12 Rising Home Trends to Watch in 2020 and Beyond

From work-from-home spaces to play-at-home areas, the emergence of COVID-19 has had a profound effect on how we live at home and in our communities. Here are some of the life-at-home trends to watch for during the rest of 2020 and beyond.

With families spending more time together at home, the kitchen is even more in focus at the heart of it. New research from the National Kitchen & Bath Association reveals that 87 percent of families surveyed want a kitchen that functions in a variety of ways: for entertaining, school activities and working from home, along with meal preparation and family dining. Open kitchen layouts that provide more space and visibility, larger kitchen islands and upgraded appliances are emerging as design trends.

WFH is the acronym of the moment, as working from home becomes the rule for many, rather than the exception. Forbes Magazine reported on a recent MIT survey of 25,000 American workers revealing that nearly half the U.S. workforce might be working remotely. As employees shift their workspaces from offices to their homes, interiors will incorporate quiet spaces that allow privacy for working away from the day-to-day activity of the household. WFH spaces require good lighting, more robust WiFi, and that all-important "Skype space" or "Zoom room" — a wall or nook in a quiet spot designed to provide a nice backdrop for video-conferencing, says interior designer Heather Kellow, chair of the Nashville chapter of the American Society of Interior Designers.

Realtors already see a rise in requests for "smart" features in homes, according to Chip Murphy, regional vice-president of Hunt Real Estate based in New York state. Technologies such as automatic and motion-sensor lighting and smartphone-controlled technology will become more common. Voice-activated control of appliances and use of touchless devices like shades, faucets and toilets will be even more widespread.