For the second consecutive year, showers are the most popular bathroom renovation project in Houzz’s Bathroom Trends study released on Tuesday.
In a survey of more than 1,300 Houzz users, 85 percent of homeowners upgraded the shower in their master bathroom in 2018, with 54 percent increasing their shower size.
Nino Sitchinava
“Bathrooms have always been a top room to renovate, along with kitchens, and now we’re seeing homeowners double down on their master bathrooms,” Houzz principal economist Nino Sitchinava said in a prepared statement.
“The cost of materials including stone and tile has increased due to trade disputes, driving up master bathroom spend.”
“Despite this, renovation activity remains strong, propped by high home equities and homeowners’ desire to stay put given the limited housing supply,” Sitchinava added.
On average, homeowners spent $8,000 on a bathroom remodel. For major remodels where the owner at least upgrades the shower, homeowners spent an average of $12,000 — a $1,900 increase from 2017. The cost for minor remodels only increased by $300 to an average of $2,300.
Homeowners are shelling out extra cash for luxury finishes that include ceramic or porcelain shower walls (66 percent) or natural stone flooring (39 percent). Marble was the most popular stone option (18 percent), followed by granite (6 percent), slate (6 percent), and travertine (6 percent).
Homeowners also gravitated toward rainfall showerheads (58 percent), dual showers (23 percent), body sprayers (16 percent), thermostatic mixers (12 percent), and steam showers (3 percent).
Beyond upgrading showers, homeowners updated their faucets (88 percent), wall finishes (84 percent), flooring (84 percent), lighting fixtures (81 percent), and countertops (80 percent).
When it comes to choosing finishes for these projects, transitional (21 percent) and modern (20 percent) design styles were a favorite, thanks to homeowners’ desire to create a spa-like experience in their master bathrooms.
Keeping in line with the spa theme, homeowners are choosing clean and calm color palettes. White is a favorite for vanities (34 percent) and countertops (46 percent), while gray is the most popular hue for non-shower flooring (31 percent) and walls (29 percent).
However, homeowners are embracing patterned (51 percent), surface material (44 percent), or colored (40 percent) accent walls.
Although not in widespread use just yet, Houzz said homeowners are bringing their love of technology to the bathroom by installing smart toilets.
Thirty-four percent of homeowners installed a smart toilet in their master bathrooms, a six percentage point increase from 2017. The most popular smart toilet feature was self-cleaning bowls (13 percent), followed by bidets (13 percent), heated seats (10 percent), and overflow protection (9 percent).
On the other hand, homeowners are still ditching their bathtubs — 50 percent of homeowners got rid of their tubs during a master bathroom renovation.