Granite Is, Like, So Yesterday

Go to enough open houses, and eventually a trend worms it way into your brain. Here’s what I noticed in the last few weeks.

Countertops

Although granite is still king, I’m seeing more Silestone. Today I saw a remodel that used marble (and beadboard-fronted cabinets). The kitchen really stood out from the blur of granite/maple/Shaker variations I usually encounter.

Hardwood Floors

Cherry is becoming the go-to choice.

Drywall

Rounded corners are coming back into fashion. It means using a bullnose bead instead of a 90-degree-angle strip, so it’s not as hard to achieve the effect today as it was during the lath-and-plaster era. Since it would be weird to find a mix of round and angle corners in the same house, this trend is limited to gut jobs or new construction.

Heating

I visited two houses with radiant heating today. Both high-end, obviously, because the equipment is more expensive than the typical forced-air system. As prices drop, I think we’re going to see the trend grow in Seattle because it provides a much more comfortable environment — warm feet are happy feet.

However, like the rounded corners, I think it’ll show up in new homes and total rehabs more than remodels. It’s just too awkward and expensive to retrofit an existing home unless you have the insides torn out. We looked into radiant when we put an addition on our house; the estimate was about $24,000 versus $6,000 to expand our furnace ducting.