The prosperous time before the Dot-com crash prompted many consumers to dive into buying grandiose properties suited for over-sized furniture. However, as this first decade of the 21st century comes to an end, the trends are changing.

“Households are using their homes as intensely as ever,” said Chief Economist Kermit Baker of The American Institute of Architects. Trying to cut expenses, families are scaling down their homes and re-purposing rooms. Three-car garages and multiple living rooms are no longer desirable.

Instead, living rooms and guest rooms are being re-utilized as home offices and multimedia rooms. Large furniture pieces like sectionals or executive-style leather sofas are not such a hit as they were ten years ago. Instead, new trends are being driven more by the home multimedia boom. Home cinemas, game consoles, computers and wireless networks are becoming standard household accoutrements, and are used by the whole family. Families are starting to converge in the heart of the home.

The standard structure of rooms are changing, too. Instead of strictly divided, single-purpose areas, more rooms are gaining multiple purposes. Kids can play on gaming consoles and parents can manage their home businesses, joining them later on in the same place. Family interaction doesn’t mean just watching TV together anymore.

All these changes can be traced back to our need for relaxation, which is being fulfilled less and less by the formal conservativeness of the 2000’s style of furniture. People want to enjoy their time spent at home, and are more willing to experiment with their creativity. As designer Mark Hampton says, “Real comfort, visual and physical, is vital to every room.”

We can’t forget to mention another popular trend—“green living.” Environmental awareness is quickly penetrating into vast numbers of households. Sustainable flooring, furniture made of recycled materials or sustainably harvested wood now represent more-than-decent competitors to the traditional leather or exotic wood furniture.

The “green life” influences our home’s outdoor living space, too. Interest in low-maintenance landscaping greenery instead of water-consuming lawns, organic gardening, composting, and even hobby farms are blossoming in many North American cities. More people want to drink outside, dine outside, and sometimes even sleep outside—and they want patio furniture to make it all possible.

It is obvious that 2000’s first-decade trend of formal luxury is being pushed aside by a trend which combines high-tech conveniences with nature. There is one room, though, that seems to have avoided being redefined—the bathroom. The heaven of relaxation still needs to be large, roomy, and well-equipped. Philip Tracey, PR at HomeGoods, explains: “The spa bathroom is ‘the’ new two-car garage—a must-have if you ever want to sell your home.”