Page 4 Friday, March 12, 2021
THE GARDEN ISLAND
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WHAT WORKS, WHAT DOESN’T family to be able to decentralize and not be on top of each other,” she says. This becomes even more important when elderly relatives join a household. As an expert in multigenerational living, Cini has been “getting calls nonstop” from people wanting to safely welcome an elderly parent into their home. One way that people are making this happen, Burt says: Rather than building an addition onto their home, they’re getting a permit to build a backyard ADU (additional dwelling unit). These tiny houses give extended family members their own space and yet everyone has easy access to one another.
A homebound year has meant rethinking our rooms, belongings Melissa Rayworth ASSOCIATED PRESS In normal times, new trends in home design and home decorating bubble up simply because it’s time for something different. A few years of bold color and homeowners start painting things gray. After enough minimalism, a hunger for plaids and florals comes roaring back. But this time last year, a cultural experiment began that changed our relationships with houses and condos and apartments around the world. Suddenly, constantly, we were inside them. So much of public life – work, school, exercise, shopping, dining and (virtually) socializing – began happening entirely within the walls of home, at least for those able to do so. Architects and interior designers say that after 12 months of varying degrees of lockdown, people are discovering what does and doesn’t work in their homes, and becoming more confident about acting on it. They’re realizing how familiar spaces can serve them better. “Out of frustration comes brilliant ideas,” says Lisa Cini, founder and president of Mosaic Design Studio. Some trends:
says, with clients swapping out 30-inch cooking ranges for 60-inch models and adding luxuries like built-in coffee stations.
Consuming consciously Those working and schooling at home on Wi-Fidependent devices are noticing that they’re consuming more energy, so energy efficiency is becoming a priority. “People are driven by what they see on their energy bills,” Burt says. Adding insulation and swapping out inefficient appliances saves money, but it also has the added benefit of helping the environment, she says: “People are DOUG BIRNBAUM VIA ASSOCIATED PRESS thinking about their habits and wondering how it’s An open planned living area. Homes with open plans and sprawling “great contributing to the greater rooms” became popular in recent decades as welcome communal gathering good for the planet.” spaces. But that preference for open layouts may be waning. Now that whole fam- Fresh air, fresh food Beyond that, with plenty In commercial spaces, air ilies are working and schooling at home together. of time to sort through attics quality has been a top space to safely invite friends priority since the pandemic and closets, we’re clearing client hired Freeman to Repurposing rooms over, she says. Amhad Freeman, founder redesign an unused home out things we don’t need, began. It’s also becoming of the Nashville, Tennessee- office into an elegant, inCini says, and thinking more important to people at Seeking separate space house cocktail bar. based Amhad Freeman home, Burt says, as is water carefully about what we Homes with open plans Hafsa Burt, founder of Interiors, says clients now and sprawling “great rooms” quality: At this year’s virtual want to own. hb+a Architects in California, became popular in recent have time to really think We’re consciously filling Kitchen & Bath Industry about what they need from a has helped convert garages decades as welcome Show, panelists spoke about our homes with things that into gyms, and storage space communal gathering spaces. the growing interest in room. make us happy, Freeman into home offices or He recently helped says. Rather than hurrying But that preference for open built-in water purification playrooms. convert an upstairs room to decorate a room, his systems for kitchens. layouts may be waning. Cini recently helped a into a multipurpose space clients “want to actually take People are also cooking Now that whole families where kids are “not afraid to family in Florida transform time to buy things that are are working and schooling at more than ever before, their garage into a gaming jump around on the beautiful, that are well Freeman says, and many of home together (and might, room by adding LCD furniture.” The room has made.” to some degree, for years to his clients are using money screens, track lighting, rugs desks for schoolwork, but They’re going to be they’re not spending on come), “you have to have “it’s more of a lounge now, so and a row of gaming chairs spending a lot of time travel and restaurant meals the kind of boundaries spaced safely apart. With the where you can step away,” that they can do a lot of looking at their to invest in serious kitchen garage door open and a different things instead of surroundings, he says, so Cini says. renovations. A home divided into “they want to be able to screen door added, there’s “Budgets of kitchens for just focusing on the separate spaces “helps a me have almost doubled,” he appreciate that furniture.” computer,” he says.Another enough air circulation and
Home is where the heart is. Long-term mortgage rates rise again; 30-year at 3.05% ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON — U.S. longterm mortgage rates again rose modestly this week against the backdrop of an improving economy and further distribution of coronavirus vaccines. Rates remain near historic lows, however. The benchmark 30-year loan stayed above the 3% mark, a level it breached last week for the first time since July 2020. Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac reported Thursday that the average rate on the 30-year fixed-rate home loan rose to 3.05% from 3.02% last week. By contrast, the benchmark rate stood at 3.36% a year ago. The average rate on 15-year fixed-rate loans, popular among those seeking to refinance their mortgages, increased to 2.38% from 2.34% last week. President Joe Biden signed into law Thursday the longawaited $1.9 trillion relief package targeted to help the U.S. defeat the coronavirus. The prospect of the massive stimulus has helped lift uncertainty about the economic recovery. The government reported that the number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits fell last week to 712,000, the lowest total since early November, evidence that fewer employers are cutting jobs amid a decline in confirmed virus infections and signs of a healing economy. Still, many businesses remain under pressure and 9.6 million jobs remain lost to the pandemic that flattened the economy one year ago.
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