The Big Shifts in Home Design Trends and Landscape Enhancements

As the struggling housing market shows signs of improvement, there has been a reversal in the six-year trend in smaller home sizes. This is the case for custom and luxury homes, as well as for additions to existing homes. A preference for outdoor living, especially blended indoor/outdoor living, continues to increase, along with strong demand for accessible and flexible home layout. These findings are from the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Home Design Trends Survey for the first quarter of 2012 that focused specifically on overall home layout and the use of interior and exterior space.

“In the last few years, outdoor living spaces have become the new ‘great room’ in terms of must have items for homeowners,” said AIA chief economist Kermit Baker. “As people are more interested in adapting their property to their long-term needs rather than readying it for sale, we are seeing more attention paid to landscaping and features that have some return-on-investment like rainwater catchment systems.”

Some overall home layout and size trends:

Residential elements (% of respondents that reported increases)

                                                              2012             2011  

Volume                                                    20%              11%

Square footage                                          8%                5%

Lot size                                                    5%                2%

In-home accessibility                                 64%              58%

Open space layout                                    55%              49%

Informal space                                          51%              40%

Access into/out of home                            47%              48%

Single-floor plan                                        45%              35%

Outdoor living and landscaping trends:

Residential elements (% of respondents that reported increases)

                                                           2012              2011  

Low irrigation landscaping                      65%              63%

Outdoor living space                              64%              60%

Blended indoor/outdoor living                  53%              46%

Rainwater catchment                             48%              49%

Exterior/security lighting                        33%               30%

Baker continued, “These conditions are not only significantly stronger than just last quarter, but also over the past year. We aren’t close to pre-housing market bust levels of design activity, but all housing sectors are performing at vastly higher levels than recent years, and billings are likely to accelerate in the months ahead.”

Specific residential segments (index score computed as % of respondents reporting improving, minus % reporting weakening conditions):

Kitchen and bath remodeling    53

Additions/alterations    51

Custom/luxury home market    -2

Move-up home market    -3

First-time buyer/affordable home market    -7

Townhouse/condo market    -17

Second/vacation home market    -36