7 Hot Design Trends to Bring to Your Construction Site

How to Makeover Your Jobsite with Minimalism, Hygge and More

In construction, it’s easy to get caught up in the day-to-day hecticness of the industry. But while you might be working hard to meet important project schedules and stay under budget, there’s a key priority you’re likely forgetting; creating a stylish jobsite!

Styleless and bland looking jobsites are a thing of construction past. Today, it’s essential to keep a thumb on the latest interior and design trends if you want to stay relevant.

As today is the very first day in April, we think it’s the perfect time construction team’s considers giving their construction site and trailer a well-needed makeover–just in time for the start of Spring! Looking for some inspiration on how to take the construction work environment from drab to fab? Flip through our SlideShare (or pdf version), or read below, to learn about 7 of the hottest design trends of 2019 that you can bring to your project today!  

7 Design Makeovers to Take to Your Next Construction Project

1. The Jobsite-Changing Magic of Tidying Up

Take some tips from minimalist-guru Marie Kondo and start decluttering your jobsite and trailer. Don’t forget to consider your items and tools “feelings” to know what to keep and what can go. First, start with the least emotionally charged items on site like scratched safety glasses and moldy lunch leftovers in the back fridge. Then, move onto more sentimental items like your worn through steel-toed boots and that company newsletter with photos for your first topping out party.

What’s really in: One thing that inevitably fails to “spark joy” are the stacks of outdated blueprints and documents lying around projects. Do a digital declutter instead–simplify your projects by getting rid of the last traces paper and streamline workflows with new construction tech.

2. Incorporating the Pantone of the Year: Living Coral

Transform your worksite from drab to fab by incorporating the Pantone color of the year, living coral. Think about adding an accent wall to your trailer or give your watercoolers on site a fresh coat of paint–stylish and hydrating. Or perhaps you’re in the market for a new tablet color? Pantone’s color of the year ensures you’ll never lose your tablet again.

What’s really in: Marking workplace hazards with the correct OSHA approved color codes–in construction, safety is always in.  

3. Put a Plant on It!

Feeling like your jobsite is becoming a little stuffy? Add some foliage for a literal breath of fresh air. How about a succulent wall? Or a fiddle leaf fig to go next to your Knaack Box? Who needs a plan room when you can have a plant room? If your jobsite doesn’t double as a garden, you’re doing it wrong.

What’s really in: Instead of bringing the environment to your jobsite, aim to protect it. Reduce waste with lean processes and adopt sustainable practices whenever possible.

4. Rose Steel

Who wants regular steel these days? Add a little bling to your construction materials with rose-colored steel. Just imagine how nice your I-beams will look now.

What’s really in: While steel is not going away anytime soon, construction’s dependence on it could be lessened. Keep a pulse on new rising materials like graphene and cross-laminated timber.

5. Concrete Accents

Concrete isn’t just for foundations and floors–it can be used to add some contemporary industrial aesthetics to your jobsite. Envision how nice polished concrete desks will look in your trailer. Or perhaps go for a more subtle look, like a concrete statue for your desk or even combine the best of two trends–concrete planters for your plants. Bonus points if you build it yourself.

What’s really in: Similar to steel, major innovation has been shaking up the concrete industry including the rise of self-healing concrete and ferrock.

6. ‘70s Chic

Ready for a blast from the past? The ’70s are back in fashion, and it’s making a mark in the construction industry. Go old school and try replacing power tools with human-powered tools from the days past–your hipster millennial workers will surely be on board. And how about skipping advanced design software and revert to hand-drawn blueprints? So vintage!

What’s really in: One real trend making a comeback from the 1970s is the rise of prefabrication–a technique helping to build structures in record time with less waste.

7. Hygge

Move over Ikea; a new European trend is taking the design world by storm. Pronounced “hoo-ga,” hygge is a Danish lifestyle trend that invokes a sense of warmth and comfiness. Interested in bringing hygge to your jobsite? Fill your lunch area with plush cushions and a fireplace to set the mood. During breaks, encourage workers to hang up their boots and relax in your new Danish zen haven.

What’s really in: Getting workers to the comfort of their homes faster. A work-life balance is essential for happy construction workers and productivity software can help.

Oh, and did we mention it’s April 1?