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28. Brushed nickel. “I love a polished nickel finish paired with a 12-by-24-inch or larger-format tile,” Brock says. “I also love combining matte black fixtures with some beautiful white tile.”
29. Polished chrome or polished nickel. “These days, most of my clients ask me to specify finishes that are not too trendy, so either a polished chrome or polished nickel with a PDV or similar finish is my go-to,” Brock says. “Gold and matte brass are on-trend right now and they are beautiful, but I’m not sure how long they will be around, so I use them sparingly.”
When it comes to fashionable shower finishes, Palicki advises saving “the trends for things that are easier and less expensive to change, such as light fixtures, hardware and faucets.”
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3. Comfortable Furniture
This is an obvious one but it’s worth emphasizing: Comfortable furniture is a must-have in a living room. That means using more soft fabrics, deep cushions and rounded edges rather than solid, hard-backed pieces and sharp corners. “I always tell my clients that the most important living room feature is comfort,” says designer Lindsey Machado of Designed With Grace & Joy. “We will always make any space look beautiful, so it’s more important to me that they’re also happy with the way it feels. That not only includes actual materials — think plush rugs, soft pillows and throw blankets, a nice-feeling sofa — but also ambiance.”
Designer Krista McGrath of McGrath Interiors tells homeowners to get the best-quality seating they can afford. “They will spend hours sitting on their furniture,” McGrath says, “so it should be very comfortable and hold up well.”
Designer Sabrina Lowe agrees. “The sofa is the one item in the living room that clients should put resources toward,” she says. “Most people who invest in a good couch have it for decades.”
Shop for sofas and sectionals
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2. Hardworking Sink
Designers often recommend giving extra consideration to elements that you interact with the most. In a kitchen, that can be a lot of things, but the kitchen sink is one area that always sees a lot of action. So it makes sense to put a little more effort into designing the sink area and choosing components.
These days, many sink manufacturers offer designs called workstations, which feature add-ons such as cutting boards, strainers and prep bowls. “I always recommend a sink with gadgets,” designer Brittany Steptoe-Wright of BSW Design says. “For example, the sink in this project [shown here] is a single, large undermount sink, but it has a colander, cutting board and drying rack that sit inside on a small lip and provide so much function. It’s a game changer.”
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5. Stock Vanities Gain Ground, but Custom Options Lead
The majority of renovating homeowners (57%) still opt for a
custom or semicustom vanity, though the share has decreased
5 percentage points year over year. Stock vanities, which are typically less expensive than custom options, are on the rise, selected by 31% of homeowners (up 5 points), while 7% opt for a ready-to-assemble option.
The most popular features of upgraded vanities are soft-close
drawers (78%) and soft-close doors (75%), followed by built-in
electrical outlets (29%) and built-in drawer organizers (22%).
When it comes to vanity width, a majority of homeowners (51%) choose a vanity that’s 48 inches or less, a notable jump of 10 percentage points year over year. The share of homeowners choosing a vanity wider than 72 inches dropped 6 points, to 12%, during the same period. Again, this aligns with homeowners likely making budget-conscious choices. Smaller stock vanities are often less expensive than larger custom vanities.
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The latest NAHB study on home buyer preferences – What Home Buyers Really Want Study – asked consumers about the features and amenities they would want in a home, specifically regarding windows and exterior doors. Respondents were asked to rate eight window and four exterior door features using the following four-point scale:
Do not want – not likely to buy a home with this design or feature.
Indifferent – wouldn’t influence decision.
Desirable – would be seriously influenced to purchase a home because this design or feature was included.
Essential/Must have – unlikely to purchase a home without this design or feature.
Windows
ENERGY STAR rated windows were rated essential or desirable by 83% of home buyers, followed by triple-pane insulating glass (77%) and low e-insulating glass (67%). Since its introduction to the survey in 2007, ENERGY STAR rated windows have been wanted by at least 83% of home buyers (Figure 1). Additionally, ENERGY STAR windows were ranked the third most wanted feature out of the 200+ options asked within the survey.
Doors
All four exterior door features were rated essential or desirable by a majority of home buyers (>50%) with very little separating the highest (sliding patio doors at 64%) to the lowest (double main entry door at 58%) rated options. Furthermore, all four exterior door features have increased in popularity compared to 2020, with double main entry door rising the most (10 percentage points) (Figure 2).
Additionally, like the other areas of the home covered in the study, every question on windows and doors is tabulated by the buyer’s income, age, geography, race, household type, and the price they expect to pay for the home. These details can be very useful in particular cases. For example, the study discusses the three window features that appeal to older buyers, as well as how preferences for hinged/French patio doors change by income level and home price.
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Algozzini often uses seamless bluestone or granite for outdoor counters. “They can be honed, polished or, in the case of granite, even have a leather finish,” he says. “We also use some newer synthetics, which generally provide a lower profile with a crisper, slightly more contemporary look.” The counters seen here are outdoor-grade engineered quartz.
Douglass also recommends granite. “It’s durable, looks great and cleans easily,” he says. For outdoor installations, he suggests a 3-centimeter-thick granite counter instead of a thinner one. “The extra thickness will help with laminated seams,” he says. He also advises against using a full, laminated bullnose, saying that “extreme weather will cause problems in the long run.”
Work with a landscape contractor in your area
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Giving guests options for gathering and relaxing is important for facilitating an engaging party atmosphere. So pros recommend creating multiple seating areas that allow for intimate conversations or larger chats, both inside and out.
Mixing seating pieces like sofas, love seats, chaise lounges, accent chairs, swivel chairs and movable footstools can make numerous arrangements possible.
“We like to provide multifunctional pieces to our clients who love to entertain,” designer Robin Violandi of Violandi + Warner Interiors says. “It might be occasional chairs or upholstered cubes that are easy to move to different rooms to provide additional seating. Multiple small side tables are great for providing a place to put a drink or a small tray for guests. All of these items are easy to move from room to room and can serve double duty.”
This Dallas living room by Delaney’s Design is a great example. It features a casual seating area near a limestone fireplace with a sofa and two armchairs. The armchairs can swivel around to face a second seating area with a sectional sofa and two movable ottomans in front of a large-screen TV.