New Trends in Home and Design

New Trends in Home and Design

Updating a home, from swapping out old furniture with new to redoing dinged-up floors that have been scuffed up from earlier projects, does a lot to boost a homeowner’s mood.

Updating a home, from swapping out old furniture with new to redoing dinged-up floors that have been scuffed up from earlier projects, does a lot to boost a homeowner’s mood. But before you get started, learn a little about what’s new in home and design.

In the East Bay, current contemporary trends include saturated colors, cleaner lines, and darker wood tones. “Dry” paint is in; matte black finishes are a must for plumbing fixtures, appliances, and drawer pulls; and lush wallpaper is being used to set off bold design. For Victorian housing stock, period modernization is hot, as are clever finishes and neural tones. Three well-known Bay Area design influencers talk about the ins and outs of au courant design in “Maximum Style for Interiors,” page 24.

Meanwhile, homebodies who like a good kitchen remodel will be impressed with how one architect builder went wild over stone, specifically Roma Imperial quartzite, letting its lush swirls, varying hues, and overall richness guide a renovation with very pleasing results. See them in “The Stone Makes the Kitchen,” page 28.

And in the East Bay where space is always at a premium, there’s a new movement afoot: basement renovation. When building up or out is out, homeowners are digging down, but these basement additions being built are far from the dark underground dungeons the word basement connotes. Excavation projects increase home value and functionality. Learn some tricks in “You Can Dig It,” page 30.

Looking for a good yarn? Turn to page 32 for a piece by Scott Morris, “Ersie Joyner Fights for Rome,” about a prominent captain in the Oakland Police Department. Joyner is a longtime OPD member who is retiring next month, and he leaves behind a legacy of greatly reduced gun violence. That decrease largely stems from the success of Operation Ceasefire, a collaborative effort among law enforcement and criminals who agree to give up their unlawful ways. Joyner is an Oakland native and one the few OPD members who lives in the city he serves. He is an interesting and exemplary personality in the law enforcement community, someone who has earned the respect of his staff, his bosses, and civil rights attorney John Burris. It’s a good read.

Faces of the East Bay