The Future of Luxury Home Design Courtesy of Houzz.com

People often ask me what the trends in exterior and interior home design might be three to five years from now. They are looking to maximize the salability of the home they’re building or renovating – a wise decision. I always encourage my clients to think about the resale value of their home even if they plan to live there for five to 10 years.

Architectural styles come and go  – who is to say exactly what will be the new Spanish Mediterranean? In the past, I used to assure them that if a house is well built according to sound design principles, it should stand the test of time and maintain its residual value.
That’s still accurate up to a point, but I can do better now!

While I don’t have a crystal ball, I do know that future tastes are being greatly influenced by a free new innovative website: www.Houzz.com.

Murray Homes - Sarasota's Luxury Home Builder Profile On Houzz.comMost of my savvy clients know about it and they often arrive at initial design meetings armed with bookmarks and favorite folders gathered from the site.

Essentially, Houzz is a website comprising more than 700,000 photos covering all aspects of interior and exterior design.

You can browse by architectural style or by living areas. The latter includes not only typical areas such as living rooms, bedrooms, bathrooms, kitchens, home offices, patios and landscape, but also more specific parts of a house like entry ways, closets and staircases, home gyms and wine cellars.

You can also search by metropolitan areas – not just the major North American and European cities but also far-flung places like Australia, Rio De Janeiro, Hong Kong and Tel Aviv even the latest trends in Sarasota Luxury Homes are widely available .

Murray Homes Luxury Home Builder For Longboat Key Project Gallery On Houzz.comWhen you sign up to Houzz you can save your favorites to your folders. That’s how many of my clients and I start conversations about the kind of home they want to have built. Want to discuss faucets or fireplace tiles, tiki bars or crown molding?  There’s bound to be at least one or two photos you can earmark and share.

It beats going through lots of home and living magazines, cutting out pictures and bringing them in to the office in a cumbersome file.

You can also recommend favorite photos of your own – many of the homes I have built are represented on the site – and here’s where Houzz, directly and indirectly, affects the design styles of the future.

It turns out that great architectural photos tend to be those with simple lines, limited clutter and refined detail. Most of the exterior architecture is clean and fresh, with much less stonework, banding and ‘gingerbread’, The interiors are displaying elegant yet uncomplicated finishes in bathrooms and kitchens, more use of LED lights and European fixtures, recessed window treatments and stylish furniture. The photos represent a definite architectural trend….and as a result will begin to drive the new styles that people look to copy.

Steve Murray of Murray Homes Inc.

Steve Murray

Since this look mirrors my own personal tastes, I’m all for it and I peruse the site regularly to keep abreast of what people like and want to see in their own homes.

As more and more people discover Houzz, and like what they see – and what’s not to like? – this will continue to act as a barometer and give insights into the future of design and the pace at which it is evolving.  You want to know what the future holds?  Ask Houzz.com!

Images From The Murray Homes Houzz Galleries