Hot Home Design Trends 2017

Elissa Morgante, AIA

Elissa Morgante, AIA
Founding Partner at Award Winning Chicago Architects, Morgante Wilson

Mar 30, 2017 - 5 min read

Hot Home Design Trends 2017

Award-winning Chicago Architect Elissa Morgante shares part one of her top home design trends in 2017. Read now…

Fred and I are often asked about what are the hot new trends in home and interior design. While we’re certainly not clairvoyant, we can say with some confidence certain requests are becoming increasingly common among Morgante-Wilson clients, not only here on Chicago’s North Shore, but also in their Michigan, Wisconsin, and mountain vacation homes. Here are a few of the items popping up on our clients’ wish lists most often in 2017.

Kitchen Trends #1: Super Pantries

We have written about this trend before, and it has continued to gain traction ever since. The rise of the super pantry is based on the idea that kitchens are no longer just the heart of the home; they’ve actually become the room in which our clients do most of their living. Which is why more and more of us are relegating a lot of cooking and storage functions to a more secluded space called a super pantry. Located just off the kitchen proper – and able to be closed off from the kitchen by a door - super pantries house foodstuffs, dishware and glassware, appliances, and plenty of counter space on which to prepare food. As a result, the super pantry allows the kitchen to become more of a gathering space than a work space.

Kitchen Trends #2: Spectator Kitchens

An outgrowth of the super pantry trend, spectator kitchens are true entertaining centers. When homeowners – or catering staff – can prepare meals in a super pantry, a kitchen island becomes a place for guests to gather, rather than a place to chop vegetables or rinse dishes. Be relegating steam, smoke, and splatters to the super pantry, an island becomes less a place for food prep and more of a destination for final, finishing touches – a garnish here, or a squeeze of lemon there. This allows guests to watch as food is given a last flourish, adding a new dimension to entertaining.

Another type of spectator kitchen contains a range right in the island, where guests can keep the cook company while food is being prepared, deepening the dining experience in a different way. Sometimes we place a couple of comfortable chairs with soft seating in a spectator kitchen so guests or family members can settle in for a chat while meals are underway; other times, we gather fully-upholstered arm chairs around a dining table so the kitchen becomes not only a place to eat, but also a comfortable spot to read or use a laptop. (Hint: if you’re planning a spectator kitchen of your own, consider using easy care materials such as indoor-outdoor Sunbrella fabrics, or faux leather, on upholstered seating pieces.)

Architectural Trends: Hidden Storage

Another thing we’re having a lot of fun designing lately is hidden storage. We’ve done dining rooms that tuck toy storage within wall cavities, powder rooms that secret extra toilet paper, and rooms with secret doors leading to other rooms. Paneling - board and batten, for example, which we recently used to conceal a door leading from a young girl’s sitting room to her bedroom - hides these amenities, adding plenty of texture and charm to spaces while obscuring functionality no one would ever guess was there. How fun is that?

And for any of you who love the look of a fully-decorated Christmas tree but are less fond of the time it takes to hang all those ornaments, consider incorporating a dedicated “Christmas tree closet” into a hallway, or even a living space. The idea is that you decorate your artificial tree once – and only once. When the holidays are over, it gets stored behind a closed door, into a recess specifically designed into a wall to house it until the following year. Come the holiday season, you simply open the closet door, wheel your already-festooned tree out, and you’re done. Instant Christmas!

We’ll share a few more trends in our next post. Until then, if you’re thinking of building or remodeling, give us a call. We’ve got loads more ideas to share!

Elissa Morgante, AIA

Elissa Morgante, AIA

Founding Partner at Award Winning Chicago Architects, Morgante Wilson