HOME TRENDS

PODCAST!

We change our homes. We see what others are doing – on the web, in books, in person: We keep up with the Joneses. Why? The hype of media drives all fashion, but working on your home takes the largest parts of our wallets, and time. Entire chains of big box stores respond to huge trends from “color of the year” to Hygge http://hyggehouse.com/hygge.

But humans have always changed their homes: since they have had homes: which is from the get go. Some call it “styles”, others “aesthetics”, but it is really about many realities that have nothing to do design, architecture, even construction. Technology brought bathrooms into our homes. Central heating made fireplaces decorative. Climate change makes temperature control a front and center part of home design. West Nile Virus and melanoma encourage screen porches. 

Did the two career family create the “open” floor plan with the Altar of the Kitchen: the Island (now berated) https://www.remodelista.com/posts/remodeling-101-kitchen-islands-ruining-americas-kitchens/ from a website that exists to follow trends: But our homes should be about Each Of Us: NOT fashion: How do we get control of our homes from the trends?

HOME PAGE talks to those who can “out” why we follow trends by understanding what they are and where they come from: joining us are 3 people who have dedicated themselves to how our lives are reflected in our homes:

Jason Bischoff-Wurstle is the Director of Photo Archives at the New Haven Museum,https://www.newhavenmuseum.org but he is also a lover of the history of home, and also a Board Member of the Board of The New Haven Preservation Trust NHPT. Jason has created many of the New Haven Museum’s most interesting exhibits, connecting the past with the people of today. Jason’s latest exhibit “Daymarks 1872” which opened in December, highlights New Haven’s social history as reflected through the changes in the city’s skyline, is currently on view at the New Haven Museum.

John Milnes Baker is an award-winning architect who specializes in Residential Design  He was a 2018 recipient of Marquis Who’s Who Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award as a “leader in the field of architecture.” Mr. Baker is the author of American House Styles: a Concise Guide originally published by W.W. Norton & Co. in 1994. A new expanded edition was published in July 2018.  https://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=john+milnes+baker&tag=mh0b-20&index=stripbooks&hvadid=78408976674170&hvqmt=e&hvbmt=be&hvdev=c&ref=pd_sl_5ew0ucceph_e along with How to Build a House with an Architect, published in 1988 by Harper & Row. An adjunct professor he taught courses on the History of the American House at The New School in New York City. 

Barbara Ballinger has been an award-winning journalist for more than 46 years. She started her career at House & Garden’s special publications. For the last 28 years, she has had her own freelance writing business and has co-authored 18 books ,including Suddenly Single after 50: The Girlfriends’ Guide to Navigating Loss, Restoring Hope and Rebuilding Your Life (Rowman & Littlefield). She and Margaret Crane, write a weekly blog, www.LifeLessonsat50plus.com