New Trends in Home Design

When you have a home on or near Lake Erie, you try to bring the outdoors in as much as you can — and there are many ways to do so.

Jeremy Parish, the director of sales for Wayne Homes in Sandusky, Ohio, says windows are key, more for natural light than for air circulation.

“Large statement windows are popular right now, just walls of windows,” he says. “People with lake views, they just want to put as much glass on the wall as they can.”

Color is another way to add a more natural feel. “We’re starting to see a lot less gray,” Parish says. “We’re seeing more warm neutrals, taupes and tans, and green is coming into play.”

Clare Opfer of S&H Blinds & Floors in Sandusky says earth tones are popular in window treatments and other interior elements as well, noting that the Pantone color of the year is mocha mousse, a rich brown. And while white walls remain popular, Parish says, it’s now warmer whites, rather than cooler whites.

Then there’s texture, including wood, metal and even tile. “Fluted tile is very popular right now, as an accent wall or as a shower or backsplash,” Opfer says. “The texture goes hand-in-hand with warmer, natural earthy tones.”

Decorative beams, wood trim and natural fiber light fixtures up the ante even more. “Some families are encasing openings to rooms with beams on all three sides, rather than just beams in the ceilings,” Parish says.

“Woven woods are popular for window treatments now too,” Opfer adds. “They’re made with natural products, although some are synthetic, but they have the character of bamboo and jute.”