Posted on July 27th,
2009
by John Kirchner
Here’s a round-up of some quick bits on a variety of home style and design trends. This information was culled from the most recent myMarvin Trend Update. Hopefully you’ll find something interesting or inspiring here. If you do, you can read the full newsletter and sign up to receive these updates in the future here.
Home design
Libraries
During these anxious economic times, consider a return to the classics. One of the most popular rooms in larger new homes has become the library — so popular, even Oprah Winfrey featured her Santa Barbara, Calif., home library (hers contains first editions collected by a rare-book dealer) on a recent Oprah magazine cover. Not always about books, the appeal is more often about creating a particular ambience, connoting elegance and quality. A recent survey conducted by the National Association of Home Builders found that 63 percent of homebuyers said they wanted a library or considered one essential, an increase over the past few years.
The newfound popularity of libraries is part of a general movement towards traditional design and décor, coziness and comfort. When stacking your shelves, you want your bookshelves to look as interesting as the books you’ve so carefully collected. Proper lighting, furniture placed against a bookcase, painting or papering the backs of bookcases, variety of book heights — consider all of these for creating decorative and literary appeal. Also, bring new life into your old built-ins by painting the inside and back of your bookcases a subtle yet contrasting color. Your books, art, ceramics, clocks and other collectibles will “pop” off the shelves.
Interior design
Bamboo flooring
Hardwood floors, typically oak or maple, have always been appealing because of their beauty and durability, but bamboo should be added to the list of flooring options because of its versatility. Bamboo is beautiful and comes in appealing colors — blonde or amber — and offers the same design appeal as traditional hardwood flooring. It’s harder than oak and rock maple, making it more durable, and installed the same as hardwood floors. (Not to mention easy to maintain and environmentally friendly.) Because bamboo is the fastest-growing plant on earth, can be harvested and replenished without impact to the environment and offers 25 times the yield of hardwood, it is highly sustainable, renewable and “green.” Bamboo flooring has been used for centuries in Asia because of all of these attributes, and is now becoming recognized and appreciated in the West.
Scandinavian design
Popular in the 1950s, Scandinavian design is finding a place with those who appreciate mid-century modern style. With it’s natural look, clean and simple lines, graphic patterns and pale colors, Scandinavian design fits into a contemporary environment and appeals to people who consider themselves “green” and are sensitive to nature and the environment. Designers past (Arne Jacobsen) and present (Front Design) utilize classic design elements with a modern flare to create functional, relatively inexpensive, mass-produced furniture and home accessories.
