Staying on top of renovation trends doesn’t just help you anticipate clients’ needs; it can inform your marketing plans and help you plan better for your overall business. That’s why we at Houzz regularly survey homeowners about their renovation preferences and behaviors. Here we present some highlights from our latest report, the 2024 UK Houzz Kitchen Trends study. It’s based on responses by homeowners on Houzz who have recently renovated or are in the process of renovating their kitchen.
1. Most Layouts Change
“We’re seeing homeowners make significant structural updates during their kitchen renovations, such as layout or location changes,” Houzz staff economist Marine Sargsyan says. Indeed, the vast majority (71%) of renovating homeowners change the layout. Other structural changes are popular as well. The share of homeowners upgrading their plumbing, electrical or heating systems is up by 7 percentage points and now stands at 62%; while 43% reframe or change walls, and 24% change the location of the kitchen entirely.
2. Kitchens Are Getting Bigger
More than 3 in 5 renovating homeowners (60%) increase the size of their kitchen, and that share is notably up by 6 percentage points year over year. And for a quarter of homeowners (25%) their kitchen increases by more than half of the original size. Not all of the extra space is being taken from adjacent interior spaces either; 34% of renovating homeowners add space via a structural extension.
This trend of increasing the kitchen’s size fits with the fact that the share of homeowners citing “old kitchen too small for my needs” as a renovation trigger is up by 4 percentage points; it now stands at 29%. The three most popular motivators, however, are “old kitchen deteriorated/broke down” (39%), “finally have the means” (34%) and “can no longer stand the style of the old kitchen (30%).
3. Many Kitchens Are Open Plan
For the first time, we also asked homeowners about open plan kitchens. So while we can’t say whether the trend has gotten stronger, we can tell you that more than 2 in 5 homeowners (45%) make their kitchen more open to nearby rooms, and a third (33%) opt for a completely open design with no wall separation. Slightly more homeowners (46%) make their kitchen more open to the outdoors, most often via a set of double doors or a row of doors (39%). This openness dovetails with the increasing popularity of bigger kitchens, as openness typically makes a space feel larger.
Whether open or not, the top three kitchen styles are still contemporary (24%), modern (23%) and traditional (15%). Interestingly, contemporary and modern each dropped by 3 percentage points year over year, while traditional rose by 4 percentage points.
4. Pro Hiring Remains Strong
“Creating a bigger and more open kitchen appeals to homeowners for both functional and aesthetic reasons, but doing so may require more technical changes,” Sagsyan says. And given all of the structural and technical changes happening, it’s no surprise that more than 9 in 10 homeowners (93%) hire a renovating professional to help with their projects. In fact, the percentage doing so inched up by 1 point this year. Among the most popular types of pros hired are tradespeople, such as electricians, painters, plumbers and stonemasons (68%); kitchen designers (50%) and kitchen fitters (51%).
5. Sustainability Matters to Most
A whopping 93% of homeowners choose at least one sustainable feature for their redesigned kitchen. LED lightbulbs are the most popular sustainable option (74%), while 58% selected energy-efficient appliances, 44% focused on a timeless design, and 41% go for energy-efficient windows. And 3% of renovating homeowners actually hire a dedicated eco-friendliness expert. All of this indicates that it’s a good idea to include sustainable options in your design offerings.
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