Top Home Design Trends for 2013

by Sara MacLennan on February 27, 201327. Feb, 2013 in Home Renovations, New Homes, Staging your Home, Tips for Home Owners

I’ve scoured the design magazines and sites and have come up with this list of top design trends for 2013. In all honesty I look forward to seeing some of these trends in Edmonton showhomes, but there are others that I hope stay in the design magazines.

Informal/Natural landscaping – after centuries of taming the wild landscape with straight lines and edges, designers are embracing nature and creating gardens with a more natural feel. As we become more urbanized and removed from nature, we are starting to make whatever small outdoor space we have remind us of the great outdoors we get to enjoy on our holidays.

naturallandscape
Natural Landscaping from House Beautiful

Pale or dark – one trend is to pair neutral shades of grey and white with pastel pink, apricot and lavender. Bleached floors and cabinetry and are also on the radar. If pale isn’t your thing, dark is in as well. Dark floors (and I mean really dark), cabinetry and walls are showing up in design magazines, all in the same room.  Apparently mixing the two trends together is not a good idea, unless you go totally black and white. Personally, I can’t see myself living with either of these trends, but I’m sure there are people who will love it.

 
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Pale or Dark from HGTV.ca

Go bold – if most of your home is neutral, go bold with colourful, textured backsplahes, light fixtures and area rugs. You can completely change the look of a room with a relatively simple lighting change, and your kitchen can be completely renewed with a fairly inexpensive and quick backsplash update. Geometric patterns are also very popular this year in design and fashion. 

 

Brass and copper – oh no, brass is back. It’s not like the brass we saw around fireplaces and bathroom fixtures in the ‘80s, thank goodness. Brass and copper are warmer than chrome and nickel, and can be seen in lighting and plumbing fixtures, hardware and decorative objects. They mix well with other metals and their patina gets even better with age.

 
Multi-directional design (condos) – I have yet to see this in Edmonton but I sure hope I do soon… The design concept is about removing constraints from the building, keeping the individual units open, and free of structural elements such as columns, walls, and plumbing. Today when you walk through most condo units, there is basically only one way to place your furniture – there is one spot for the TV, the bed, the couch – which is very limiting. With multi-directional design there are ways to reorganize and reorient the space as your life changes, or when a different owner moves in.
 
True Blue – think blue somewhere between royal and navy, with no hint of green and you’ll see it in every design magazine and on the red carpet at the Oscars. Other trendy colours include emerald green, dior gray and salmon pink.
 
 
What design trends have you seen in Edmonton lately?

About

Sara MacLennan is the Director of Marketing at Liv Real Estate and a licensed Real Estate Associate. The bulk of Sara’s experience and wealth of expertise lies in on-line technology and marketing both for agents and consumers. Sara is the former National Director for Interactive Marketing for Coldwell Banker Canada where she was responsible for an extensive training program traveling to offices across the country training agents and brokers on marketing and technology. Find Sara on Twitter @edmontonblogger.

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5 Responses to “Top Home Design Trends for 2013”

  1. Nathan MolNo Gravatar 27. Feb, 2013 at 12:10 pm #

    I agree with you Sara about the “Pale or Dark”.. I like element of each one depending on the situation but all pale reminds me of the 90′s and all dark really only works in a very large (probably urban loft or theatre room) space.

    I do like the multi directional condo layouts, natural landscaping, and that “true blue” has always been one of my favorite colours!

  2. Inspector GadgetNo Gravatar 27. Feb, 2013 at 5:55 pm #

    Ah trends,

    To each their own but it is not something I have ever cared about. Every high end finishing trend goes stale, and as I have mentioned before it seems to be happening faster and faster. Interior designer told me recently max 8 years to remodel now for those that care and can afford.
    Sig other doesn’t agree with me but to me design and fashion trends in housing are a complete and utter waste of time.
    Go liv life instead of worrying about what your counter top and backsplash looks like.

    • GMNo Gravatar 28. Feb, 2013 at 3:26 pm #

      Please stop with the Liv crap. It’s really annoying.

  3. ElaNo Gravatar 28. Feb, 2013 at 12:32 am #

    Blue color always have a sparkling impact on wall.It is just fabulous to.The contrast with light is awesome.

  4. JimNo Gravatar 28. Feb, 2013 at 7:47 pm #

    I have one blue room left from the two that have been blue for several years. I can’t wait to get a friendlier color on the walls. A wall or two with color works for me, the “all” walls thing is too much.

    Accent, not overdo.