Portland Real Estate Design Trends
Disclaimer: Design is incredibly subjective. I mention a few personal preferences in this article just for fun but I’m 100% focusing on trends from a real estate perspective. I’m NOT focusing on trends from a designer’s perspective.
What that means is that I’m not looking at what’s on the cutting edge, what’s coming up, and what might become popular. I’m looking at what is popular now. (For instance, a designer might tell you that rustic looks are out, but on the ground buyers still love rustic accents.)
To check out some hot, new trends from the design world, take a look at a few highlights from the 2020 Toronto Interior Design Show.
Understanding trends is incredibly important for a Realtor like me because it guides me in my recommendations to sellers for home prep and staging. I work with a LOT of buyers so in addition to taking in information from articles I think I’ve got a pretty good feel for what people are looking for.
Overall Design
Granite counters, vessel sinks, mosaic tile, dark wood vanity… all these things are out. Light and bright bathrooms are in!
It’s taken quite a while, but it seems like in the past couple of years people have begun to realize that we live in a very cloudy area… according to this website, Portland sees 222 days of heavy cloud a year (Seattle barely edges us out at 226).
What does this have to do with design trends? It means that more and more people are wanting light tones throughout the home. We’re seeing: white/cream cabinets, light oak flooring, white tile backsplashes, off-white or very light gray/cream paint colors, etc. Often all of these things are in the same home!
You may be saying, “well, duh” but this was not the case until very recently! Of course, “modern farmhouse” style has been sweeping the country for a while (thanks, Chip and Joanna Gaines), so that probably has something to do with it. Historically, though, Portland has been resistant to embracing the light side. Fortunately, that is no longer the case!
Let’s take a moment to appreciate “What Came Before”
Travertine explosion!
Does anyone remember the early “aughts”? Deep wood grains and darker accent walls were all the rage. Step back just a decade from the present and major home builders like Polygon and DR Horton were loving mid-tone beige paint with lots of brown accent walls. Dark cherry and walnut-veneer cabinets were very much in style! Everyone was going nuts for Brazilian Cherry floors. Just a few years before that and you probably remember seeing a ton of forest green granite countertops, too. Oh, and let’s not forget all the travertine tile that was LITERALLY EVERYWHERE.
Since sometime around 2010 or so (who keeps track of these things???) the biggest trend has been gray, gray, and more gray. First, cool tones were all the rage, with blue-toned gray walls, gray driftwood-look flooring, gray countertops, and even gray cabinetry and carpet.
Not that it looks bad… but this just isn’t what the majority of people want now.
While the Great Gray Movement has dominated the market for a long time, the past couple of years has seen it phase into warmer, lighter tones of gray and greige. Gray cabinetry has partially phased out but gray countertops are still prevalent. Paint tones have lightened up to a point where you can barely call it gray anymore and people want a more natural, lighter flooring material. White subway tile has been around forever, but it’s virtually saturated every remodel now.
This slow shift to lighter tones brings us up to today, where white and off-white are now beginning to dominate.
TIP FOR SELLERS When it comes to paint, everyone is an expert when they’re critiquing other people’s color choices and a novice when it comes time to pick colors for themselves. There are actually paint consultants that will come out and give you a full palette. It is very low cost and worth EVERY SINGLE PENNY.
What’s going on with countertops?
Clean, white quartz is always a solid choice.
I am happy to report that granite countertops are very much out (I’ve truly never been a fan, lol)! It’s taken awhile, but the majority of people no longer hanker for busy, crazy, mottled granite colors. Granite tile, the cheap way to bring stone into your kitchen, is rarely seen in a remodel any longer.
Engineered quartz (such as Silestone) is what I’m seeing in the vast majority of home remodels. Sometimes people splurge and go with marble, but manufacturers are getting really good at mimicking it, so even when you think you’re looking at marble, it may very well be engineered quartz.
TIP FOR SELLERS If you’re going to re-do your kitchen counters, don’t waste the money on anything less than quartz. If you’re thinking about saving money by using granite tile, you might as well keep whatever you currently have.
For a short time, people flirted with concrete countertops, but that trend seems to already be gone.
What about backsplashes?
Just say no to mosaic tile.
One trend that was really big a few years back was this horizontal, rectangular mosaic tile, often in a variety of colors. You can buy it in little sheets at just about any hardware store. I occasionally see it now, but unless it’s something unique, people aren’t into it. In fact, one of my clients saw it in the kitchen of a flip recently and said “that reminds me of a hotel room”.
Well, if there is one absolutely definitive way to know that a design trend is over… I think “looks like a hotel room” might be it.
Nowadays, subway tile is still absolutely dominating. Buyers still love it, flippers still love it, design magazines still love it. Maybe I’m one of the few people that yawn every time I see it, but that’s okay. Design is subjective!
Hexagonal tile has been the rage for several years now. I’m a big fan of this, but it’s starting to reach a saturation point. Lately I’ve been seeing a movement back to rectangular subway tile… but with a twist. Interesting colors, different sizes, and spiced up versions with beveling or wavy, “hand-made” textures are beginning to gain a lot of traction.
TIP FOR SELLERS I have yet to meet anyone that saw a kitchen with white subway tile and said “ugh, I hate subway tile!” (except maybe me, but I’m definitely an outlier on this one!) It’s not even expensive, so consider doing this before going on the market.
Flooring Materials
This type of large-scale rectangular tile is very popular, but it’s best to have a professional that you trust install it.
Since we’re talking about tile, let’s get into tile flooring. Faux-wood tile has been in style for quite some time. Long enough that I’m starting not to see it so much anymore. Oversized rectangular tiles have really taken over modern homes. These look great if you’ve got a reallllly good tile person. But if they aren’t lined up perfectly… ugh.
TIP FOR SELLERS There are plenty of things you can do yourself when getting a home ready for sale. Tile work is probably not one of them.
For bathrooms (and fireplace surrounds), people are really still loving hexagon penny tile. I see this everywhere from Street of Dreams homes, to 1920 craftsman restorations, to 1950s ranches.
Now let’s talk about one of the biggest flooring trends that seems to have sprung up almost overnight, and quickly took nearly every flip and remodel by storm!
That would be Luxury Vinyl Plank (LVP) and Luxury Vinyl Tile (LVT).
Vinyl used to be the cheapest option for flooring, often found in kitchens and bathrooms due to it’s waterproof nature. But
Now, vinyl has taken a HUGE leap forward. Just like laminate planks, LVP is made to mimic wood planks. UNLIKE laminate, LVP is waterproof. If you have laminate flooring that has little raised edges in all the places where water has hit it over the years… then I feel you. I’ve been suffering through that for years.
But the only viable alternatives had their own issues… hardwood floors are expensive and very prone to scratches and discoloration… Engineered hardwood, which was supposed to solve that problem, isn’t scratch proof, either, and can only be refinished once… maybe twice.
But now, LVP and LVT are here to save the day! And wow, is it EVERYWHERE!
TIP FOR SELLERS If you are considering new flooring and a sale might be on the horizon, seriously consider LVP for the downstairs high traffic areas.
Bathrooms
This type of partially open shower seems to be the direction everyone is headed.
When it comes to bathrooms, the overwhelming trend is towards larger showers without doors or curtains. Sometimes they are wide-open to the room and sometimes there is a glass separator or open doorway.
I personally don’t love this trend; standing in an open shower just feels… weird! Maybe that’s my age showing. Hotels in particular are really driving this open-shower trend. It sure costs a lot less to clean (shower curtains are notorious for germs). But, it’s become more popular in regular homes, too.
“Luxury” bathtubs are in for higher priced homes, but for the most part people are gravitating towards just having a walk-in shower in their master bathrooms when space is limited, and making due with a tub/shower in a secondary bathroom.
I wish I could say that the pedestal sink trend is over (I know they look cute but where do you put your stuff???). But, I still see them all the time in remodels, especially in secondary bathrooms.
ON THE WAY OUT Barn doors for bathrooms. Just… don’t.
VERY MUCH IN Floating vanities.
Kitchens
Even in a transitional style kitchen like this, people are opting for modern pulls.
Farmhouse sinks are here to stay. Everyone wants a gas range or stove. Cabinetry without knobs, or just modern pull bars, are rampant.
When it comes to appliances, stainless steel isn’t going away, but it’s slowly loosing ground to fingerprint resistant black stainless steel (which I think is uber-cool!). Also, wood-clad appliances are very much out.
Some people are starting to use brushed gold/brass fixtures and hardware. You have to be careful with that, though, as many people that were around in the 90s still have a strong reaction against anything that hints of old-school brass. Copper fixtures seemed to have a brief day in the sun but aren’t around much anymore.
TIP FOR SELLERS If you are looking to change out your hardware and are thinking about a trendier finish like brushed gold, maybe reconsider if you think you might sell in the next couple years. Caveat: You can get away with a trendier hardware choice in one space, like the kitchen, and go with something more universal, like nickel, in the rest of the home. Also, period homes like early 1900’s craftsman homes can “handle” some more flamboyant design choices.
People are still into the 2-tone cabinetry look, though I think it’s waning in popularity. Generally people just want white cabinetry, but if a not-obnoxious color is thrown into the kitchen island, they’re okay with it.
Surprisingly, I’ve noticed the younger subset of buyers becoming less enamored of huge kitchens and they aren’t even that into microwaves! I’m keeping an eye on this “trend” just in case I’ve run across some outliers.
Living Areas
Open concept doesn’t have to mean one big, open square space. Here, you can see the spaces have a little separation, but still flow together.
Open concept floor plans have been such a huge trend for SO long that I’ve started to see some home articles pop up claiming that people now want to go back to heavily divided spaces.
Well, that’s a bunch of baloney. All my buyers still love open concept plans, especially having a kitchen open to a living area. A separate formal dining room is okay but otherwise, open concept is here to stay!
Gas fireplaces are all the rage, of course, given the air pollution concerns with wood burning fireplaces. I’m seeing a few high efficiency wood-burning stoves here and there, though. (Morso is AWESOME). I have noticed that more people aren’t into placing the TV above the fireplace. Probably because TVs have gotten so big! Something to think about if you have a home with a fireplace and are staging it to sell.
TIP FOR SELLERS If you happen to have one of those 90s or early aughts homes with a TV cubby… go ahead and have a handyman turn that into a cabinet or drywall it before listing it for sale. It won’t cost much and will modernize the space tremendously.
Bedrooms and Dining
Really if you want to know about design trends for bedrooms and dining rooms, just walk into a West Elm store and soak it in. That’s pretty much the look everyone wants. Or even Ikea.
Minimalist, some rustic wood accents, lighter tones, hardwood or LVP flooring with a fuzzy rug… these are the things I see everywhere.
Also, people are getting more into floating nightstands just like floating vanities, preferably with a wall mounted light fixture.
Creativity with furniture pieces so that everything isn’t so matchy-matchy is a good look. Think mixing different night stands, different lamps, etc.
