Some people want their homes to be tranquil havens: soft colors and fabrics, cushy furniture, and an organized place for all their belongings. Others want a festive or whimsical feel in their homes with colored walls, funky art, and unique furnishings. Whichever way it goes, a person’s home is a reflection of who they are and how they live. But when following your bliss when decorating or renovating, it’s best to keep in mind that what you do can affect your condominium’s value.

And value, these days, seems to be all about kitchens and baths.

“Kitchens are always a significant moment in showing a property,” says Joseph DeAngelo of Gibson Sotheby's International Realty in Boston. “People love new kitchens, and nobody really wants to rip out a kitchen when they buy a new place.” If the money is there, he recommends, sellers can really take the upper hand by renovating a kitchen before going on the market. “It'll sell,” he says.

But what does a sexy kitchen look like these days? Surely, avocado is not back in style, but what about lime green? What appliances are must-haves and what's the latest in floors and countertops?

The Open Floor Plan

Kitchens are getting bigger, and dream kitchens are now a place to gather and linger; they are entertainment centers and computer centers and even laundry centers. As kitchens have become more integrated into a home’s total functioning, new construction in condos is keeping up with the trend.

Maureen MacNamara of Lewis Builders in Atkinson, New Hampshire, tells this story about how the open kitchen with breakfast bar came to be included their latest project of 116 age-restricted townhouse-style condominiums.

“In one of our single family homes, a buyer asked that we modify the floor plan by taking down a wall between the kitchen and living room,” she remembers. “When we saw it, we loved it.”So now, the residents at Angle Pond get a modern amenity that makes their kitchen more functional and more attractive at the same time. Buyers who are leaving homes with older kitchens are delighted by the design, says MacNamara.

The Preserve at the Bay Club in Mattapoisett, Massachusetts, scheduled for its first occupancy in spring and summer of 2008, is also a new development whose units all feature open floor plans. Designed as free-standing homes with a two- or three-car garages, these spacious homes offer buyers two or three bedrooms on the first floor; a finished basement; and a kitchen, great room, and dining room that open into each other. Theroom arrangement is meant to be flexible in accommodating an intimate family dinner as well as larger holiday events or parties. Or, a formal dining room in one person’s home might become the entertainment center in another’s.

Integrated Appliances

“Buyers get it now, that not all stainless steel appliances are the same,” says real estate agent DeAngelo. “They want Viking and the higher quality brands.”

Julie Holzman of Holzman Interiors in Westport, Connecticut, whose clients are mostly young condo owners in New York City, agrees that Viking provides excellentquality for range and cook tops. She also says that wine coolers, somewhere in the kitchen or entertaining area, are a must-have for her clients.

Another trend that DeAngelo sees is the return of integrated appliances. The “big metal box” is out, he says. They want “beautiful, modern cabinetry and appliances that blend in.”

According to its website, Sub-Zero offers a line of integrated refrigeration that “merges seamlessly into the décor, with no visible hinges or grilles.”

The return of laundry to the kitchen area has also brought integrated washing machines and dryers. Miele offers a “decormodel” with an integrated conversion option that allows a washer and dryer to fit seamlessly beneath a countertop. It also can accept a custom door panel.

When laundry care products aren’t integrated, they are beautiful. Exterior design features such as vibrant high-gloss colored finishes or stainless steel control panels and trim are meant to be seen and become part of a room's flavor. Stephanie Miller writes in Custom Home Magazine that “just as high-end kitchen appliances were elevated from mere machines to elements of design, washers and dryers are undergoing a similar transformation... (Appliance) shapes are becoming more rounded, fluid, and aerodynamic, taking inspiration from the automobile and electronics industries. ”

Natural Material

Call it green or call it just good-looking, consumers are seeking natural materials in all rooms of the house. Paul Leys of Gustave White Sotheby’s International Realty in Newport, Rhode Island, says that stone and granite are “highly desired” in countertops. Other natural countertop choices include quartz, which is found on Earth in great abundance and used in a ground form mixed with synthetic resin, and clay or glass tile. Holzman mentions that glass backsplashes are all the rage in her market.

Fireclay Tile, based in San Jose, California, offers an increasing mix of tile sizes and materials that allow for large sheet installation. Vulcanite, for example, is made from volcanic lava which is quarried in large blocks and then cut into slabs. It can be produced in a variety of finish textures and colors. The company’s Debris Series of tiles is made from 50% recycled materials such as granite dust, green and brown bottleglass, and windowpanes. Countertops are really getting creative!

“We're not even seeing Corian anymore,”says Leys, referring to the countertop of choice ten years ago.

Bamboo, a durable and plentiful natural grass, is becoming a popular material for floors, window treatments, and wall coverings. “I just did a bamboo wall,” Holzman says. At 12 feet by 12 feet, “it's dramatic—the most talked about feature of the condo.”

As an alternative to hardwood floors, bamboo is said to be as hard as hard maple for resisting scratches and dents. It can be installed in tongue and groove planks or in floating strips that make for super-easy installation. Naturally, bamboo is a light golden shade, but it can be carbonized, which means heated, so that the sugar in the bamboo darkens naturally, and it can also be stained. Kiwi, pomegranate, mango and lava rock are the shades offered in a new line of stained bamboo flooring from Silkroad®.

The Bathroom as Spa

Like kitchens, bathrooms are becoming more elaborate as they begin to approximate a retreat center within the home. “Bathrooms need to deliver a spa-esque feeling,” DeAngelo says, “right down to the smell. The atmosphere should be relaxing and luxurious.”

If bathrooms are getting bigger and more specialized, how are condo owners, whose homes are sometimes on the smaller side, getting into the action?

Warmer stone and tile are one way, Leys says. With a high quality tile that is truly special, not the home-improvement store variety, a small touch can make a big difference. Original Style, one of the UK's leading tile manufacturers, has a diverse line of stone mosaics, some made of traditional squares, some from pebbles, and some from “smooth-edged crocks of broken stones loosely arranged into interlocking shapes.” They recommend smallerpatterns and lighter colors to create an illusion of space in smaller rooms.

In addition to stone line, Original Style offers distinctive frosted glass pebble mosaics which the company describes as “smooth, curved and soft in appearance, with a gem-like quality as they gleam in the light.” Glass pebbles, the company says, create “a contemporary look with natural charm.”

Holzman suggests that in smaller-sized condos, a deep-soaking tub gives the look and feel of a whirlpool. Her clients, who are in the prime of their careers, put whirlpools in, she says, but may not really use them. “They certainly don't have time to be cleaning jets after a bath,”she adds.

Bubble or air massage tubs, which have been a around for a while, have been gainingpopularity in recent years. Instead of focused jets that force a high-pressure water stream onto specific areas of the body, a bubble massage tub blows air only through small holes that line the perimeter or bottom of the tub. The resulting massage is gentler and more evenly distributed around the body.

In jetted tub systems, a little bit of water remains in the piping after the tub is drained, which requires special attentionand cleaning. Air massage tubs self-clean with a puff of air after the unit has been turned off, and because water does not re-circulate in the pipes, air systems are safe for the use of bath oil, salts, and mud masks, which are not recommended in whirlpool baths. Kohler and Jacuzzi both offer whirlpool tubs, air massage systems, and combination products.

Holzman says she is just starting to put the larger shower systems that have becomepopular lately into condos—but she warns that it’s important to check with association regulations before beginning a bathroom overhaul. She has plans for a dream bathroom currently under review and has some concerns about it being approved. In any case, the options are many these days for turning the ordinary shower into an enticing experience—even in the early morning.

From early morning until late evening, a condo’s amenities make it both a joy to live in and add to its resale value down the road.