“Organic, earthy, and reclaimed,” is how Dave Heigl describes one strong design trend he’s seeing in the Chicagoland custom home market. He says many clients want their kitchens and baths to feel antique—used, warm, and with the patina of age. They achieve that look with recycled wood floors and ceiling beams and with distressed cabinetry finished with a glaze of white that softens the deeper color beneath.
Pickell’s clients want to feel the warmth as much as see it, so the builder makes sure they stay cozy through the long Midwest winter. Heigl says that towel warmers and in-floor hydronic heat are pretty standard in Pickell master baths, and that he often installs warming drawers, which are usually associated with the kitchen, in the master bath to warm towels. Clients also like a TV installed behind the mirror so they can see what’s happening on Wall Street first thing in the morning. Those mirrors are framed in wood or tile these days. “We never glue a big mirror to the wall anymore,” he adds.
Showers are getting bigger in Pickell homes, but Heigl says they are seeing fewer tubs, except for claw-foot soaking tubs. Clients don’t really use the tub, he says, “but they look cool.”
Still, antique and warm isn’t the only style story in this market. Heigl’s also seeing an emerging counter trend toward the “Contemporary, engineered look,” sometimes softened with an Old World element, like reclaimed ceiling beams. He recently attended a trade show in Germany, where products (including a stainless range hood with a TV monitor in it) were highly engineered to achieve a tight, clean fit in the kitchen. “The Contemporary look is definitely coming this way,” he predicts.
