Insights · Custom homes · Design
Custom Home Design Trends for 2026: What to Keep and Skip
A trend is only worth building if you'd still choose it in fifteen years.
I get sent the same Pinterest boards every month. Some ideas on them are brilliant and will make a house better to live in for decades. Some will look dated before the landscaping grows in. And a few 'trends' are really regulation changes that nobody's explained yet.
Short answer
What are the custom home design trends worth following in 2026?
Build in what improves daily life: a butler's pantry or scullery, a proper home office, a drop zone by the garage door, and living areas split into zones rather than one huge room. Engineered stone benchtops were banned in Australia from July 2024, so porcelain, sintered and natural stone have taken over. Better glazing and insulation now matter more under tougher BASIX targets.
Written and reviewed by Oliver Alameri
Licensed builder, NSW Contractor Licence 487805C · Founder, Buildana
Fact-checked
The benchtop question has been settled for you
Engineered stone was the default kitchen benchtop for twenty years. Since 1 July 2024 it's been banned across Australia, because cutting it releases crystalline silica dust that has given workers silicosis. Existing benchtops are fine to live with. New ones can't be made or installed.
What's replaced it: porcelain slabs, sintered stone, natural stone like granite and quartzite, and solid timber for islands. Porcelain is thin and very hard, and chips on the edge if abused. Natural stone varies slab to slab, which some owners love and some hate. Choose your slab in person, not from a sample chip.
Rooms that earn their keep
The butler's pantry is here to stay, and for good reason. It takes the kettle, the toaster, the dirty dishes and the open cereal boxes out of the main kitchen. In a house where people entertain, it's the most useful ten square metres you'll build.
A real home office, with a door, is the other. Not a desk in the hallway. A room with acoustic separation from the living areas, decent light and enough power and data. Post-2020 that stopped being a luxury.
Smaller, less glamorous, just as useful: a drop zone between the garage and the kitchen for bags, shoes and keys, and a laundry big enough to fold clothes in. Nobody posts them online. Everybody thanks you for them later.
- Butler's pantry or scullery behind the kitchen
- Home office with a door and sound insulation
- Drop zone at the garage entry
- Laundry with bench space and storage
Got a mood board and a budget?
Bring the board and the number. I'll sort the ideas worth paying for on your build from the ones to drop, with rough costs against each.
0476 300 300Open plan is giving way to broken plan
The giant kitchen-living-dining room had a good run. The problem is noise. One room for cooking, homework, the TV and a phone call doesn't work when everyone's home.
Broken plan keeps the sightlines but adds separation: a step in the floor, a half-wall of joinery, a sliding door that closes a second living area off, a nook with its own window. You still feel the space. You just don't hear all of it at once.
Big double-height voids fall into the same bucket. They photograph beautifully. They're also expensive to heat and cool, carry sound upstairs and can be hard to clean. Use them sparingly, over the one room that deserves it.
Open plan looked great empty. Broken plan works when the family's actually home.
The energy rules nobody mentions
In NSW, every new home needs a BASIX certificate. The targets were raised in October 2023, and the thermal performance standard now sits roughly in line with a 7-star NatHERS rating. That's pushed better insulation, better glazing and more careful orientation into every design, custom or not.
In practice that means double glazing in more rooms, eaves sized to block summer sun, lighter roof colours in the hotter west, and less west-facing glass. Heat pump hot water and induction cooktops have become normal choices rather than green add-ons.
Good news, mostly. These are houses that are cheaper to run and nicer in a heatwave.
Trends I'd think twice about
All-dark exteriors in western Sydney. Charcoal cladding and a black roof look sharp and bake in January. Mid-tones age better and run cooler.
Feature everything. One strong material in a room is a statement. Four is a mess. Pick the one surface you care about most and let the rest support it.
And fully handleless kitchens on a tight budget. Push-to-open catches wear out, and finger-pull profiles collect grime. Done well, they're lovely. Done cheaply, you'll replace them.
Test every trend against these
Run each idea through this before it goes on the drawings.
- 01
Would I still choose this in fifteen years?
- 02
Does it make daily life easier, or just look good in photos?
- 03
What does it cost to maintain or replace?
- 04
How does it affect heating, cooling and BASIX?
- 05
Does it suit this block's orientation and climate?
- 06
Is there a cheaper way to get the same feeling?
Design questions owners ask
Can I still get engineered stone benchtops?
No. Australia stopped the making, sale and fitting of engineered stone benchtops on 1 July 2024. Porcelain, sintered and natural stone are the common alternatives.
Is a butler's pantry worth it in a smaller home?
Often, yes, even a compact one. A two-metre galley with a sink and appliance bench can keep the main kitchen tidy without taking much floor area.
Do I need double glazing to pass BASIX?
Not always, but it's increasingly common. The requirement depends on orientation, window sizes and the rest of the design. The BASIX assessment tells you which windows need it.
Is open plan out of fashion?
Not out, but evolving. Most families still want connected living, just with some separation for noise and privacy, which is what broken plan provides.
Sources and references
Costs are from the Rawlinsons handbook with the local cost index applied; rules and timeframes are checked against the sources below.
Build what you'll love in year fifteen.
Bring your ideas. I'll help you sort the lasting ones from the ones that date.