Are you looking for a modern home? You’re not alone. Increasing numbers of homebuyers are ditching homes with history and character in favor of more contemporary residences that deliver a perfect blend of functionality and modernity.
But what exactly defines a modern home? What features appear, time after time, regardless of location?
Let’s delve into the characteristics that homebuyers often discover in modern homes, ensuring you know what you’re looking for when beginning your property search.
1. Simplicity and Minimalism
There’s no question that contemporary home design focuses on simplicity. Gone are the days of cluttered living spaces. Instead, homes often feature a minimalist approach with nice, clean lines, unlike the ornate or irregular shapes of the past.
These homes are deliberately less ‘busy’ on the aesthetics front. Less is certainly more in modern properties, with uncluttered living offering a more serene and seamless flow between rooms.
There’s innovative thinking behind this, too. While interior trends come and go, simple and minimalist are timeless by their very nature. They have very little to do in defining features that may come in (or crucially out) of style.
It also allows homeowners to personalize their spaces as they see fit, with artwork, furniture, and other fixtures providing the personality for each living area rather than the home design itself.
2. Open Floor Plans
You don’t have to be an architect or interior designer to know that open floor plans dominate modern homes.
You would be extremely hard-pressed to find a new construction home full of compartmentalized rooms anywhere in the country. It’s just not the done thing anymore.
The reasons are obvious – namely, having open-concept spaces delivers so many advantages. Kitchens, once closed-off areas reserved for cooking and cleaning, are now very much the home’s social hubs. Kitchen islands are a huge feature of modern homes, and that style preference shows very little evidence of going away anytime soon.
But it’s not just social interaction that these designs foster. When the kitchen, dining, and living areas all seamlessly flow as one, it creates a feeling of spaciousness that you can’t conjure with numerous walls and closed-off rooms.
3. Flex Spaces
Today, homeowners’ needs are constantly changing. With the radical shifts in living and working arrangements brought about by the pandemic and other factors, modern homes have evolved to provide more adaptable and flexible spaces.
Flex spaces, or flex rooms, are precisely as they sound. They are blank canvases that allow homeowners to do whatever they please. Some may opt for a games room. Others may prefer a home office. Another everyday use is giving them dual purposes. For instance, that home office may double as a guest bedroom.
These rooms are so in demand because they solve the age-old problem of outgrowing a house or it is becoming no longer fit for purpose. With such versatility, a room can be many things simultaneously and evolve as families do. So, it could be a home office today, a playroom tomorrow, and years later, it could become a home library with a cozy reading nook.
The point is the endless possibilities, and creating a space with no designation is invaluable for many modern homeowners.
4. Turn-Key Condition
Another hallmark feature of the latest homes is that they are in move-in-ready condition. There’s no need for your home purchase to be overshadowed by shopping for appliances or arguing over which lighting fixtures to buy. Home builders have reacted to years of customer feedback, and leading firms now offer everything you might want (and more) as standard.
For instance, Texas-based builder Terrata Homes offers quick move-in (move-in-ready) homes in every community they build. They include top-of-the-line appliances, upmarket fixtures, integrated technology, chef-ready kitchens, custom cabinetry, recessed lighting, and everything you would expect in a brand-new luxury home. That means buyers can turn the keys in the door and immediately start making memories.
Time is a precious commodity, even more so if you have a busy professional and family life. Hence, the design of modern homes has evolved to meet those needs, providing as much as possible upfront to deliver a hassle-free living experience.
So, if you’re currently searching for a modern home, ask yourself whether having most of the heavy lifting taken care of would appeal to you.
5. Indoor-Outdoor Living
Another way the pandemic has influenced modern home design is by underscoring the importance of having high-quality outdoor spaces that become an extension of indoor living.
When social gatherings were limited to outdoors, in many cases, it became painfully clear that many homes weren’t equipped with suitable outdoor spaces. That’s all changed.
Modern home designs now blur the boundaries of indoor and outdoor living, especially in areas where the climate allows outdoor enjoyment year-round. Modern homes now often have sliding French doors that open out onto patios, decks, and courtyards.
Many are equipped with outdoor seating areas that match the indoor aesthetic, while others go even further and feature built-in outdoor kitchens, entertainment systems, and fire pits.
Beyond extending the living space, there are health and well-being benefits, too. Breathing in fresh air and surrounded by greenery reduces stress and improves mood.
As modern home buyers continue to focus on buildings that enhance their quality of life, they’re increasingly searching for top-tier outdoor spaces, with one in five Americans refusing to buy a home without one.
Modern Homes Have Changed to Reflect Today’s Lifestyle Aspirations
As you can see, the critical elements of modern homes today are far from what they were just a few years ago. While the pandemic has affected homeowner preferences, other factors are at play, too.
For example, the need for clean spaces with enhanced functionality is not borne directly out of that period.
What’s clear is that homes are now spaces that aren’t just for living in. They are becoming a reflection of our lifestyles, values, and aspirations. Innovations such as flex spaces allow us to mold our house as we go.
In comparison, outdoor spaces are becoming vital extensions of our indoor designs to harness the power of the outdoors and more natural surroundings.
So, if you’re on the lookout for a modern home, make sure to take these factors into account. Homes without these core features may not work for you, and with current market conditions, you can afford to be picky about where you choose to live.
