A few months ago, I was having lunch with a friend who was about to embark on a major home renovation. Faced with decisions to make on everything from countertops to crown molding, she was confounded. “I wish I could look into a crystal ball to see what will still look fresh and contemporary in a year or two,” she sighed. Then, recalling that she swore off taking on a project this extensive again, she reconsidered. “Or a decade or two.”
While we’ll never know for certain what trends promise real staying power, there are some savvy professionals in our area who could proffer a pretty close guess. Those experts, in the field and in the markets everyday, could give my beleaguered buddy (and the rest of us) some direction toward best-bet home investments, handy information if one is to live with the results of a project for a while.
—anonymous
My friend’s longing for style secrets (with a bit of educated soothsaying thrown in for good measure) was the driving force behind the issue in your hands. Our Insider’s Issue is full of tips, trends, and privy advice from local pros in-the-know. After all, who among us wouldn’t want an army of interior designers, architects, builders, and landscape architects on hand to forecast when you’re about to sink some serious swag into furniture you hope to pass down to the kids or a renovation that will cost as much as college tuition? It’s about making an investment in your home like you’d make any other major investment: armed with as much knowledge as you can muster.
Dana Asher
Executive Editor
