The Future of Real Estate: Boomers

The new subway mosaic at Hudson Yards, NYC

According to the US Census, the number of households with three generations under one roof and at least one member the age of 65 and over has grown from 1.7 million in 2006 to 3.2 million in 2016.

At this month’s Business of Home Conference speakers from Curbed and Zillow, talked about how these multi-generational homes are impacting the future of real estate.  Referring to the large number of boomers moving into senior communities as the “silver tsunami”, they defined what’s trending with the Boomer market.

Boomers are:

  • Renovating their homes with “Aging-in-place” at the top of their list. These are homes that accommodate ALL generations. But taking it one step farther is that they’re also designing to meet the needs of parents with Alzheimers or Dementia. (more on both in future posts)
  • Seeking more upscale senior living accommodations in urban areas.

Smart Home Technology was noted as being important to millennials…but I see that technology has become more user friendly to all generations. From Google Nest Hub to Siri to Alexa – it’s becoming a part of how we stay connected with family members.

So where are they going?

One speaker commented: “You’re going to see people who value quality of life, who want to be able to own a home or a business and do it affordably, looking at cities like San Antonio, Austin, Memphis, Louisville and Nashville as their best option,”    Those secondary markets are going to grow quite considerably.”

Continue to follow this blog for more on that in future posts!

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The Future of Real Estate

The “Vessel” NYC

“The Future of Home” design seminar took place last week in NYC. It was a great experience. One of the most interesting talks was given by Zillow and Curbed entitled “The Future of Real Estate”. They had plenty to say about millennials. Here are my three takeaways.

  1. More people under the age of 34 continue to live at home with their parents.
  2. Married couples are taking in roommates to help with finances.
  3. Most fascinating to me, co-living (aka communal living where tenants share kitchens and living rooms) is on the rise. To meet this trend, companies located in major east and west coast cities are offering move-in ready, fully furnished, wifi and even cleaning crews.

So what does this mean for the future of home design? To me, this reinforces the fact that multigenerational homes will only continue to rise. These are homes that need to be designed to adapt to all generations.

Next week I’ll follow up with how “the Silver Tsumani” – boomers – are effecting the future of real estate. Stay tuned!

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Statistics to focus on the positive

A Wall Street Journal article cited statistics from The United States of Aging Survey – adults 60 and older were asked to identify their biggest concern about aging: 40% said that maintaining physical health was important; 32% said maintaining mental health; 25% said living independently and 13% said getting to visit family and/or friends was important.

A survey unrelated to this article caused me to view the last two results with some skepticism. That survey showed that lonely and isolated seniors are more likely on average to report poor physical and/or mental health. I believe that 13% may have answered differently with that knowledge.

So what do these stats even have to do with interior design you ask?

Nine in ten folks want to remain in their homes as they age.  Beautiful design is important but so is a home that is designed for the future – one that is accessible, regardless of your physical ability.

So why leave home if you don’t have to? We can design a beautiful home for you today with tomorrow in mind.

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How we designed it…

Why would anyone what to leave this guest room? Here are the steps we took to create it.

We started with measuring and drafting up a basic scaled floor plan.  Our client already had the majority of what she needed for the space, so our job was to interject color, personality and to create a space that flowed with the rest of the house. 

We decided to use this embroidered floral fabric on the window treatments.  Simple panels on a rod with black out lining were chosen. This fabric’s vibrant colors make such a statement and need no additional embellishments.  The once dark green walls were replaced with the office white ground found in the fabric.  We used a no VOC paint.

We discovered (and fell in love with) this artwork at High Point Market on our most recent trip.  A trio above the headboard injects color and joy to this space.

An overscaled wool navy striped rug was chosen to ground the space and balance the scale of the floral embroidered panels.  The bedside lamps we chose were a perfect indigo blue.

We were fortunate to be able to use the client’s chair and ottoman.   The vibrant Hermes boxes were pulled from storage and used as an accent and accessory in this space.  The last piece to this space was the artwork above the chair that blended perfectly with the two!

….because sometimes the best inspiration starts with what our clients already own.
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