Strong Upward Movement in Decorating & Home Renovations for 2020 and 2021

We’ve been seeing some interesting trends in home renovations nationwide for the past couple of years. And, while interior design is a local phenomenon (as we never fail to mention whenever possible), the latest national metrics are encouraging for all of us in the industry.

It’s understandable if you resented the lockdowns and stay-at-home orders imposed on most of the country last year. However, they seem to have had a positive effect on the decorating and home renovation areas of the marketplace. In fact, according to the most recent Home Renovation Trends Study by Houzz.com, these areas are experiencing some nice growth.

• “Home Renovation Spend Rises: Home renovation spending has grown 15% in the last year to a median of $15,000. Higher-budget projects (with the top 10% of project spend) saw an increase from $85,000 or more in 2020, compared with $80,000 in the two years prior.”

We found it especially interesting that, “The gap between median renovation spend by Baby Boomers and Gen Xers narrowed in 2020. Baby Boomers ($15,000) spent the most on their renovations and Gen Xers ($14,000) are no longer a distant second. The top 10% of renovation projects among these generations were at least $90,000 and $85,000, respectively.”

Where Home Renovation Dollars are Being Spent

Kitchens and bathrooms remain the most popular spaces for renovation among all age groups. Yet, it should come as no surprise that the younger generations placed a heavier emphasis on home office renovation than did the older. This is surely a result of the work-from-home trend that we saw as a result of the pandemic and Millennials and Gen Xers acted on this.

According to the study, “Millennials (17%) and Gen Xers (16%) renovated their home offices more actively than older generations. At least 1 in 5 homeowners across all generations renovated their master bathrooms in 2020.” We see no reason this should change in 2021 and even in 2022.

Further, “Automation and security upgrades are top priorities for Millennials, compared with older generations. Exterior paint upgrades were more common than deck upgrades among homeowners, and especially among Baby Boomers (21%).”

Kitchen Renovations Remain a Priority

While all of these metrics are well and good, we continue to maintain that the kitchen is the most popular – and therefore the most important – room in nearly every home. And, when it comes to home renovation projects, the data prove this to be true; especially for large kitchens (i.e., more than 200 square feet).

• “Homeowners Invest In Large Kitchens: Kitchen projects are the most popular among renovating homeowners, and while median spending has been flat on these projects for the past three years, investment on major remodels of large kitchens jumped 14% to $40,000 in 2020 compared with $35,000 in 2019.”

“Spend on kitchen remodels remained stable at $12,000 in 2020. That said, homeowners with kitchens larger than 200 square feet spent 14% more on major kitchen remodels, where all of the cabinets and appliances were replaced.” (emphasis added)