This is mostly about decorating. But a few building trends such as out with the jetted tubs and in with oversized showers.

Here are the highlights.

“KITCHEN
Old World cabinetry in wood or painted finishes that look like furniture make the kitchen seem more like the rest of the house.

Copper and brass fixtures and hardware offer a warm respite from cold stainless steel and brushed nickel.

Big single sinks are supplanting divided styles.

Natural cleaning products and hand soap in fruit and herb scents go better with cooking smells than floral or antiseptic scents.

Source: Geri Higgins, Portfolio Kitchen and Home

COLOR
Blue is Pantone’s color of the year (a medium blue tinged with iris) and a force in kitchens (clear French blue and cobalt).

Yellow will become big in interiors for the first time since the ’70s, first as an accent, then as a dominant color.

Light wood stains will push out “Pottery Barn†dark stains; hints of unstained, “raw†finishes will appear.

Source: Michelle Lamb

BATH
Hands-free faucets, activated by motion sensors, provide the efficiency and hygiene of public restrooms.

Big walk-in showers are displacing oversized jetted tubs.

Stacked stone is the style in tile for the new year.

Stone tubs are the new status statement, if money is no object.

Source: Tony Shapiro, Dorfman Plumbing

DÉCOR
Postmodern furnishings with their unexpected forms and exuberant colors are winning over some designers and home dwellers who rejected the look in the ’80s.

Primitive patterns and abstracted botanical motifs are coming on strong in fabrics and tableware.

Hidden compartments will be built into chairs, ottomans, tables and sectionals to keep personal electronic devices close at hand yet out of sight.

Grass cloth: It’s back, but with finer texture and in more colors than before.

Sources: Ben Sundermeier, High Cotton; Michelle Lamb

PATIO
Oversized chaises and chairs are getting ever bigger and cushier.

Formal-looking dining sets blur the difference between indoors and out; chairs have seat and back cushions.

Source: Jackie Hirschhaut, American Home Furnishings Alliance

DREAM HOME
Hold the fourth garage? The uniquely American obsession with supersized homes, spawned by the real estate boom of five to 10 years ago, is at a crossroads. When home values were increasing 15 percent a year or more, homes became short-term possessions for many. Trading up to ever-larger digs every few years became a habit, much like always driving late-model cars.

Newsweek real estate correspondent and author Daniel McGinn isn’t speculating on whether the national preoccupation with square footage and “must-have†amenities will change as a result of the real estate bust in some cities, but he notes it will be “interesting†to see what people do with homes they never intended to live in long enough to remodel but find themselves forced to stay in for the foreseeable future. McGinn’s new book, House Lust (Currency/Doubleday, $25), is an absorbing account of how and why our notions of the ideal house have become so aggrandized.KITCHEN
Old World cabinetry in wood or painted finishes that look like furniture make the kitchen seem more like the rest of the house.

Copper and brass fixtures and hardware offer a warm respite from cold stainless steel and brushed nickel.

Big single sinks are supplanting divided styles.

Natural cleaning products and hand soap in fruit and herb scents go better with cooking smells than floral or antiseptic scents.

Source: Geri Higgins, Portfolio Kitchen and Home

COLOR
Blue is Pantone’s color of the year (a medium blue tinged with iris) and a force in kitchens (clear French blue and cobalt).

Yellow will become big in interiors for the first time since the ’70s, first as an accent, then as a dominant color.

Light wood stains will push out “Pottery Barn†dark stains; hints of unstained, “raw†finishes will appear.

Source: Michelle Lamb

BATH
Hands-free faucets, activated by motion sensors, provide the efficiency and hygiene of public restrooms.

Big walk-in showers are displacing oversized jetted tubs.

Stacked stone is the style in tile for the new year.

Stone tubs are the new status statement, if money is no object.

Source: Tony Shapiro, Dorfman Plumbing

DÉCOR
Postmodern furnishings with their unexpected forms and exuberant colors are winning over some designers and home dwellers who rejected the look in the ’80s.

Primitive patterns and abstracted botanical motifs are coming on strong in fabrics and tableware.

Hidden compartments will be built into chairs, ottomans, tables and sectionals to keep personal electronic devices close at hand yet out of sight.

Grass cloth: It’s back, but with finer texture and in more colors than before.

Sources: Ben Sundermeier, High Cotton; Michelle Lamb

PATIO
Oversized chaises and chairs are getting ever bigger and cushier.

Formal-looking dining sets blur the difference between indoors and out; chairs have seat and back cushions.

Source: Jackie Hirschhaut, American Home Furnishings Alliance

DREAM HOME
Hold the fourth garage? The uniquely American obsession with supersized homes, spawned by the real estate boom of five to 10 years ago, is at a crossroads. When home values were increasing 15 percent a year or more, homes became short-term possessions for many. Trading up to ever-larger digs every few years became a habit, much like always driving late-model cars.

Newsweek real estate correspondent and author Daniel McGinn isn’t speculating on whether the national preoccupation with square footage and “must-have†amenities will change as a result of the real estate bust in some cities, but he notes it will be “interesting†to see what people do with homes they never intended to live in long enough to remodel but find themselves forced to stay in for the foreseeable future. McGinn’s new book, House Lust (Currency/Doubleday, $25), is an absorbing account of how and why our notions of the ideal house have become so aggrandized.”

http://www.kansascity.com/living/home/story/445868.html