Four Trends for Suburban and Hobby Shops

Thank you Blunier Builders, Inc. for this guest post

The world of custom post-frame construction is ever-changing. No two days or two buildings are alike. More and more clients are turning to social media for their building inspiration, especially when it comes to suburban and hobby shop builds.

With the rise of online inspiration, we have seen new trends emerge that are taking these buildings to a new level.

Our top four trends we are seeing today are exterior styles, softer features, standard options, turned custom, and building use. We will be going into greater detail about what these trends mean and how we as a builder are adapting to these trends.

1. Exterior Styles

When it comes to our suburban buildings, we are seeing two major themes in exteriors. The modern farmhouse look has been around for a while and has really picked up steam in the last few years. Our typical "farmhouse" style is the traditional white steel siding mixed with matte black, charcoal, or slate grey.

Typically, our clients mix in black windows and more industrial lighting options and door choices. This gives their building a timeless look that stands out from the traditional style people tend to think of when you say post-frame building.

The latest trend in building exteriors is to go all dark. We are seeing more and more all matte black, charcoal, or a combination of the two. The darker colors give these buildings a classic striking look that our clients love. No matter what you decide, you can't go wrong with these two different but equally stunning exterior styles.

2. Softer Features

Traditionally post-frame buildings have been thought of as very basic and standard farm shops. While we still do a large majority of those farm shops, suburban buildings are a whole different ball game.

Features play a big role in giving these buildings their custom feel and the character that our clients have come to expect. Our clients are using softer features throughout their building's exterior to achieve that custom look they are after. We see more and more cedar accents throughout the exterior of our builds.

Whether that's in the form of custom cedar trusses or cedar porch columns, many of our buildings have cedar accents in some way. Brick was the norm for many years, but the stone is now a more popular option that our clients are turning to when enhancing their building.

Small changes to the building's exteriors make huge differences in the look and feel of the building, and clients are starting to put more effort into the features that truly make a difference.

3. Standard Turned Custom

The benefits that you get when you build post-frame construction are, by and large, why our clients choose to build their hobby shops and suburban buildings with us. In the past few years, we have seen clients taking the traditional benefits of post-frame and elevating them to add that custom, high-quality feel they desire.

The maintenance-free steel is a huge reason why most people choose a post-frame build; however, we're seeing more clients using wood grain steel or something to that effect that gives character while also keeping all the benefits that steel siding has to offer.

Another common change we are seeing is adjusting the roof pitches to give more detail and visual appeal to their building. Mansards that were traditionally very similar are now becoming customized to fit the desired look and feel of the client's building.

Concrete is another element that used to be fairly standard in all our builds. We are now seeing clients customize their concrete selections to elevate their buildings even more. Interiors have also been affected by Pinterest, and we are seeing a whole different set of interior linings. When it comes to steel liners, white has always been the go-to for our clients, but that's not always the case anymore.

They mix it up by adding different color liners and mixing and matching steel with barn wood and shiplap. Custom is really what our clients have been after, and the interior lining is the perfect way to achieve that custom look without breaking the bank.

4. Building use

For a long time, the traditional suburban post-frame building was typically a garage of some sort. Since people have become aware of the benefits post-frame construction offers, the "suburban" category has evolved into so much more.

The buildings we are seeing today are much larger than before and much taller. They are being used for a variety of different things, which in turn means their size has been adjusted for those uses.

We're seeing more and more buildings used as family gathering spots, cabins, recreational spaces, and "getaway" spaces.

Each building we design truly is such a custom building designed to meet that exact client's wants and needs. The more the suburban buildings change, the more exciting it is to create these spaces for the clients to use for years to come.

While post-frame construction is always changing, the trends will be changing as well. At Blunier Builders, we are here to help you design and build your dream building, whether that means sticking to the current trends or building something different. We are your post-frame construction specialists and look forward to serving your needs in whatever way we can.

This post is courtesy of our friends at Blunier Builders, Inc.