Hot biz: home improvement

Entrepreneur, Dec, 2003 by Nichole L. Torres

Home was once where the heart was--now the home is the center of the universe. And consumers are spending lots of money to remodel and refurbish their dwellings to make them more comfortable. According to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), some 26 million homes are remodeled yearly The National Association of the Remodeling Industry (NARI) reports that Americans spent $163 billion on remodeling in 2002.

The proliferation of home improvement shows exemplifies the trend--at press time, there were more than 30 such shows on TV. Vern Yip, a designer on The Learning Channel's popular Trading Spaces series, is at the forefront of trends with his company, Vern Yip Designs in Atlanta. "There's been an increasing turn inward toward what it means to have an amazing home and how that impacts the quality of your life," says Yip. "And people are increasingly entertaining at home."

Mark Brick, NARI's national president, also says homeowners are focused on maximizing their space--from built-in shelves in every nook and cranny to raised ceilings to skylights. "They are using the area they have, and it's being planned out better," says Brick.

Noting that this huge industry is based on service, Brick sees myriad niches and opportunities opening up. These range from traditional fields, such as contracting and interior design, to newer specialties, like interior arranging (designing new spaces with items a client already owns). Making homes more accessible to the aging baby boomer population--adding wheelchair ramps and support rails, for example--is a growing segment, while businesses that design and remodel environmentally sound living spaces continue to develop.

Designing home interiors has been the bread and butter of William Hulsman and Albert Lynch of interior design firm William Hulsman Inc. in Boston. With a focus on classic design, Hulsman, 43, and Lynch, 47, have also added a retail furniture showroom in the Hamptons, Bill Hulsman Home, which they say will top $2 million in sales this year. Hulsman notes that among his clientele, "people are in a transitional mode and being more adventurous with how they want to live. People are recycling what they have and reinterpreting what they [own]--and reinventing themselves."