Latest NewsAltered States: How We've ChangedWednesday, 26 October 2016

Ten years ago, our lounge rooms were dominated by bulky wooden cabinets housing big, clunky televisions; our kitchens were shut off from the living areas; one indoor bathroom was considered more than adequate for a family of five; and bedrooms were only for two things - one being sleeping.

Today, we've undergone an absolute revolution in the way we live.

Bedrooms have been transformed by technology into media rooms, chatrooms and computer gaming palaces, interiors all aspire to be airy and full of light and, if minimalism is God, then outdoors spaces tripping seamlessly into the interior are the angels.

"The mix of design and technology has changed our homes completely,"
says interior designer Wende Reid of Form and Colour.

"Television sets, for example, have changed so many times and now they're so slim you can hang them on walls, watch them on fridge doors, put them anywhere.

"Technology has made a big impact on how we furnish and organise the space in our homes, as suddenly all the rooms can become multi-purpose and we can look again at how we plan our lives."

Designer decade

During a decade of Domain, we've all become a great deal more aware of design and style in our houses and apartments.

Since Domain's birth, followed by the plethora of lifestyle television shows and specialist magazines about doing up, knocking down and rebuilding our homes, we've never been so interested in looking so good.

"We're now much more demanding about the style of homes and see the benefit of good architectural design," says the NSW state manager of Archicentre, Angus Kell.

"That's been a major change. We like to keep it simple, then add our own special style."

We're also drawn to larger houses these days; ones with many more bathrooms, sometimes even more than the number of bedrooms.

But today, master bedrooms must have an ensuite - as well as the other bedrooms having the same - and people like having dressing rooms, too."

Gone to the dogs

Apartment-dwellers have also become more demanding during the past 10 years, with balconies now de rigueur and communal facilities, such as pools, gyms and gardens, preferred.

Accordingly, as well as the top-end boutique blocks with all mod cons, we've seen the rise of very large complexes, such as Breakfast Point and Jackson's Landing, Kell says.

They're not just for us, either. "Australia has one of the highest populations of pets, per capita, in the world, so they're part of our lifestyle," says the NSW consultant to the Petcare Information and Advisory Service, Susie Chaseling.

"It used to be only scummy, daggy apartment blocks where pets were allowed but over the last decade, there's been a big shift towards allowing pets in upmarket blocks.

"That's a continuing trend and, as it develops, you'll see more communal spaces for pets, integrated access and better ways of accommodating them."

At the same time, we've also seen a strong lifestyle movement to the inner city away from the outer suburbs. "People like to live closer to facilities like restaurants, cafes, shops and transport," says the managing director of SQM Research, Louis Christopher.

They've also become more knowledgeable, and smarter, in their choices, making good use of the increasing number of suburb, price data and research reports now available on the internet.

Greener homes have also come into vogue in the past 10 years, says climate change activist Natalie Isaacs of the 1 Million Women campaign, with water tanks in gardens, worm farms beside sheds, solar panels on roofs, better double-glazing in windows to keep the heat in - or out - and water-saving devices in showers, toilets and taps.

"In apartments, that's meant a rise in cross-ventilation over air-conditioning, better recycling facilities and often reusing grey water," she says.

And the next decade

As for the next 10 years, many have strong ideas about how trends might shape up, with green dreams, in particular, becoming red-hot.

At futurist McCrindle Research, Jeff Gilling says population growth, which will mean a sharp rise in apartment living, will be a strong driver.

"Our research has seen a pull-back in the level of consumerism and a rise in downsizing, or 'enoughism', where people no longer want the best, biggest and shiniest things," Gilling says.

"That will be accompanied by a rising demand for greener homes." Concern about the sustainability of our homes will certainly grow, Kell agrees.

Good energy ratings, passive solar design, better building materials, the efficient use of water, cross-ventilation and recycling will all be kingpins of the market.

"People underestimate that issue at the moment," he says. "But that's where things are going to head over the next 10 years."

Fellow futurist Richard Neville sees Sydney's back gardens turned over to permaculture, with communal spaces in apartment buildings and roofs also used to grow food.

Harbourside living might also start to lose its allure with rising sea levels. "We love our waterfront views and position but with climate change, that might not be so attractive," he says.

"It could be the same with those seachange ideas of a place in the mountains. Rising temperatures when you're surrounded by trees that explode rather quickly isn't so good."

After the desire for those big, open interior spaces, people will want more closed-in, individual rooms, which are easier to keep clean, better for hiding children's mess and provide private retreats for parents and teenagers.

Apartments will also start to be designed more to cater for the needs of certain groups of buyers, rather than all to one homogenous standard, architect Frank Stanisic suggests.

While we've seen fashions for small kitchens, communal wine cellars and small movie theatres, there could even be no kitchens in the next 10 years.

"Many people will be too busy to eat at home, so their apartments will have very small, or no, kitchens," Stanisic says.

"They'll be places to sleep only." They may also be more culturally specific, with more efficient exhaust systems in kitchens for Asian families who love to cook or shoe shelves at the door for those of Japanese origin.

But along with our homes and gardens, Sydney, too, could become unrecognisable.

"The cities of Sydney, Newcastle and Wollongong will spread into each other, rather like Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego," Gilling says. "It could be a very different place."