Thoroughly modern

21st century touches are blending right in

Betsy Lehndorff, Rocky Mountain News

Published December 30, 2006 at midnight

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You'll have to search to find the hottest home-decorating trends for 2007. High-tech systems are being incorporated so effectively into homes and home products that they're almost invisible. Yet the comfort and efficiency they offer will be easy to enjoy.

Homes stay warmer, bed sheets are softer and 80 books can be stored in a simple electronic tablet for years of bedtime reading.

"People want to live with what the 21st century has to offer," says Denver architect Ron Faleide. "They also want to gather and enjoy the richness of life."

Faleide and his team updated a 100- year-old stone schoolhouse in Morrison, filling it with comfort and natural materials that are expected to be popular in 2007. The first floor consists of a huge kitchen, a great room and a new patio. The rooms are separated by walls of glass that can be opened to join the spaces so the owners can drift between shelter and nature.

"You couldn't do this house 100 years ago, because we didn't have low-E (energy-efficient) glass and other technologies," Faleide says.

For more on these trends, we've tapped experts in Denver and across the country. They include Jodi Feinhor-Dennis of Invironments, Boulder, Dick Gentry of Wesco Fabrics; Mindy Pantiel, design and architecture editor; Kevin Vesel of Studio Como Contemporary Design; architect Doug Walter; Marian Salzman of JWT; and the American Home Furnishings Alliance.

Whole house

• More people are choosing low-maintenance building materials so they don't have to keep repainting and caulking. Brick, cement siding and aluminum-clad windows are some of the most popular.

• XsunX is preparing to launch Power Glass, a window that generates electricity with an unobstructed view.

• People are installing high-efficiency air conditioning on the second floors of their homes. The cool air works its way down to the lower floors and saves the cost of extensive ductwork.

Living room

• Natural textures are popular, such as flooring made of reclaimed timber or rough-finished stone. Walls are being slathered with hand-troweled plaster, and rustic beams are being refined into fireplace mantels.

• Enticed initially by the popularity of Japanese cartoons and electronic games, young Americans are embracing J-pop, or Japanese pop culture. Pastel fabrics with outlines of flowers inspired by the culture are popular.

• Upholstered chairs, sofas and recliners are being designed with more curves, pushing more geometrical furnishings into the garage.

• Flat-screen TVs are becoming cheaper and easier to decorate with because they fit into shallow niches or can be hidden behind framed, high- tech mirrors.

Kitchen/dining room

• Kitchens are getting bigger to serve more functions: as a place to talk, cook, eat and socialize.

• Countertops are being installed at varying heights, accommodating young and old residents alike.

• Modular cabinets and countertops are flooding the Denver market. These European-inspired designs are long and linear. When you move, you can take that part of your kitchen with you.

• Set the table with O2xygen wine glasses, made in Germany for Lenox. The glass is treated, so they bounce instead of shatter when knocked over. $40 for four

• Know exactly how old those leftovers are with the DaysAgo digital day counter. Attach it to that jar of tomato sauce and it'll keep track of how long it's been in the fridge.

Home office

• Wireless laptops and telephones allow you to work anywhere in the house, if not the world, so the end of the home office is near. Use the space for something else, like a crafts room.

Bedroom

• J.C. Penney and Target offer Nano-Tex sheets, made of soft, satin-weave cotton thread by a high-tech process. Penney's queen-size set of 350-thread-count, wrinkle-free sheets is $60 or less.

• Read yourself to sleep at night with Sony's Portable Reader System. The $349 electronic tablet holds up to 80 books and displays them one page at a time.

• Teenagers are turning their bedrooms into command central, where they talk on the phone with friends while sending text messages, e-mail and instant messages. Sales of bedroom furniture for teens and under are expected to reach $5.7 billion by 2010.

Bathroom

• The touchless bathroom is here, although the technology is still quite expensive. Install motion-detector lights, faucets, soap dispensers and hand driers. Add a fully automated Toto toilet with built-in wash wand and drier, and you can omit toilet paper, too.

• Want skylights but hate the glare? Velux makes a solar-powered skylight with built-in shade that you operate by pressing a button. No wiring needed.

lehndorffb@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-2792

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