Home Show offers ideas, inspiration to create your own space

From first-time homebuyers to longtime owners looking to update their residences, customers now have a lot more choices when it comes to creating a home that reflects their personal styles and tastes.

"There's been so much product innovation that it's easy to personalize. That's what people really like," said Wess Gaylon, president of the Wichita Area Builders Association, which is staging it 64^st Home Show from Thursday through Feb.11 at Century II.

"They're becoming interested in not only how a home is put together and the products in it, but how they themselves will function in it," Gaylon said.

With more than 450 vendors, the home show offers consumers the opportunity to find out about new products, see what's trending with interior and exterior designs and decor, and find out about the home-building and remodeling process. Seminars covering topics from remodeling to new construction to improving indoor air quality will be offered.

Here are a few home trends consumers will see reflected at the show:

Large, walk-in showers. Once considered luxury items in higher-end homes, walk-in showers are becoming more commonplace in master suite bathrooms, said Gaylon and Mark Murphy of The Remodel Guys.

"A lot of people are going away from a tub in the master bathroom and replacing (it) with a walk-in shower that's big and comfortable, often with a bench," Murphy said.

Frosted glass is definitely so last decade and has been replaced with clear, frameless glass panels. The glass also helps give the illusion of more space.

For those who worry about the see-through nature and cleanup of glass, Murphy said, "I tell them how many people will be in the bathroom when you're in there taking a shower." Newer cleaning products can keep any scum and other buildup at bay, he noted.

Customers have lots of choices when it comes to shower heads, from wall-mounted to hand-held and rain-style, along with a variety of tile colors and looks.

Open living spaces, cozy private spaces. Large, open floor plans that create spacious gathering areas in the more public parts of the home are still trending, according to a recent WABA survey. Murphy said many of his remodel jobs are from homeowners who ask him to open up walls. Through decorating techniques, homeowners are then creating different spaces, such as eating and living areas.

While public spaces in the home are wide open, homeowners are preferring to create what Gaylon termed "a suite retreat" with private spaces such as master bedrooms. It's a concept that likely reflects the growing hygge trend that hit the U.S. a couple of years ago, borrowing from a Danish concept of creating a cozy and comfortable space.

Wood floors and planking. Whether it’s because they like the look or are trying to remove the potential health concerns of carpeting – from chemicals to dander and dust – more people are opting for wood floors throughout their entire house, said Rachel Sample, co-owner of Wichita Wood Floor Specialists.

"What's really popular are medium brown colors and natural woods," she said. Gray is starting to fall out of favor.

Newer, popular products include engineered flooring, which can be installed in basements (where natural woods can't be installed) and is available for those who want planks larger than 5 inches, and luxury vinyl tile.

A much more durable alternative to laminate and not as pricey as a natural hardwood, luxury vinyl tile – or LVT as it's called in the industry – is popular because it's waterproof and scratchproof, making it very durable for active homeowners, families and their pets, Sample said. She said she recently installed the commercial-grade product in her home, "and I'm a solid wood gal all the way."

Techniques and products also allow older mid-century wood floors to be patched, while owners of site-finished floors – natural wood floors that are installed raw and finished on site – can have smaller-plank floors hand-scraped and beveled to create a more modern, wider-plank look, Sample said.

Aging-in-place features. Trending nationally because of America's aging demographics, remodeling or adding features to allow for older homeowners to age in place are also hitting Wichita. Murphy noted that bathroom remodels in particular include widening doorways and shower entrances from the standard 24-inch openings to accommodate walkers and wheelchairs. Some remodels include the addition of grip bars or adding the necessary blocking behind walls for future grip bar installations.

This story was originally published February 3, 2018 at 2:21 PM with the headline "Home Show offers ideas, inspiration to create your own space."