Area Homeowners Spring Ahead with Trendy Furnishings

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – The first month of spring may have brought a mix of snow and rain to the region, but as spring weather finally takes hold, homeowners are looking at ways to spruce up the inside of their home.

“We’ve been in business for 23 years and this is one of the busier years as far as starting up,” reports Rosemarie Nair, co-owner of Interior Decorating Co. Inc., Poland. “People were fed up with the weather. So they’re looking internally as how to make their surroundings a little better.”

The first quarter brought increased business for Interior Decorating Co. as well as for Rusco Design Center in Boardman and Spruce Home Décor in Niles, the owners say.

For Nair, some customers are building a new home and want her to be part of the design process from the ground up. Others call when redesigning a room, while some call for help with smaller projects, such as picking out a new window treatment.

“Most people that call in are at a stopping point and are confused on where to go in a certain situation for remodeling,” Nair says.

Window treatments are a frequent project. Many homeowners today are buying a single piece of fabric for window treatments instead of layering with multiple fabrics or having vertical or mini blinds popular in the past.

“We’re doing a lot of fabric blinds because people are getting more bang for their buck while still having a dressy look,” Nair says.

Minimal fabric designs hung by big rings on a rod with panels on both sides are trending now, she says. Roman shades are trending, too, which differ from standard window shades because the shades stack up evenly when being opened and are visibly smooth with no bumps or ribbing such as with other vertical shades.

Bedding follows a similar trend as the window treatments because fabrics with simpler patterns are being used more often rather than busy patterns.

“It’s easy to get a simple fabric and change the pillow fabrics to do something different,” Nair says. “People are into grays, beiges, blacks and cream colors for their bedding. Gray seems to be the hot color right now here.”

When picking colors for use in the bathroom and kitchen, Rusco Design Center owner Chris Bryson says he, too, is seeing gray and white trending in both paint for walls and for countertops and tiles.

“Quartz is still the most popular right now,” Bryson says, who estimates 80% to 90% of the countertops he installed over the last year have been quartz with many of those following the marble-look trend.

“Cost is why customers pick quartz,” he says. “You can in theory replace counters two to three times for the cost of quartz instead of marble or granite.”

For plumbing in the kitchen and bathroom, brushed nickel, chrome, black stainless, or a gunmetal finish, are popular, with brass coming back into style but in a gold stainless steel look similar to a brushed brass, Bryson says.

Painted maple cabinets in white and gray finishes have made up at least half of Rusco Design Center’s cabinet orders, Bryson says. Other cabinets gaining popularity are a contemporary style with laminate and thermofoil cabinet doors, which give them a high-gloss and smooth appearance.

“We had a customer whose kitchen we did in the early ’90s with cherry-colored cabinets and beige colors,” Bryson says. “Now they’re building a house and it’s super contemporary with grays and blacks. So they flip-flopped their styles.”

A “modern farmhouse” style for décor is a trend that remains popular because of HGTV’s show “Fixer Upper,” says Nick Giancola, owner of Spruce Home Décor.

“That show is a huge influencer for a lot of people who are loving the feel and look of a warm, cozy home,” he says.

Reclaimed barn items, such as buckets, metal items and reclaimed wood are still popular. And a lot of wall art that have words such as, “blessed,” “gather” and “home” are popular, Giancola says. “People are making a statement by using wall art to let guests feel comfortable when they walk in.”

A popular style that Giancola has seen is a “natural desert-like approach” for the home with macramé wall hangings, complemented by succulents being used as décor.

Right now, many of Spruce Home Décor’s customers are buying floral arrangements to “bring spring inside their home,” Giancola says.

These are selling along with vases, glass jugs and hand-blown glass products that will be filled with the purchased flowers and aren’t costly to use as decorations, he says.

“For a long time, most people thought of design as a luxury high-end item but that’s changing,” he says. “Everyone wants their home to be welcoming and put together and now it’s accessible to everyone.”

Pictured: Rusco Design Center owner Chris Bryson.

Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.