Hottest Home Trends of 2019

With this post, I am not trying to pretend like I am a design expert, but being a REALTOR® and someone who is interested in “all things home”, I do read a lot of home articles, posts, and blogs.  Lately, I feel like one after another is about the hottest trends to expect for 2019 – from paint colors to interior design, furniture design, and overall home. If you have plans for redecorating or want to refresh some of your spaces, it can’t hurt to know what experts believe will be resonating in 2019.  I have gathered together some of the more valuable articles I have read and pulled out a few consistent points I am seeing across sources.

Predictions for what will be hot in 2019:

  • More bold, vivid, high-contrast patterns and more vibrant accent colors
  • Pantone declares Living Coral is the color of the year. What it conveys: Life-affirming, optimism, joy.
  • Earth tones: all versions of sand and earthy colors like ochre, burnt gold, and terracotta like Sherwin-Williams’ 2019 color Cavern Clay
  • Art Deco influence to become more prominent in the coming year
  • Ornate & textured walls and wallpaper
  • Antiques and handmade, custom pieces – return to handcrafted authenticity
  • Live Greenery and biophilia (the innate tendency in human beings to focus on life and lifelike process)
  • Innovative uses and mixing of metals 
  • Matte Black

If you have some time to read more for yourself, here are a few of the best articles I have read for 2019 predictions: 

All in all, I believe what is most important is that you make design decisions that resonate well with you & your family.  If you aren’t a fan of a certain style, don’t try to force it because some people say it is “in style.”  And lastly, I still stand by the importance of timeless design decisions for major renovations if you want to maximize the resale value of your home which I touch upon in my last blog post:  Home Renovation Projects that Boost Resale Value of Your Home.

Happy planning and decorating!

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If you or someone you know has any real estate needs within Colorado, I would love to help!  I support buyers and sellers primarily in the Denver-Boulder areas. Please reach out via the contact form below to start a conversation about how I can help you:

 

 


Simple Home Updates

Do you look at your home and think it needs updates, but the thought of the time, money & energy required to make the updates prevent you from doing the work?  You don’t need to tackle the whole house at once, instead think of one space at a time.  Additionally, there is no need to do a complete overhaul of the space – there are little things you can do that go a long way.  Here are some things to think about.

Take a step outside:

  • Mailbox.  This is sometimes the first thing people see when they pull up to your house.  A new mailbox, post, and set of house numbers is a relatively inexpensive & easy fix that will clean up the image of your home.
  • Landscaping.  You do not need entirely new landscaping, but cleaning up weeds & overgrowth and putting down some new mulch will polish up your outdoor space. Don’t stop at just cleaning up the yard & garden – tackle your driveway and any walkways too if you see grass or weeds growing up through cracks.
  • Front door.  Give your home a facelift by replacing your front door or even just repaint it if it’s in good shape.  Consider a fun pop of color that complements the rest of the paint colors of your house for a statement door.  If your budget allows, updating the door hardware will increase the curb appeal even more.

Inside:

  • Lighting.  If you have the budget to swap out some tired, old lights for more modern fixtures, this goes a long way in my opinion.  You could address one room at a time and you don’t have to spend hundreds on each light – I’ve seen many pretty lights for under $20.  Electricians usually charge an hourly rate so try to get an estimate for how many lights they can replace in an hour or two.  If this is outside your budget, simply swapping out your light bulbs can give your home a much more comforting feel.  Get rid of those bright, fluorescent lights and put in soft white bulbs.

  • Touch-up paint.  The general wear & tear of life puts a stress on baseboards, doors, and walls.  If you don’t want to completely repaint a room, consider just touching up the paint – hiding imperfections with a fresh brush stroke of paint.  Now is the time to patch any holes or fill in any dings.  Make sure you choose the right finish paint and you don’t use a gloss paint on what was initially an eggshell.

  • Fixtures.  If you have outdated or run-down knobs on cabinets, handles on doors, towel racks, or even vent covers, all of these are easy to swap out.  Replacing these give you an opportunity to let your personality shine through, while also making your space look more polished.  

  • Blinds.  If your home still has aluminum blinds or temporary paper blinds you threw up for a quick fix years ago, consider replacing them.  New window coverings can really modernize a room. 

Decor:

  • Furniture.  If you are disappointed with how worn some of your furniture looks, sanding & painting wood pieces for a fresh new look is always a great option.  This is an area where you can try out something different & have fun with it.  I almost tossed an old, weathered Adirondack chair a few summers ago, but decided to bring it back to life & painted it a bright blue to match some of my other patio furniture.
  • Decor.  Throw pillows, comfy blankets, candles, baskets to hold clutter, throw rugs, artwork for the walls, a statement wall with a peel-and-stick wallpaper, real or fake potted planets, table lamps.  All these are simple, easy ideas to update a space and make it more enjoyable to live in.  I personally love shopping affordable decor Target and Joss & Main.

If you found this information valuable and are interested in seeing my inspiration for home updates & decor, follow my Pinterest page: https://www.pinterest.com/ecgoltz/

 

***Real Estate Tip***

If your home looks as though it needs updates to you, a potential buyer will see the same thing.  Making some of these indoor and outdoor updates could potentially help with the resale of your home.  Feel free to reach out if you’d like to run your thinking by me.

 

 

 


Refresh Your Bedroom

As the days are getting shorter and the weather is getting cooler, a cozy bedroom is something many of us can really appreciate. If you have extra money to put towards updating a bedroom in your home, you may wonder where to start. I really enjoyed this article from Houzz: “How to refresh your bedroom on any budget.” From a budget of $100 to $10,000, there are great tips on where to prioritize spending your money. I love the focus on a new set of bedding in the article – I cannot agree more because if anything, it’ll help you sleep better. My go-to for bedding is The Company Store – I have never been disappointed in one of their products. Check out their Cloud Blanket & Throw – that was our most recent purchase and I cannot begin to tell you how soft it is.

If you make any of these updates, please leave a comment and let me know how it went!


What Guests Really Notice in Your Home

While reading up about home decor & inspiration, I stumbled upon an interesting article from Popsugar: “What Guests Really Notice in Your Home.”  This is a timely article given many of us are expecting guests this coming holiday season.  The list isn’t overwhelmingly long – just 6 key things to think about:

  • Scent of the Home
  • Well-stocked bar
  • Fresh Flowers
  • Lack of Clutter
  • A tidy bathroom
  • An organized entry way

The only addition I would add is …”A tidy and clean bathroom!”  You can’t fool your guests into a fresh, organized, home if your bathrooms are way overdue for a cleaning.

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Real Estate Tip: Potential buyers will notice these things too when looking at your home for sale… except for the well-stocked bar, unless it comes with the house 😉

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Old Home Ideas That Deserve a Comeback

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I recently read an article titled: “15 Old House Features We Were Wrong to Abandon.” The point of the article being there are many home features that we were probably right to leave behind (at least as of today), but there are some really cool features that deserve a comeback.  Clicking through the list, I was surprised and excited to see that our home already has four of the fifteen and two more that I have planned to add to our home.   Funny thing is, those four features are some of my favorite features of our house.  They include:

  1. Transom windows.  We have them over interior and exterior facing windows and doors in our house and it makes the house seem so much more open, airy, and bright. Plus, its such an unexpected feature – we get positive comments on them all the time.
  2. Laundry Chute.  I cannot begin to tell you how helpful it is to push a load of dirty laundry down our chute, straight into our laundry room vs. carrying it down the stairs, through the family room, then kitchen, and into the laundry room.  You know you’re guaranteed to lose at least one sock on a trip like that!  It has been such a great element to our home that when my parents were doing a full remodel on their home in CT, I suggested they add in a laundry chute to the plans and they did!
  3. Intercoms.  I’ll be honest, ours is pretty outdated and a bit of an eye-sore in our house (we’ll get to replacing it eventually) but trying to get someone’s attention upstairs or in the garage without yelling does come in handy.
  4. Ceiling Medallions.  We have a ceiling medallion in our kitchen and I thought it was such an interesting feature.  We replaced the original light fixture that was hanging there and kept the medallion.  I never would have thought to add it, but I am happy it’s there and adds a little personality to our kitchen.

And the two I hope to add to our home:

  1. Dutch Doors. It will be so wonderful to be able to open the top door to talk to the delivery man without our huge dog running out to bark at them.
  2. Clawfoot Tub. This is my dream tub for our master bathroom remodel if it fits within the space & budget.  Stay tuned on that one – work to start in Fall 2017.

So, there are six of the fifteen that I clearly agree society was wrong to abandon.  Below is the remainder of the list from the article I read.  I don’t see an immediate need for them at our house, but that doesn’t mean it’s not fit for another family.  Hope this starts to get you thinking during your next home remodel or search.

  1. Sleeping porches
  2. Boot scrapers for your front stoop
  3. Pocket shutters
  4. Phone nook
  5. Dumbwaiter
  6. Mail slot on your front door
  7. Root cellar
  8. Rumford fireplaces
  9. Picture Rail Moulding

 


Decor Decision Making

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This January, I finally pulled the trigger on a purchase that I had been researching for months.  I was scouring my go-to sites daily for affordable decor (Joss & Main, Wayfair, & Zulily) and after weeks of no luck, I expanded my search to my more expensive favorite retailers (Pottery Barn, Serena & Lily, and Crate & Barrel).  I found TONS of options, but I just could not for the life of me make a decision.  Believe it or not, my big decision was 2 decorative pillows for our family room couch. Crazy – I know.  Why are the small purchases sometimes the hardest!?  It took me months to decide on 2 pillows and literally 2 days to decide on a 12′ x 15′ rug for our family room.  Believe me, the rug was a lot more expensive than the 2 pillows 🙂

I think my hang-up was that the colors of our family room are so comfortable to me.  A lot of grays, blue, and white and that is something I have always decorated with.  However, I wanted to take a little chance with the pillows and put a splash of unexpected color in the room.  Our beautiful rug has a touch of mustard yellow, salmon pink, and mint green – all colors I like but wasn’t sure I wanted to highlight.  I finally decided to pull out that salmon pink and purchased 2 really cozy, cotton cable knit sweater pillows in a Paprika color.  I had gone back and forth on whether to purchase a pillow with a design or keep it simple.  In the end, I decided that the rug had such a strong pattern that simple, classic pillows would look best.  The faded “pink” turned out to fit in perfectly and I’m really pleased that the pillows made the room even a touch more comfortable. Yellow lab approved.