Home office, entertainment offer growing opportunities
Ray Allegrezza, Editor in Chief -- Furniture Today, January 22, 2006
Without a doubt, trends taking place outside the home inevitably affect what goes on inside. For example, the steady rise in telecommuting and non-traditional working arrangements, coupled with the high cost of gasoline, has helped escalate the home office as the most popular special-function room in the house.
Also, with technology producing a growing assortment of home entertainment products at increasingly attractive price/performance ratios, it's easy to see why home theater and home entertainment rooms also show up very high on consumers' wish lists in their homes.
Worth noting is that two recent studies from two groups, The American Institute of Architects and the National Assn. of Home Builders, arrive at similar conclusions regarding consumer demand for home offices and home entertainment areas.
In the case of the AIA, the growing demand for home offices came to light as part of the group's most recent Home Design Trends Survey, which is conducted quarterly.
The study noted that with home sizes generally continuing to grow, many homeowners are moving to add features to address their evolving lifestyles.
In particular, the report explained, "One room type growing quite substantially in popularity is the home office. Home offices not only accommodate home businesses, self-employed individuals and regular telecommuters, but also provide more flexibility for working a portion of the workweek at home, or for those working some extra hours on nights and weekends."
Home offices also were cited in a recent survey by the home builders group. In that study, the NAHB said, "An emerging trend in the higher-end market is the advent of a 'flex' room or 'bonus' room situated above three-car garages."
These rooms, which often are 1,000 square feet or larger, are frequently used as either a home office or as a media room, according to Jerry Howard, the group's executive vice president.
Either way, in terms of opportunities, I think these studies and their findings give new meaning to the old saw about there being no place like home.
As the year unfolds, I plan to keep a careful eye on the developments and opportunities from these two home areas and I hope you plan to do the same.
As always, I invite you to drop me a line and let me hear from you! E-mail me at rallegrezza@reedbusiness.com.
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