The design mystique.Trends in interior design are expressed through colors, flooring and countertop materials, carpeting, cabinet styles and finishes, fixtures, appliances, unusual built-ins and special amenities such as radiant heat heat proceeding in right lines, or directly from the heated body, after the manner of light, in distinction from heat conducted or carried by intervening media. See also: Radiant in the bathroom floor. It is not always clear who drives these trends: the designer imposing new ideas "New Ideas" is the debut single by Scottish New Wave/Indie Rock act The Dykeenies. It was first released as a Double A-side with "Will It Happen Tonight?" on July 17, 2006. The band also recorded a video for the track. on the public, industries with a vested interest Vested Interest A financial or personal stake one entity has in an asset, security, or transaction. Notes: For example, if you have a mortgage, your bank has a vested interest on the sale of your house. See also: Right in making consumers want the latest and greatest, or public opinion. The answer is probably a mysterious amalgam of all three, with some astute observation of the national psyche and a whole lot of imitation thrown in for good measure. What's "in" sometimes goes largely unnoticed and dies a quiet death; sometimes it seizes the public's imagination and is overdone o·ver·done v. Past participle of overdo. Adj. 1. overdone - represented as greater than is true or reasonable; "an exaggerated opinion of oneself" exaggerated, overstated (witness Southwestern). Sometimes people buy what's "in" because it's the only thing available. Because apartment homes need to have universal appeal and must sometimes withstand "intense" use, practicality sometimes trumps design trends altogether. Here are the results of an informal and unscientific unscientific Unproven, see there survey of what's "in" and what's "out," from a variety of perspectives. Overall Kitchen [IN] * Home Properties Home Properties (NYSE: HME) is a real estate investment trust (REIT) that owns and manages apartments and apartment properties in the Midwest, New England, Mid-Atlantic and Southeast Florida. It manages or owns over 47,000 apartments. Open design; maximized cabinet storage; install dish microwaves if possible; improve functionality of existing layout * AvalonBay Open design; the occasional cooking island (usually in penthouses); black appliances (preferred over white, but white also in) with speckled speck·led adj. 1. Dotted or covered with speckles, especially flecked with small spots of contrasting color. 2. Of a mixed character; motley. Adj. 1. white countertops; pull-out faucets; lots of light * Industry Ads and Product Lines Built-in appliances; installations that creatively combine a variety of functions * Upscale Interior Design Magazines Large in scale, with a slightly commercial feel; sleek venting hoods descending from ceiling above island prep space with cook-top and sink; other multifunction islands, especially with a table-like extension; light colors contrasted with black or smoky translucent materials. [OUT] * Home Properties Recessed panel cabinets, solid-color countertops; dated vinyl floor patterns * AvalonBay Built-in computer desks * Upscale Interior Design Magazines Colored appliances; bulky and over-designed countertop gadgets; wallpaper and itty-bitty wall tiles; wet bars Kitchen Textures and Finishes [IN] * Home Properties Raised panel oak cabinets, ceramic-look vinyl flooring, white appliances, Formica counters with conservative patterns * AvalonBay Single-bowl stainless steel stainless steel: see steel. stainless steel Any of a family of alloy steels usually containing 10–30% chromium. The presence of chromium, together with low carbon content, gives remarkable resistance to corrosion and heat. sinks; clear finish on maple, birch or cherry cabinets; speckled countertops * Industry Ads and Product Lines Faux textures and finishes that convincingly mimic stone and granite, yet are easier to maintain; focus on innocence, freshness and elegance; translucent looks and glass tints with subtle pearlescent pearl·es·cent adj. Having a pearly luster or gloss. pearl·es  cence n.Adj. 1. shimmers; smoked glass * Upscale Interior Design Magazines Smooth surfaces, contrast of textures, burnished bur·nish tr.v. bur·nished, bur·nish·ing, bur·nish·es 1. To make smooth or glossy by or as if by rubbing; polish. 2. To rub with a tool that serves especially to smooth or polish. n. steel fixtures and appliances, a variety of metallic finishes; colored concrete countertops [OUT] * Conventional Wisdom Indoor-outdoor carpeting; dark or carved cabinets Bathroom Fixtures and Surfaces [IN] * Home Properties White fixtures off-white tile and tinted grouts white thermofoil vanities; medicine cabinets or tri-views and a decorative light strip * AvalonBay Aculic soaking tubs; four-fixture baths (i.e., shower stall separate from tub); tile surrounds * Industry Ads and Product Lines Textured tile; vitreous vitreous /vit·re·ous/ (vit´re-us) 1. glasslike or hyaline. 2. vitreous body. primary persistent hyperplastic vitreous china pedestal or wall-mounted sinks, cultured stone sinks and backsplashes; claw-foot cast-iron bathtubs; pewter, silver, nickel and bronze finishes and a huge selection of easily incorporated fixture styles; also, luxury amenities such as mirror defoggers, towel heaters, digital scales, pressure-boost flush, electrically heated toilet seats and radiant floor heat, whirlpools, hydromassage, personal hygiene personal hygiene person n → Körperhygiene f systems, quieter fans * Upscale Interior Design Magazines Chunky marble pedestal lavatories; tiled, open shower "rooms" and all of the amenities listed above [OUT] * Home Properties Plate glass mirrors, wood vanities, plain strip lighting Use of Space * Home Properties Additional bathrooms; in-unit laundry; more closets; eat-in breakfast bars [IN] * Industry Balance and openness; flowing floor plans; great rooms that encompass functions of relaxation, family, cooking, eating * AvalonBay Efficiency rather than square footage in urban projects; however, "three-bedroom apartments are always occupied" [OUT] * Industry and Empirical Data Disproportionately large and "Roman-decadence-look" bathrooms; separate living room, den, dining room and eating spaces * AvalonBay Space-wasting floor plans Colors * Home Properties White, soft earth tones [IN] * AvalonBay Tone-on-tone neutrals * Industry Ads and Product Lines Several trends--continued popularity, of "nurturing" colors; cool blues and greens Blues and Greens, political factions in the Byzantine Empire in the 6th cent. They took their names from two of the four colors worn by the circus charioteers. Their clashes were intensified by religious differences. ; splashes of Caribbean colors; warm grays; softer earth tones such as sage green; deep, saturated blues; yellowed greens; sophisticated golds; shades of white * Upscale Interior Design Magazines Cobalt blue and citron citron (sĭt`rən), name for a tree (Citrus medica) of the family Rutaceae (orange family), and for its fruit, the earliest of the citrus fruits to be introduced to Europe from Asia. green, soft black; shades of white Floor Coverings [IN] * Home Properties Carpeting in medium earth tones, standard quality rather than premium, since carpeting takes a beating * AvalonBay Light colored carpeting, although "it's a maintenance nightmare" * Industry Hardwood and laminate flooring, except in kitchens and baths; ceramic tile that looks like slate, terra cotta cot·ta n. pl. cot·tae or cot·tas A short surplice. [Medieval Latin, of Germanic origin.] or wood; ceramic tile in sky blues and atmospheric grays; vinyl patterns that look like natural materials * Upscale Interior Design Magazines Hardwood and laminate flooring throughout the home; tinted or scored concrete floors; floor tile with a natural, mottled mottled /mot·tled/ (mot´ld) marked by spots or blotches of different colors or shades. look; earthy, rough tiles of same color, but installed in a random pattern of various-sized rectangles Lighting * Industry Recessed lighting [IN] * Home Properties Replacing dated lighting fixtures with newer ones [OUT] * Home Properties Mushroom" and "acorn" lights |
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