Not only is the Street of Dreams an incredible visual experience and an amazing opportunity to look at gorgeous homes, it is also a wonderful way to check out upcoming design trends, both in homebuilding and in interior decorating. All of the homes this year had beautiful features, and below are the 5 biggest new trends that I saw incorporated into the homes.

Natural Elements Incorporated into the Home

One of the top trends that I saw throughout the homes was incorporating nature into the homes. This really comes as no surprise in environmentally friendly Oregon, the only surprise is how long it has taken for this to really take off! From indoor/outdoor stone showers, stone and slate features walls and a giant boulder seat in a huge shower open to the elements, to amazing natural wood-working and nature-inspired metal work, there are so many options on how to incorporate the outdoors into your home design. The Quintessence house is the home where the trend is most obvious- they even have a rain wall outside of the glass enclosed master bathroom!

Wallpaper

I've written on the blog before about my love of wallpaper, so I was so happy to see it used so well throughout all five Street of Dreams homes. It was used often as a focal wall in the bedroom behind the bed, but I also saw it in powder rooms, bathrooms and laundry rooms. Using wallpaper thoughtfully is the perfect way to add texture, color or depth to a room, and the Street of Dreams definitely demonstrated the trend well.

Fire Features

Fireplaces have been focal points of homes for a long time, but the Street of Dreams this year demonstrated the many ways to incorporate fire elements throughout the home. Some took the traditional fireplace up a notch, by bringing the fireplace from floor to ceiling, or by really highlighting it so it is the first thing you see upon entering the home. Outdoor fireplaces were also the rage this year, with almost every home boasting a cozy fireplace in the outdoor seating area. Two-sided fireplaces were featured in multiple homes, being used in the living area, outdoor spaces, and even in the bathroom! For a show-stopping fire display, you can even use them in the front entrance in a Vegas-style fire display!

Seamless Transitions from Indoors to Outdoors

Beautiful outdoor living spaces have been on trend for years, but this year I noticed that there is a much better flow from indoors to outside. Entire walls open up, outdoor spaces are decorated and outfitted more like interior rooms, and walls of windows make the transition from inside to outside seamless and easy. Outdoor living spaces have been one of my favorite design features for awhile now, but I love the trend even more when it all feels like one big, welcoming space.

Washer & Dryer in the Master Bedroom

Multiple homes featured not only a traditional, and often stunning, laundry room, but also a washer and dryer built into the master bedroom closet! This is such a fabulous idea- how easy would it be to just pop your clothes in right after wearing, or quickly do a load when you need one. Obviously this is a luxury trend- you need a lot of closet room to fit in a washer dryer, and they don't run cheap, but in the right house, this could be a life saver.