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Renovators do more with less
Glitzy is out and comfy is in as Americans take a simpler approach to home renovation.
With real estate values still in the doldrums, people are seeing their houses less as investments and more as, well, homes. Since they’re staying put, they’re taking on targeted – rather than extreme – makeovers aimed at livability.
Home remodeling is expected to pick up and post solid growth in the second half of this year, making 2012 a robust year, according to the remodeling futures program at Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies. Driving the market will be midsize kitchen and bath projects, maintenance work and energy-efficiency upgrades.
In fact, unlike a few years ago, Americans are now spending more on remodeling than on new construction, says Stephen Melman of the National Association of Home Builders. He says they’re moving less now than at any time since World War II, so they’re thinking less about the resale value of a remodel.
“They do it, because they want to. That’s a major change in the psychology,” he says.
Yet with home-equity loans in short supply, many Americans are paying cash for renovations, so their projects tend to be smaller and focused.
“Everyone is value-oriented,” says Debra Toney of Three Week Kitchens/Baths in a Week, a remodeling firm with offices in Denver and Texas. “They’re just more cautious,” she says, citing their willingness to pick basic appliances rather than Sub-Zero refrigerators and Wolf ranges.
More consumers, 61 percent, said it was important to get the most bang for the buck last year than did so, 56 percent, in 2010 and slightly more said they’d spend extra time looking for bargains, according to a reader survey released in February by Better Homes and Gardens magazine.
The survey found consumers are most interested in style upgrades to countertops, flooring, faucets and fixtures, followed by general maintenance, decor updates, efficiency and home organization.
“I suggest people try simple changes first,” such as new light fixtures or paint colors, says designer Stephen Saint-Onge, author of No Place Like Home (Wiley). He recalls a couple in Manhattan who wanted to gut their condo, but after he moved their furniture around for a few minutes, they saw new possibilities and a less extensive makeover.
Informality reigns
A cultural shift may be afoot as a response to the Great Recession.
“There’s a shying away from being ostentatious,” says architect Sarah Susanka, co-author of Not So Big Remodeling (Taunton Press). She sees this even among people who have little reason to worry about finances.
“The trend we keep seeing is a move from formal to informal living,” says Jerry Levine, president of the Washington, D.C.-area remodeling firm Levine Group Architects & Builders. He says his high-end clientele, who spend an average of $240,000 on renovations, want spaces to be comfortable, not fancy.
Take Sherry Hiemstra, for example. When she remodeled a 2002 duplex in the nation’s capital, she shrank the luxury kitchen (it took over half the first floor) and added windows to the dining area to bring in more light and views of the holly-rimmed patio walkway.
“We wanted something that was very comfortable and met our lifestyle,” she says.
“Before, it was curb appeal, showiness and keeping up with the Joneses,” says Duo Dickinson, author of Staying Put: Remodel Your House to Get the Home You Want (Taunton Press).
Now, he says, Americans are going back to the future as they try to create permanent, family homes that reflect who they are. “The house is the most direct mirror of your personal values,” he says. “When people renovate to change their lives, they waste money,” but when they renovate to improve how they already live, they benefit.
Levine agrees. Before a project starts, he says, “It’s really important for homeowners to know what’s bothering them about the house.” He says if they can’t identify the problem, they may not find the right solution.
What are homeowners seeking?
• Outdoor connection. Dickinson says the single biggest overall trend is homeowners craving to be connected to the outdoors, via larger windows, decks or porches.
“Since the advent of smartphones and laptops, people have found their visual focus is about 1 foot away,” he says, adding they need a release from that. “Homes are more permeable. We have many more garden designs than before.”
• Vegetable gardens, too. Many homeowners are indulging their outdoor craving, and the push to eat local, by creating a homestead that grows food and – in some cases – even raises livestock.
• Livable kitchens. “The kitchen is the new living room,” says Dickinson, so he says Americans want cushioned seating at the counter or in a built-in banquette. He says homeowners also want the kitchen to multitask as a recycling center and a spot to recharge laptops. He says they’re shifting from wall cabinets, which can block views to a living area, toward walk-in pantries for storage.
• More open floor plans. Many homeowners want kitchens that connect not only to a living room but also to a dining area and the outdoors. “They want more light and openness,” says Richard Loosle of Kube Architecture, a Washington D.C.-based firm that remodels many row houses.
• Togetherness. With this open-living core, there’s “a return to togetherness, a countertrend to the 1990s, when everyone fled the great room,” said Jill Waage of Better Homes and Gardens at an International Builders Show presentation in February. “Now we’re flocking back.” She says Wi-Fi and headphones allow individuals to remain in the same room while doing different activities.
• Smaller master baths. Kitchens may be opening up, but many master baths are shrinking. “We’re doing away with spa tubs. We’re reclaiming that space for larger showers and vanities,” says Josh Baker of BOWA, a high-end remodeler in the nation’s capital. He says his clients now focus more on quality, timeless finishes and less on size.
• Better use of space. Rather than expanding their living space, homeowners are looking to reconfigure existing space to make it work better. Readers surveyed last year by Better Homes and Gardens said they wished for a home with an average 1,856 square feet – down from 1,914 square feet in 2010.
• Energy efficiency. “Windows, insulation and doors were the 1, 2, 3 for energy efficiency” upgrades requested by clients in the last quarter of 2011, says Melman of the National Association of Home Builders. A close fourth was more efficient heating and cooling, or HVAC, equipment.
“Show me the money” is what Connecticut-based architect Dickinson hears from clients about green renovations. He says consumers want retrofits, as long as they pay for themselves within 10 years.
Federal tax credits for more efficient doors, windows, roofs and HVAC systems expired in December, but they remain in effect through 2016 for solar panels, geothermal heat pumps, solar water heaters, small wind turbines and fuel cells.
• Mudrooms or “drop zones.” “Mudrooms have burgeoned in size,” Dickinson says, as Americans seek to reduce clutter and bring order to their homes. He says those who don’t have the space for a mudroom are asking for a basic “drop zone” to put shoes, etc.
• Universal design. As Baby Boomers age, they’re seeking to stay in their homes by building wheelchair-accessible ramps, wider hallways and step-free showers.
Such universal design ranked as the fifth-most-popular feature in kitchen remodels and the third in bathrooms, according to a fourth-quarter 2011 survey of consumer interests by the American Institute of Architects.
“You have no idea what your life will be like at 80,” Susanka says, so she recommends people do the “sensible things” such as making doorways at least 34 inches wide to accommodate a possible wheelchair and having space on the main level that could be used as a bedroom and bath.
• Remodeling apps. Dozens of smartphone and iPad apps, some free, are available to guide homeowners. Houzz offers more than 325,000 photos of homes and landscapes, and DreamHome shows the works of professional designers. Sherwin Williams’ ColorSnap and Benjamin Moore’s Color Capture allow users who provide a photo of something they like to find a paint to match its color.
From USA-Today – April 23, 2012 –
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