New home trends on the horizon are more practical and essential than ever before and they are being influenced by the true caregiver of the family, the women of the house. For decades home designs have had very straight-forward formulas, house-in-a-box approaches, that seemed to work for the whole family but when put to the test had lots of opportunity for improvement.

Did you know that research on the average family shows that when men enter their home after a long workday their blood pressure goes down by two points but similar tests on women show that their blood pressure rises by three? And why not, the second half of their workday now begins. They are part-time chef, tutor, accountant, care-giver and team leader. She needs a break and home designers are finally listening. New designs are more woman friendly than ever before.

With stress reduction as a primary focus new ideas in home design are also putting new energy behind the remodel industry. Women's needs are now becoming the focus because "women make 80 percent of the decisions in the home," said Linda Reimer, president of Design Basics, a home plan design service in Omaha and publisher of Her Home magazine.

“Women are concerned with how a house lives. The four major keys are entertaining, storage, de-stressing and flexibility," she said.

A recent focus group of three women made suggestions for redesigning one of Design Basic's ranch houses into a more woman-friendly plan, Reimer said.

The changes included:

• Placing the laundry room closer to the bedrooms (even if they are on the second floor) then converting the original laundry room into a mud room or a drop-zone.
• Opening up the kitchen to the great room, much better for family "togetherness".
• Adding a walk-in pantry.
• Increasing the size of the dining room so that it could be used as a dining room/study for quiet time after dinner.
• Enlarging the master bath for a larger walk-in shower or steam room.
• Adding a sitting area in the master bedroom for decompressing from daily stress.

Other new trends in home remodel keep the focus on the woman's perspective but also keep her family top of mind;

• Outdoor kitchens meant for year round grilling and entertaining.
• The kitchen workspace, an office away from the office.
• Snore rooms; extra sleeping quarters off the main bedroom meant for a long night of restful sleep.
• Multi-task rooms; her "wreck-room" meant for reading, exercise, crafts, music, even laundry if she wants.
• Larger garage spaces for SUV's or just more spaces for unloading the car after errands.
• Flex rooms for visiting parents or teens who have a totally different TV Guide than the parents do!
• Media Centers with built in electronic closets to hide all the equipment and wiring.

Whole home remodel or redesign has something for everyone but focusing on de-stressing mom helps de-stress the whole family.