Larger Kitchens & First-Floor Master Suites: Two Important Features in a Forever Home

While home construction, layout and design trends come and go (are your kitchen appliances still the “in” color these days?), some changes reflect profound generational shifts and prove to be more lasting. At LifeStage Home Designs, we create home designs that address the changes in both how people live and how long they live.

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Two such trends that have taken hold and that we expect to endure for a long time are significantly larger kitchens and the growing popularity of first-floor master suites. Both are rooted in the aging of the Baby Boomers and their desire to age-in-place.

Larger kitchens — especially those that are part of an open-concept floor plan — aren’t really a new trend. The size of the average kitchen in a single-family residence started growing in post-war America, and large kitchens that serve as both utilitarian and family gathering/entertaining spaces are the norm today.

And as universal design becomes more popular and more people seek out their “forever home” the size of kitchens will continue to inch up, or, at the least, force a rethinking of how the space is most effectively used. From needing spaces for separate refrigerators and freezers that are within easy reach for accessibility or limited mobility, to adding additional lower-level cabinet space with pullout drawers, designing and building the kitchen for your forever home needs to be well thought out.

Meanwhile, homes with first-floor master suites are becoming more popular every year. Recent data shows homes with first-floor master suites often sell faster and have higher property values than homes in the same neighborhood without one. As people age and mobility issues become a fact of life, a first-floor master suite is not only preferable, it is often times necessary.

In addition, first-floor master suites are attractive to empty nesters because it allows them to downsize without actually selling a home they love. With a first-floor master suite, closing off the upstairs bedrooms and not heating or cooling them unless children or other company comes to visit helps save money. Or, if your children or even grandchildren move back in, a first-floor master suite helps the parents have a little privacy and distance from the younger generations in the house.

LifeStage Home Designs has a number of layouts featuring the type of kitchens and first-floor master suites that are perfect for those who want a home where they can comfortably age in place. Please explore our options and contact us if you have questions about the design of your forever home.