Janet Cook

Each year the largest social media site for home remodeling and construction, Houzz, conducts a national survey on what is trending with homeowners. Houzz facilitates the gathering of photos of projects that can be copied to an individual’s idea book, to help define what one wants their home to look like. Here are the highlights of 3500 respondents.

The majority of those polled, 82 percent, said they are opting for a new kitchen or a major home remodel this year via a high quality gut and remodel; 41 percent said their last kitchen update was over 15 years ago. The pent up desires motivating people to remodel now include:

37 percent have wanted to do it all along and have the means to do so now

29 percent can’t stand their old kitchen

28 percent recently bought a home and want to make it their own and would love to make changes to the roofing and exterior of their home.

Making the kitchen compatible with the family’s lifestyle is important in the design results. The most common goal, reported by 65 percent, is storage! They want it easy to store and find things, with 62 percent wanting pull out shelves, 50 percent wanting a kitchen island and 44 percent wanting a built-in pantry. Almost half said what was important to them was for their kitchen to be easy to entertain in, being open to other rooms. Two elements were reported as important in a “new” kitchen by 37 percent of the people: a kitchen that is easy for the entire family to be in, one that is easy to clean and disinfect and also one that feels light and spacious (by having large windows installed, from a website like https://gracelandwindows.com/, as they can help bring more light in).

Eighty percent of homeowners reported that they will hire a professional for their remodeling project. Most want either a traditional or transitional design. They want a professional to help them get these results for their kitchen remodel:

59 percent want it to be stylish and beautiful

55 percent want it to be integrated with the rest of the house

37 percent want it to reflect who they are — including a backsplash that makes a statement

34 percent want it to be full of natural light

The top selections trending for kitchen remodeling are quality steel appliances and double bowl sink, quality white shaker style cabinets, granite countertops, with quartz running a close second choice. A bit of trivia: six percent included custom built-in pet bowl station. The great thing about Houzz is you can search for photos of the elements you want to get ideas of how you want your home to look.

When reporting on last year’s actual remodeling budgets, they found 24 percent chose to pay more than their original budget. In 2014, 51 percent had a goal to spend less than $25,000, but only 40 percent did; 61 percent of homeowners spent over $25,000, with 35 percent of them spending over $75,000 to get the kitchen of their dreams.

Happy St. Valentine’s Day!

Janet B. Cook, CAPS, President of Cook Remodeling, celebrating its 36th year, winner of Best in Houzz, partners with Jeff Cook, CEO, a Certified Graduate Remodeler.