Everyone’s talking about an impending recession, and that includes the fine people at Architectural Digest. They recently wrote extensively about what home design should look like for homeowners who want to achieve beautiful, livable spaces via a mindful, thoughtful process.
As custom home builders in Milton, one aspect of the article that really captured our attention was the emphasis wellness and health have in the best contemporary home designs. An obviously affluent homeowner added a wellness wing – containing gym, meditation space, and spa – to their home. More attainable variations include adding just the gym or the meditation space or the spa to the home, as well as adding upgrades like air purifiers and humidifiers.
This use of space shifts the home’s focus away from hosting and entertaining towards meeting the needs of the people who actually live in the space. To quote AD: “It’s not about catering to your guests and the 20% of the time when people come and visit, but really maximizing how you are going to use the space on an everyday basis.”
If you’re thinking about having a custom home built in the near future, this is a good point to really start thinking through how you’d like to use your home on a daily basis. What are the values you’d like to emphasize in your life? Knowing that wellness is important, for example, led some families to make sure their homes made it easy to stay fit. This transcends the special features to include every aspect of home design – from a kitchen that makes it easy to prepare healthy meals through a garage that includes safe secure storage for bicycles and other sports gear.
Many people also value strong families, which underlies another design trend AD points out as being currently very meaningful: multi-generational homes. In a tough economy, having grandparents, parents, and children under one roof can be the most financially sensible solution for all involved. It also makes for easier adult and child care possible, when these things are needed.