Parade of Homes Trends 2016
Ever wonder if interior trends in our area match up with HGTV?
Bruce and I took an evening off last week to find out by touring our local Parade of Homes. We find this tour is a great way to see some interesting floor plans and current trends (in our part of the country), and get a feel for the builders who are working in the area. We made it to 11 of the 16 homes this time around.
As expected, we saw some trends over and over. We also saw some lovely spaces that were innovative and well designed. I snapped a few pictures and later I will post my favorite design choices from the show. But for today, trends. I included the house tour number on each photo for reference, and if you want to see the whole floor plan for any of these images you can flip through the online catalog to find out more.
Trend 1: White Trim
I’m sure this comes as no surprise – 9 of the 11 homes I saw had white trim. Most were flat 1×4 casing and 1×4 or 1×6 baseboard. Several were a bit more traditional (but still white). One veered into ‘brave’ territory with gray trim, and one rustic Michigan home went the stained wood route.
Trend 2: “Wood” Floors
Every home had wood floors – or wood look floors – featured. I found it interesting that people were moving away from solid wood flooring. I saw laminate, tile, and engineered more than solid hardwood. The trend from a few years back of dark espresso wood floors has changed a lot in the last few years toward mid-tones and gray wood tones (though a wider plank, rustic version is still the favorite). I was pleased to see most of the homes were keeping up with the times in this regard.
Trend 3: Unique Backsplash Tiles
I was half expecting to see subway tile in every kitchen, simply because it has been so immensely popular the last few years. However I was pleasantly surprised to see quite the variety of backsplash choices – all lovely. Ok, ok – you’re noticing that most of them ARE somewhat ‘subway’ – but they’re variations on the white subway so it’s a sign to me people are starting to move boldly into new backsplash tile territory.
Trend 4: Steal-the-show Lighting
Lighting has definitely ‘made it’. I really appreciated the great lighting that most builders and homeowners put into these homes. I noticed most homes had good lighting even in their flush mount choices such as hallways and laundry rooms (be gone, boob light!!!! Forever!!! And never come back!!!). These pictures don’t do the lights justice – they don’t capture the scale or sparkle – AND there were so many more that aren’t pictured!
Trend 5: Anything but 6 Panel
Doors (both exterior and interior) were all over the place…but I don’t remember a single home with 6 panel doors.
Trend 6: Upgraded Laundry
This was an interesting change from last year’s show. Last year most of the homes that I saw had laminate on laundry room counters. Not so this year! The countertops in those laundry rooms were upgraded stone options (and in some cases upgraded sink/faucet options too).
Trend 7: Gray
Oh come on now, don’t act so surprised! I’m joking – gray is no longer at all surprising, is it? Almost every house had gray paint in the majority of the home. To be fair, I see a lot of variety in gray, and I LIKE gray…but I did find the few homes with a bolder color here or there to be a refreshing break from the gray. There was also a lot of gray tile, gray carpet, and gray furniture. One home had gray outlets and power switches everywhere, one had gray trim throughout, and several had gray cabinets.
So there you have it – the top interior trends spotted in this year’s Elkhart County Parade of Homes. Now I’m curious to know what you think. Is there a trend in particular that you really like? Did you spot one I missed?