Houzz, a leading platform for showcasing home remodeling and design, recently surveyed over 2,400 U.S. homeowners who are in the midst of, are planning to start, or have recently completed a kitchen renovation project to uncover the most prominent trends in kitchen design.
The results show that today’s kitchens have evolved beyond a space for preparing meals. Whether they’re cooking, entertaining, socializing, or reading, nearly two-thirds (60%) of homeowners are spending more than three hours a day in their kitchens.
The majority of homeowners are removing the confines between their kitchens and the rest of the house , creating what Houzz has coined the “super kitchen”, or an all-in-one, multi-purpose hub. Nearly half (48%) are making their kitchens more open to the home’s other living spaces, and one in five updated kitchens are being renovated to become more open to the outdoors.
Blurring the lines between the functional and living areas of their home, 69% of homeowners have begun to use their kitchen for eating and dining over a formal dining room, and 49% are using the space to entertain. Many are adding features traditionally associated with living and dining rooms to their updated kitchens, such as dining tables (25%), chandeliers (23%), televisions (14%), and desks or work spaces (7%). Customized features that enable entertaining, such as wine refrigerators and built-in coffee/tea stations are also becoming increasingly standard.
Building upon last year’s trend, neutral shades continue to reign as the most popular color choices. Shades of beige (22%), gray (22%), and white (17%) are preferred for refreshed walls, while white-painted (38%) and medium-light wood (18%) are still trending for cabinets. Updated countertops either integrate multiple colors (32%), or are primarily white (19%) or black (14%).
“The modern ‘super kitchen’ supports family, friends, and work and does it in style,” said Nino Sitchinava, principal economist at Houzz. “Our findings show that homeowners expect kitchen renovations to go far beyond improving flow, storage or aesthetics. The ‘super kitchen’ has literally become a living room, family room and office, with finishes, layouts and decor that challenge us to define where the kitchen ends and the rest of the home begins.”
The report can be viewed in full here.
