Step Into Space in Home of Future.
It's not getting bigger it's getting better.
Home interiors are evolving to reflect a taste for more casual
living spaces rather than formal living rooms and dining rooms,
according to a survey of Chicago-area home builders recently
reported in The Journal Newspapers. Builders also expect
kitchens to get bigger and two-car garages to become three-car
garages.
Chicago is the nation's fifth-busiest housing market and a
bellwether for trends seen at the national level. According to
the National Association of Home Builders, living rooms are
giving way to dens and family rooms. Nationally, as many as one
in four houses being built have no living room in the formal
sense. One builder interviewed in the Chicago survey predicted
the living room and formal dining room both will die. That
opinion may not be universal but it's safe to say that more space
will be devoted to informal living at the expense of formal
space.
Popular exterior features will not change so much because they
remain classic--brick and shingles in the East, and stucco and
tile in the West. But new things are arriving in the master bath
and boudoir--separate his and her bathrooms and walk-in closets, for
example. Separate sleeping rooms are in demand, indicating when
it comes to snoozing, more spouses want to be alone.
Three out of four Chicago builders predicted that kitchens will
continue to grow to make room for innovative ideas not normally
associated with making and consuming food. How about an open
floor plan with family room and kitchen combined? Or a study
area? It's no secret that kitchens get more use than practically
any other room. Builders are including skylights, more and
better lighting, tray ceilings and open space to make the whole
area both inviting and practical.
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