Future Homes Will Be Smaller, IFDA Says

New York, NY, Sept. 1, 2011 -- Future houses will be smaller, more eco-savvy homes with fewer rooms, less formality, and more space for both private pursuits and family get-togethers, including aging parents and grown children returning to the nest, according to a survey just released by the International Furnishings and Design Association.

In the American home of 2020, family rooms and kitchens will be bigger. Less attention will be paid to formal living rooms. And dining rooms – instead of disappearing completely as so often predicted – will morph into multi-purpose spaces, incorporating home offices, study areas for the kids, and entertainment centers, the survey shows.

Their report, called “20/20: IFDA’s Vision for the Future,” is drawn from a survey of the association’s nearly 2000 members across the U.S. and abroad.

• Americans will be living in smaller spaces and with fewer rooms by the year 2020, say more than 76 percent of IFDA members. Ten years ago, only 49 percent foresaw less living space in our future.

• Formal living rooms are going extinct, according to an increasing majority of the design professionals (64+ percent, up from 51 percent in 2000).

• Nearly three-quarters of the respondents (71 percent) doubt that there will even be a separate dining room in most homes by 2020. The space will be put to multiple other uses instead because....

• Separate rooms are disappearing; they are blending into spaces that serve many different purposes, believe 91.5 percent of the design experts – which is exactly what they foresaw back in 2000.


•A home office is a given, say more than three-quarters of the respondents, but here’s the news: nearly 40 percent (37.3) of the forecasters see more than one home office under every roof.