Decorating Touches on New Homes

Trends Now Seen in Recently Constructed Housing

Sep 11, 2007 Kelly Whitt

Learn about the new decorating ideas you can find in new houses these days.

If you are wanting to see what styles are new and what decorating trends are persisting, a great place to look is at a Parade of Homes or in model homes of builders. They hire professional decorators who use the newest styles and the builder puts in the most up-and-coming materials to showcase his work.

If you don't have a Home Tour to visit near you, here are a couple of ideas on what you would probably see at one.

Outside

In the exterior, think country farmhouse made new. Decorative wooden lightning rods at the peak of the roof lines is popular, along with working weather vanes.
Stamped concrete on driveways and sidewalks. A note, however: stamped concrete can be very slippery when wet. For safety's sake it is best to use this along the edges and not over the main walkways.
Screened-in porches in addition to decks or patios. Multi-level outdoor living is hot. Fireplaces on the deck or chimineas are still popular. Screened-in porches with wooden beam ceilings and woven grass ceiling fans enhance the look.
Outdoor art is fashionable whether it be a piece of sculpture, a metal trellis, a wooden pergola, or a marble obelisk. Paintings that are weatherized and can be hung on exterior walls or on the rough trunk of an old tree are also a beautiful touch.

Inside

Anything iron continues to dominate interiors. The balusters on a staircase in metal and with designs or curves remain popular. This idea is also taken outside and used on the deck where the wood is the upper handrail and the bottom slats are metal. Ironwork scrolls are seen on the walls as art or candle holders.
Small tile accents are found in places throughout the house. Entryways have square tiles set askew to look like diamonds, and in the grout between the large squares are tiny colored tiles set in a line. In bathrooms as a wall decoration or in showers are small tile mosaics.
Wine racks to hold towels are showing up in bathrooms - Either a metal one set on the counter, or, more popular now, are wooden cubbies with square openings built right into the cupboard area like you would see in a kitchen to hold a vertical row of wine bottles.
Oval or circular great rooms impress visitors from the minute they open the front door. The front door generally opens on an entry area and straight ahead one can see the great room, which has a different flooring than the rest of the downstairs to show off the oval shape. Partial walls are rounded and columns delineate the space here from rooms that open on to the great room, such as the breakfast room.

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