It’s hard to know where to start when you’re designing your new home. One way to get inspired is to look at current trends and innovations in home design and adopt the things that suit you best. Design trends are much more than just choosing paint colours or even tiles for your kitchen and bathroom, they take in things that aren’t on display.

We investigate several, including home automation, eco-friendly homes and flexible layouts, that you can consider when designing your dream home.

Home automation with smart technology

While home automation and smart technology has been around for a few years now the growth in popularity means it has become more streamlined and sophisticated.

Smartphone controls

For many years homeowners have had the option of a hub to control the function of various technologies within the home. Increasingly the control is moving to smartphones with various apps.

This means you’ll be able to control many aspects of your home like lighting, heating, garden watering systems, swimming pool controls, security systems, appliances, and more from within your home but also when you’re not at home.

Home zoning

Being able to control specific zones within your home is also growing in popularity and sophistication. From light switches to music, to zone-based thermostats, a streamlined smart home can be more affordable due to lower utility bills and require less equipment.

Smart lighting

Lighting that is controlled by smart technology is another way you can automate your new home.

Not just limited to overhead lights, smart window coverings are the next step to provide customisable ambience and the ability to raise and lower in conjunction with the strength of the overhead lights. So, as the blinds lower when the sun goes down, your lighting can slowly turn on to ensure the right visibility in a room.

More personalised

Using more gadgets in conjunction with the Internet means your devices will learn your daily routines and work seamlessly. Imagine your front door unlocking because it recognises your face. Or a thermostat knowing when you are doing exercise and adjusting the room temperature accordingly.

Touchless

The COVID-19 pandemic has heightened awareness of touchless devices with new items like video doorbells that do not need to be touched to ring. This keeps it clean and allows physical distance to be maintained.

“From light switches to music, to zone-based thermostats, a streamlined smart home can be more affordable due to lower utility bills and require less equipment.”

Eco-friendly homes

As the impact of global warming continues to be seen, homeowners are looking at ways they can lower their environmental footprint.

This includes incorporating green building and eco-friendly designs into new homes with the help of companies like ZAC Homes.

Energy-efficient light globes

While energy-efficient light globes have been around for many years, their performance and energy efficiency has grown enormously. According to the US Department of Energy CFL and LED light globes last three to 25 times longer than traditional incandescent light globes and use between 25 and 80 per cent less energy.

Energy-efficient appliances

Energy-efficient appliances reduce your energy consumption and, therefore, your energy bill. According to the Australian Government website energy.gov.au, appliances can account for around 30 per cent of home energy use, so choosing the most energy-efficient appliance can bring big savings.

Replacing an ageing appliance like a fridge or dishwasher can be more economical because you will save more in energy usage in the long run. For example, also according to energy.gov.au modern dishwashers use 25 per cent less energy compared to those of 10 years ago.

Greywater reuse and water tanks

One of the growing trends in green building is to find a way to reuse greywater. Greywater is the water from your home that is only lightly used – the water that is washed down the drain, shower, bath or washing machine. This water may have some traces of food, dirt or other products in it, but it is still safe to use in many applications, such as outdoor irrigation.

New home builders can install pipes that channel this water outside, allowing you to conserve water by using your own greywater.

Installing water tanks to catch rainwater off your roof is also an eco-friendly way to live.

Net-zero energy

Making your home net-zero means you create your own energy, and the amount it creates is equal or greater to the amount of energy you consume.

The first step in creating a net-zero energy home is lowering energy consumption to the lowest possible usage by using good insulation and energy-efficient features, then adding a renewable energy source like solar panels.

Flexible design

As a result of the pandemic, there is a trend away from completely open plan living zones in new homes.

Homeowners are seeing the need for flexibility in the design of their homes. For example, right now you might need some extra room for home schooling in the short term and in the future, it can fulfill another need.

The open-plan concept doesn’t work well if more than one person is working from home or if the kids are being noisy, so that concept may be refined with partitions to dedicate space for working/home office.

Build a new home with ZAC Homes

With ZAC, you will receive exceptional customer service, and the ZAC Homes team will make the journey of building your new home as fun and exciting as possible.

ZAC Homes builds with trust, respect, integrity and pride, which we work hard to deliver to every client. Call us on 1300 350 793 or send us an online enquiry and our team will work with you to design and build your dream home.