How Much Has the Real Estate Boom Changed Interiors?

Need to KnowHow Much Has the Real Estate Boom Changed Interiors?More than you can even imagine

By Kathryn O'Shea-Evans

June 27, 2022

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There are signs that the real estate boom may finally be fading—but will flipping culture stick around? Here, designers weigh in on how a market of high turnover has shaped some of their projects.Photo: EThamPhoto/Getty Images

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Time heals all wounds—except those in the real estate department, where design mistakes can age like corked wine. Maybe your client longed for a gleaming Pepto-like pink lady lair, or a subterranean whiskey library sheathed in camo wallpaper. When their house comes up for resale, these highly customized interiors could be considered too eek, putting off potential buyers. That’s one reason designers (and their bad investment-wary clients) are tending towards safer bets, especially in today’s dizzying real estate market. “Resale value is almost always considered when designing a home, spec, or custom,” says designer Julie Brown, principal of BrownHouse Design. “The only circumstances I’ve seen it off the table are for childless couples, older couples who are downsizing, and families building a ‘forever compound.’” Whether you go totally bespoke and put in the fanciful Gracie hand-painted wallpaper of your dreams is often totally dependent on how long you plan to live in your home before selling it.

Los Angeles designer Jake Arnold is currently working on a development in Hancock Park. “It’s really interesting to work with a developer and design with the idea of selling something in mind,” Arnold says, adding that typically they’ll select a more impactful or bold stone for things like backsplashes, which can feel more elevated. The resulting spaces need to be appealing, sure, “but also a reflection of our design philosophy and work,” he says. In these types of projects, Arnold has found himself gravitating to a comfort zone that’s more widely appealing. In a bathroom, for example, “I wouldn’t choose a stone that was particularly veiny, or a stain that was either really light or really dark. It’s finding that middle ground across the board to make sure that nothing is too on the extreme side.” He’s seen that the opposite is true, however, when you’re working on homes in the $10,000,000-plus range. “There’s a level of personalization that is important because you’re attracting a rarer type of buyer,” Arnold says. “So it works both ways. There’s a mass market approach, but then also recognizing that the premium higher-end part of the spectrum is looking for something really impactful and thoughtful.”

Of-the-moment but not over-the-top material trends, like Zellige tile, has been a safe bet for homeowners looking to update and sell a home quickly during the real estate boom, says Jean Liu.

Photo: William Jess Laird

Melissa Warner Rothblum, also a Los Angeles designer, has found that clients bring up resale value if a move is on their radar. “Our rule of thumb is that as long as the plumbing, tile, or stone isn’t too specific, it won’t affect resale negatively,” she says. “But items that would require an extensive renovation or demolition to remove that are too specific could be problematic.”

Meanwhile, in Dallas, designer Jean Liu says the housing boom in her city is unlike anything she’s seen before. “With the influx of people moving from New York and California, houses are going under contract in a matter of hours…oftentimes for more than asking,” she says. “As such, successful flips involve updating a house to the point where they represent current finish and material trends—think Zellige tiles, brass finishes, and wide-plank white oak floors. Everyone wants an instant-presto living situation, especially with labor shortages and supply-chain issues.”

Surprising additions on the highly coveted list in Dallas: a mudroom, elevator, and dirty kitchen to hide all the working gadgetry out of sight of the Instagrammable one. (As she discussed in an AD PRO panel earlier this year, Nicole Hollis is also a fan of this approach.) Liu herself just purchased a town house for her family to live in while they go through a multi-year renovation on their own property. “This town house had all the latest trends going on, making it oh-so-desirable that the builder entertained no fewer than seven offers,” she says. “He had included a part of the house where an elevator shaft had been carved out but left it unfinished for the buyer to decide whether or not to go through with an elevator. Not having the elevator already there did not seem to hurt him one bit.”