2020 has certainly been one for the books, hasn’t it? As the world around us continues to change, there’s one thing we can maintain a grip on: our inner sanctums. 

House designs seem to matter more these days, as more of us retreat into the confines of our homes to operate our businesses.

So, whether you’re looking to build a new home from the ground up or redesign your current sanctuary, there are plenty of smart designs that can fulfil even your wildest dreams. 

Below, we’re going to discuss blurring the lines between the indoors and the out, creating not one, but two, master suites, and even elevating your future infinity pool up to the second storey. Ready to knock down those conventional walls and aim for the sky?

Great Rooms

Families nowadays are asking for open floor plans. This shoos formal living and dining rooms out the sliding glass door. In their stead, families are opting for a great room.

The best way to describe this is a fully functional kitchen looking out onto both the living room and dining area – no walls. Creating a huge, open space allows both the living and the entertaining to happen all at once.

Oversized Kitchen Islands

We like to call this the super island. If you’re going to create a great room, the best connector between the kitchen and the living area is an oversized kitchen island.

This does a number of things. First, it creates more seating for family and friends to be a part of the joy of cooking. Second, it creates more of a workspace for the chef. Also, it allows for more storage.

Here, you might incorporate seating for six, consider going about a meter and a half deep, and having a little over a half meter for your base cabinets. As you can imagine, this creates quite a large space and it ties the two rooms together beautifully.

This is also a nice space for a wine cooler, an extra sink, or even the dishwasher. Family and friends will be more inclined to dip into the charcuterie board and sip on a glass of Shiraz if they feel they can comfortably gather around.

Outdoor Family Rooms

Gone are the days of simple little patios off the kitchen. Now, families are looking for an extension of their home that allows them to entertain while enjoying the outside air.

Modern house designs call for outdoor kitchens and much of this can be likened to the great room. We’re seeing families call for home designs that include outdoor kitchens, outdoor seating areas, ceiling fans, televisions, the works.

An outdoor family room is stepping up to serve as an extension of the inside (with a twist). The twist is that most indoor great rooms can’t overlook a pool. But, when you take the building designs to the exterior of the home and add an additional family room, the sky becomes the limit.

Infinity Pools

This brings us to another trending house design that’s never going to go out of style – an infinity pool. And, if you have an infinity pool, you simply must include a waterfall in your designs.

The tendency here is to place the pool somewhere near the outdoor family room. And that would be wonderful.

But, if you check out our gallery, we hope you’ll scroll down to the images of our three storey dwelling on a sloping block with the pool on the upper level. Now that was fun to build. Why stick with convention and put everything on the ground floor?

If you’re able to build up, then you can take your indoor and outdoor space, elevate it up a level, and introduce your guests to some serious views.

Wall of Windows

With all your open seating, what do you propose everyone will be looking at? If you’re fortunate enough to have a lovely view, why not face a wall of windows that opens up to your patio which is, essentially, an extension of your home?

While the outdoor great room takes the indoors out, a window wall brings the outdoors in. It’s a win-win for residents and visitors, and a house plan design that knits everything together seamlessly.

We’ve even seen families integrate this feature into their bathroom. They cosy up their clawfoot tub to a window wall and breathe in the beauty of the outside while they enjoy their own, personal spa day.

Glass Banisters

You don’t have to have a modern flair to embrace glass in your architecture. Glass banisters that trim the staircase and second storey can blend in with any preference or style.

They blend well with wood, wrought iron, and any shade of paint you can imagine. Consider how much more this would open up your great room.

Or, as you’re leading your guests through your home and up to the second storey entertaining area, consider the open and airy environment you’re invoking.

Dual Suites

How many homes have you entered that had dual master suites? We can’t think of many. This is a modern house design that’s newly emerging. Typically, what happens here is there’s a primary master suite.

This suite has the most floor space, an expansive bathroom, a walk-in closet, and more. But, then, on the opposing side of the house, there’s a scaled-down version of the master suite. Some builders refer to these as princess suites.

This opens up the home to a variety of living arrangements. Multi-generational households will enjoy this living setup. Parents and in-laws can come to stay when the timing is right.

Children who have graduated from university but don’t feel the need to fly the coop can come back home to live comfortably. And, of course, long-term visitors (who are welcome) will be most comfortable in this kind of arrangement.

Typically, the kitchen, bathrooms, and master suite are fine selling points when it’s time to put a house on the market. But, houses with dual suites are going to stand tall above the crowd for their uniqueness and varied living arrangements.

Master Suite Balconies

This brings us to a design trend that will differentiate the master suite from the princess suite. You might be able to bring more of the outdoors in with a lovely master suite balcony to take in the morning view and sip on your ylang-ylang tea.

Personally, we like to see those glass banisters continue on to the exterior. If you’re sitting outside to take in the view, why obstruct it? Likewise, as you draw back the curtains in the morning, a glass banister on the master suite balcony will let the light pour in.

Smart Mirrors

Smart mirrors, also known as magic mirrors, can be placed just about anywhere in the house. They double as computers, windows, televisions, health trackers, and full-blown entertainment systems.

Essentially, they’re digital displays behind glass that connect to your smartphone via Bluetooth or WiFi. This gives you your e-mail updates, weather alerts, and traffic reports front and centre as you prepare for your day.

Smart home technology is, without question, a modern house design, so why not bring it to the rooms where we start and end our days, like the bathroom and bedroom?

Oversized Garages

Especially in Australia, people are requesting oversized, or three-car, garages more often. The goal is to keep at least two vehicles out of the sun, but it also creates a new workspace.

Families are looking for increased space between each vehicle, as well as a dedicated workspace and, often, a place to store an additional refrigerator and freezer.

Families are also shifting to bigger and taller SUVs, which call for oversized garages. Don’t be afraid to opt for a garage that’s 3000mm in height or higher.

Some families exceed the standard 3000mm height because they plan to install a car lift. We’re not saying you need to go that far, but we’re not known to discourage dreaming big.

Trending House Designs for Your New Build

What do you say? Will it be a second-storey pool, a car lift, or a window wall? Maybe you have your eye on a window wall now that you’re considering all the glorious light that can be let in.

Here at Distinct Building Design, we create custom homes from the upper Hunter to Sydney. Allow us to bring all your window walls, glass banisters, and outdoor living spaces to life.

With over 30 years in the business, we’ve become nationally recognised for our award-winning designs. We’d love to take our expertise and transform your plot of land into the new home or rebuild of your dreams.