your home? An Arizona company, Dwelitto, is selling prefab offices between 64 and 112 square feet large that you can install in your back yard. They cost from $8,000 to $17,000 and can run on solar power—although until they also include air conditioning, we doubt we’ll see many in Southwest Florida.