2015 Master Ensuite Trends In Custom Homes

2015- Ensuite Master Bathrooms

Custom homes change as much as trends in fashion, some trends stick around and some come and go. When designing and building a custom home you have to understand what is the current trend and what is coming, this will help maximize the value of the custom home that is being built. In the Master Ensuite trends have become an important part of designing them as they are not only the owners personal bathroom they are becoming the owners personal retreat from the rest of the family.

Ensuite Master Bathrooms

Here is a list of the trends that have stayed the same over the last several years;

• The ensuite master bathroom continues to get larger in square footage every year.

• Large seamless glass shower enclosures with large doors making the bathroom look larger than it actually is.

• The amount of ensuite bathrooms in a home has grown, they are not just for the master bedroom anymore.

• Benches in showers are common now, almost all showers have them to allow women to shave their legs and to help people as they get older still have showers without assistance.

• Large rain head fixtures mounted directly over head.

• Electric heated floors are still the most popular option to help make the rooms feel more comfortable so tile and natural stone are kept warm, thus eliminating the need for bath mats to keep your feet warm even when the heating system for home is turned off.

• Large soaker tubs beside a large glass walk in shower are still the trend.

• Slow close toilet lids are still the most popular option, allowing men to never worry about slamming the lid and waking their partner up.

• A designated space for women to keep their makeup and apply it as well in the custom cabinetry.

• Marble tops are almost a must now for bathroom counter tops.

• Marble or slate natural stone floors are common with the feel of a luxury spa.

• Multiple body sprays are the hottest trend, these body sprays come out of the wall, combined with rain heads they give you that total wash feeling.

• Slide bars in showers are almost standard in every custom shower.

• Wall sconce’s over the vanity instead of relying on over head lights or one large fixed light over the mirror are used to help give women the maximum amount of light when applying their make-up.

• Larger and taller toilets are standard now with an aging population looking for more comfort and ease of use to get on and off.

• Multiple mirrors are the trend, instead of the one large mirror, each sink gets its own mirror, or a mirror where the sink is and another mirror for were you apply your makeup.

• White is the most popular colour for bathrooms.

Here a list of the new trends happening in master bedrooms ensuites;

• The multi-ported rain head that requires a larger waterline to feed it.

• Heated electric towel racks have come back into popularity with people looking for more
comfort.

• Free standing tubs that sit under a window or in the middle of the room are popular especially with the ensuite still growing.

• After a short trend of counters with one large sink the two separate sinks have come back in trend giving each person their own space.

• More and more light fixtures are being added to ensuite, all of them on individual switches allowing people the option to have as much light as they need for applying makeup or as little for a more relaxed romantic mood setting.

• Porcelain tile that is made to look like natural stone are trending up as people look for a way to save a little bit of money on finishes.

• Large deep soaker tubs are becoming more popular then tubs with bubblers and jets.

• Large free standing taps that are anchored into the floor are becoming a most with the increase in people installing free standing tubs.

• Large glass showers without doors are becoming more popular as people are looking for something different than the typical glass shower, it also saves you money with not having to pay for the expensive door.

These are just some the new trends in master ensuite in today’s new custom homes.

Rob Abbott
Village Builders Inc.

2014 flooring trends in custom homes

2014 Floor trends

We are now well into the 2014 construction year and the trends for interior flooring are emerging, some of these trends have been long running trends from previous years and some of them are trends that have started this year and are gaining in popularity. Custom homes are extremely trendy from year to year for a wide variety of reasons.

Here are the trends that have stayed constant over the last couple of years;

• Hardwood floors are still the most installed flooring for houses.

• Tile or natural stone is the most popular product that is used in bathroom floors.

• Mudrooms or entry ways into homes are still mostly tile or slate for the ease of clean up and durability of the product.

• The brick pattern when installing larger tiles is the most popular and simplest way of installation.

• Running the hardwood all the same way (direction) throughout the whole home instead of changing directions or patterning it.

• When using natural stone in ensuite bathrooms it’s almost by default that we install electric floor heating under the tiles.

• Carrera marble is commonly used in master ensuites to give it a luxurious look like a high end hotel
room.

• Engineered hardwood floors are at an all time high in popularity with the split at 50/50 to full hardwood floors.

• With tile found in large mudrooms and laundry room’s custom tile patterns like turning the tile at angle in the middle of the room has become almost the norm.

Here is a list of the new trends in the flooring for custom homes;

• Scandinavian Fumed White Oak is all the rage now. This is white oak that is milled in Scandinavia and shipped over to North America as engineered flooring without a finish on it. When it has arrived here it is finished with an oil finish before it is installed. The overall look is a smokey finish that is very unique.

• Hardwood in the bedrooms has made a comeback replacing carpet. With modern heating systems getting better keeping homes at a more even temperature wood floors are not as cold on the feet as they were in years previous.

• Less and less carpet is going in custom homes now; even basements are getting the engineered hardwood finish. With people looking for products that are easy to clean not having to clean carpets is growing more and more popular.

• With wide variety of pre-finished hardwood floors in engineered and full hardwood and the quality of the finish getting better and better less people are opting for the opting of having raw unfinished hardwood or antiqued hardwood installed and finished onsite. Pre-finished hardwood has made a strong comeback.

• Hand painted clay decorative tiles are all the rage at the moment.

• Cork flooring is being installed in kitchens, the flooring is soft and offers cushion for when people are preparing a meal for long periods of time.

These are just some of the trends that are in custom homes, some trends don’t last a full year and others gain momentum and popularity and stick around for years.

Rob Abbott
Operations Manager
Village Builders Inc.

Engineered reclaimed flooring the new hot trend

A hot new trend in custom home building is the use of engineered flooring.

This might not sound like a new thing, but it’s the type of engineered flooring that is being used that is changing.

For years people have been installing engineered flooring in places that they couldn’t install normal hardwood flooring, one of the most popular hardwood flooring is reclaimed hardwood flooring.

Reclaimed hardwood flooring is wood that has been made from old barns that are being torn down ever more frequently. The reason for the barns being demolished is a variety of reasons. Some barns that are 100 years old have just reached the end of their life, others are being taken down because they have been neglected and the weather has made them unsafe to put livestock or hay in anymore. There are barns being removed as former farm land is transformed into housing developments or into private residences that have no use for an old barn and have no idea how to care for one. But the biggest reason is that most farmers now have to be larger and to be larger producers to survive and this means that they need specialized buildings. They need buildings that are built for a purpose and not an old multi use building that was designed to hold square bails in the top and livestock in the bottom.

They have now taken the next logical step in reclaimed flooring and have created engineered reclaimed flooring. This allows them to expand their market to customers that wanted their product but couldn’t use it because of certain factors. Some of the factors that do not allow you to use reclaimed wood flooring are as follows;

• You are installing the wood on a concrete basement floor.

• You have in-floor radiant heat and are worried about the gypcrete or the heated floor warping the wood floor over time.

• Where you want to install it is a damp or high humidity area and you are worried about what the moisture will do to the wood overtime.

• You are looking for a product that will stand up to shifting or changes in humidity or moisture in the air and in the building.

These are just a few of the more common reasons why people end up choosing engineered flooring over the full thickness hardwood flooring.

This move toward engineered flooring was expected, one to increase their market and the other is so that they do not have to use so much of their limited product.

When you have a very limited product such as reclaimed wood from barns then the less you can use the better. Engineered flooring uses less than a quarter of normal hardwood flooring. Engineered flooring has basically a skin of reclaimed hardwood on it.

Even though it is just a skin of wood a lot of companies are making the skin thick enough that you will still be able to get one sand and refinish out of the floor. This will help prolong the life of the floor and it gives you the purchaser some piece of mind that if you happen to damage the floor you still have the option to repair and refinish it.

If you are thinking about new flooring in your home or building a new custom home, think about reclaimed engineered flooring, you won’t be disappointed.

Rob Abbott
Operations Manager
Village Builders Inc.