Home design trends for 2009

Now that the salad days of towel warmers in the bathroom, four-car garages and $100,000 kitchen remodels are over, people are still spending money on primping their cribs — most likely because they’ll be spending a lot more time at home until the economy is properly re-stimulated. Some people are still moving, not necessarily for a bigger home, but for the opportunity to live more sustainably. Overall, here’s what’s hot in home design for 2009 and beyond.

“Homes are getting smaller,” says Kermit Baker, chief economist for Washington, D.C.-based American Institute of Architects. “People are realizing they don’t need that much space,” says Baker, referring to the 2,300-square-foot average American home. He predicts that average home size will shrink up to 100 feet. The other big change, according to Baker, is that conspicuous opulence is a thing of the past.

“Five years ago, there was a lot more concern with homes looking upscale and ornate, with custom finishes,” he says. “These days, having obvious signs of opulence is almost considered a liability.”

“Obvious signs of opulence” can be anything from massive water-slurping bluegrass lawns to custom marble countertops to music rooms. According to the American Institute of Architects Home Design Trends 2008 survey (the 2009 survey will be released shortly), low-maintenance landscaping, tankless water heaters, energy-efficient appliances, green flooring, recycled materials and anything that’ll save a buck are must-have home upgrades.

This news is a boon for kitchen and bath remodelers who have found a niche in $20,000 remodels. Instead of custom upgrades like Viking stoves and sub-zero freezers, clients are opting for less expensive cookie-cutter solutions, like energy-saving appliances and countertops made from recycled materials. What might have once been space designated for an extra butler’s pantry is now more likely to be turned into a computer and cell-phone recharging workstation, because space for a full home office is also on the decline.

The less-is-more mantra has trickled to the top. Andrew Kotchen and Matthew Berman, founders of the Manhattan architecture firm Workshop/apd that designs well-heeled homes like Anderson Cooper’s loft and the award-winning sustainable Holy Cross neighborhood in New Orleans, are working on a project called RightFrame, which will bring affordable, sustainable homes to the masses.

“These days style isn’t about going out and buying a new couch,” says Kotchen. “It’s about being more conscious and recognizing the environment we live in. It’s about making choices that will have a larger effect, that will evolve into a more sustainable world.”

RightFrame is still a work in progress, but Workshop/apd’s New Orleans homes, which feature rooftop vegetation, solar panels to generate electricity, solar water heaters, rainwater collection systems, and a centralized geothermal system to circulate water and moderate temperatures, are a good example of design features the duo hope to mass market. Kotchen and Berman want their home model to eventually usurp the ubiquitous McMansion. “I would love to drive through suburban America and see homes that inspire me, as opposed to vinyl-clad houses that depress me,” says Berman.

Even if you can’t afford a $20,000 kitchen makeover or a brand-new sustainable house designed by an A-List firm, there are still plenty of solutions. “The buzz is getting out that renewable energy is going to be a must,” says Colin Lantz, vice president of sales and marketing for Lighthouse Solar, a Boulder, Colo.-based full-service solar company whose business has tripled in the past three years. “If you can’t afford to put in a system that would offset 100 percent of your load, start with a system that would offset 20 to 50 percent.”

A word of warning, adds Lantz: “most people eventually get fixated on 100 percent.” They also get fixated on keeping up with the Joneses. According to Lantz, once one home on the block commits to solar, it’s not long before the whole neighborhood sees the light. “It’s not just Boulder,” says Lantz. “We’re doing jobs in cowboy country. We’re selling systems to average, middle-income families.”

Then there’s always a quick-fix trip to Home Depot. “We’re seeing that instead of focusing on big-ticket items like building a deck or a sunroom, people are tiling their bathrooms, changing light fixtures, and painting the house,” says spokesperson Craig Fishel. “Two years ago, people may have wanted to sell the house and move. Now they’re fixing it up to what they really want it to be.”

“There’s a notion that money is not cheap anymore,” says Kermit Baker. “People are going to invest in a home for what they need, not for the resale value.”