Home of the future: unprecedented study reveals 5 macro trends for living

Before the pandemic, the home was seen as a place of passage. During the crisis, life had to fit inside the home, and today, it plays multiple roles. What people are looking for now is to feel happy at home, and this means embracing diversity in living, whether across generations, single-family homes or multispecies families. In addition, a better home is more flexible and accessible, interacts with its surroundings and acts as a point of connection between the individual, the community and the planet. This is what the recently released study The Future of Living reveals, carried out by Dexco in partnership with the trend analysis company Spark:off, and presented by the brands Deca , Portinari , Duratex , Castelatto and Ceusa . “Today, people work, receive family and friends for moments of relaxation and leisure, and also seek refuge and self-connection within the home. In this way, we see that it has become a space full of meaning and functions”, explains Mateus Silveira , head of Dexco's Design Office and responsible for conducting the study. The research tracked local and global household trends, considering what consumers want in relation to their homes by analyzing people's behaviors, and consulted experts in related areas to identify new desires and consumption values. The study included Alexandre Frankel (real estate), Felipe Hess (architect), Gilberto Elkis (landscaper), Guto Requena (architect and designer), Jader Almeida (designer), Luis Fronterrota (events), Marcio Kogan (architect), Percival Lafer (architect and designer), Rita Lobo (culinary), Talita Franco (well-being), Vinícius Zanchin (energy) and Wellington Melo (hospitality). The result is five major trends and consumer behaviors that are expected to emerge from now on, through which we can envision the housing of the future. It will also serve as a guide for Dexco brands to understand where and how to invest in product development to meet the new demands of housing. Check out more below:

1- Work Life Revolution

A Networked Home is a home with a productive life and adapted for remote work. The concept represents the automation of the home with technology, which makes the daily lives of residents easier. According to the study, 57% of the Brazilian population believes that smart home technologies will gain more space and have a greater impact on their lives in the coming years. And 80% of Brazilians believe that the priority in the Internet of Things should be security and home monitoring (Source: GFK). This connectivity should also be understood in the broadest sense of the word, representing a connection with sustainability and nature preservation, with more balanced practices.

2- Homejoy

These homes are ideal for entertaining, having fun and receiving friends and family. A kitchen today, for example, is not just a space for cooking, but also an area for socializing with friends and family and creating happy memories. Shape, colors and objects with stories can also contribute to good experiences.

Well-being at home is the trend towards seeking calm, comforting environments to calm anxiety, with residential spaces adapted to evoke serenity. “Thinking especially about homes that accommodate several generations, it is necessary to have a balance between the social and the private – environments that promote coexistence between all members of the household, but that still respect their private universes”, explains Marina Crocomo , Marketing and Design Director at Dexco. “We need to understand how the house is reconfigured, since it is now the center of connections and many things can happen inside it. During the day it is an office, the resident can work from anywhere, sitting on the sofa, in the winter garden of the house or working in the bedroom, and at night he receives people to socialize in the same place”, says Silveira.

4- Radical biophilia

Biophilia means the movement of bringing life into the home. But it goes beyond the use of plants in decoration: our home is our planet, everything is interconnected. Data from YouGov, an international research group, shows that 60% of consumers are willing to change their lifestyle to benefit the environment and 89% of people think it is important to buy or rent an energy-efficient home. Nowadays, there is a global awareness that it is urgent to change the focus on the home: from practices that cause less harm to solutions that contribute to healthier ecosystems. “Technology has been an important tool in achieving the goals of preserving natural resources such as water, for example. Products such as water- and energy-saving taps, basins, and showers are popular with consumers and, at the same time, promote well-being. The home of the future will be a rational home, where we will have automation and low maintenance. Rainwater will increasingly be reused,” says Crocomo.

5- Living with fluidity

This is the trend that relates to the adaptability of spaces , which must be multifunctional , enhanced by versatile and modular furniture, with adjustable heights, which allow ergonomic adjustments and meet the needs of people of different ages and needs . According to the study, between 2012 and 2022, the number of people between the ages of 25 and 34 who stayed at home increased by 137% in the United States, a global trend for reasons of convenience, reinforced by the consequences of the pandemic. In parallel with the growth of multigenerational homes, in Brazil, there was also an increase (43.7%) in homes with a single inhabitant in the last ten years, according to the IBGE – which generated a growing demand for increasingly smaller apartments. The survey says that the launch of apartments of up to 30 m² grew by 21% in seven years in the city of São Paulo (Source: SECOVI-SP). “The time has come to expand our focus to meet the new needs of multigenerational homes, serving generations with different genders, styles and demands, at different stages of life,” says Silveira. “We already have accessibility products, such as grab bars, not only for people with disabilities, but for people with any type of disability. We want them to be able to have these stylish products, with the design and color they like. In fact, we will launch accessibility bars from the Deca brand at CASACOR Brasília , which were co-created with architects Flavia Ranieri and Mariana Quinelato, who specialize in geriatric architecture ,” says Marina.