Photos courtesy of John Gordon.
As we enter the key renovating season, there are certain trends that are turning up everywhere. Fresh from the Ottawa Home Show, here are a few of John’s hip tips.
Kitchens and Living Areas
Mixed materials in kitchen such as rustic wood beams, stone columns, subway tiles and bright shiny counter tops are part of the 2016 kitchen trends.
Brick and stone: Exposed brick and stone walls are a great way to add a rustic charm and texture to your home.The kitchen is the perfect room to add a stone or brick accent wall that ties in your living area. Another option for these materials in your kitchen would be behind floating wooden shelves displaying decorations, photos or dishes. You can also use it for a backsplash. Need to cover up ceiling or looking to spruce it up? Try rustic wooden beams.They add warmth and depth to a space.
Cool cabinets: Solid colour cupboards with touches of natural wood are an innovative new trend that is likely to pick up this year.Cabinets can be painted in a very earth-toned grey colour with a wooden island or decorative legs. Go the extra mile and add a custom wood hood fan to the design?
Hardwood floors: If you want to make your kitchen look timeless, go for hardwood floors.They bring warmth to the kitchen design and go with any style or colour of cabinetry.It goes way beyond the shelf life of a 10-year trend cycle.
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Freestanding bathtubs allow for more placement options.
Photo: Courtesy John Gordon |
The rough brick adds texture to the space and constrasts nicely with the highly polished stone on the floors and waterfall countertop.
Photo: Joshua Rablin |
Hit the Loo
Grab bars and shower seats: More and more, we seem to be getting requests for shower seats. They are functional and good to have if you have seniors in your home. Grab bars are another trending addition to bathrooms. You can install them just about anywhere you might need them, but showers and tub surrounds are the most popular place to install them.
Freestanding tubs: Built-in tubs are becoming less popular these days. Freestanding tubs on the other hand, if your space will allow it, offer a lot of flexibility in placement and some might even chose to place their freestanding tub in their shower area.
Heated floors and towel racks: We can all agree that bathroom floors are generally cold, but they don’t have to be. Electric-heated floors are the solution.They are popular in bathrooms because of their ability to help dry out moisture and humidity. Heated towel racks, or towel warmers, are another great gadget to have in the bathroom. Who doesn’t enjoy being wrapped in a warm and fuzzy towel after a shower or a bath? They also act as a supplemental heater and damp outerwear dryer.
Colour trends: Beige used to be the number one colour choice but now white, greys and blacks are in this year with hints of brightness such as mauve, turquoise or light green accessories.