The pandemic has had an impact on just about every facet of life — including what people want in their kitchens, according to the recently released Houzz Kitchen Trends Study.
Four COVID-related trends were identified in the study, which queried more than 2,000 Houzz users who had completed a kitchen remodeling or addition in the past year, were currently working on one or planned to start one within the next three months.
The study was conducted in late June/early July 2020 when the pandemic was entering its fourth month and stockpiling of food staples and household supplies was common. Not surprisingly, storage was on people's minds; 94% of kitchen projects involved at least some cabinets, and 63% replaced all cabinets. Of the 31% of homeowners who opted for partial cabinet upgrades, 28% added some cabinets, nearly a fourfold increase over the previous year.
Pantries were extremely popular — 46% of the homeowners surveyed had upgraded their pantries, and 13% had included large walk-in pantries, up from 10% in 2019.
With more people working and learning at home, open-concept floor plans have been put to the test — and been found noisy. The percentage of new kitchens open to other rooms dropped sharply, from 53% in 2019 to 43% in 2020.
The rise of pandemic-era socializing al fresco also showed up in the study. More than one in five kitchen remodels involved opening the kitchen to the outdoors.
Other takeaways from the study:
Cost
Kitchen makeovers are still pricey but costs are not escalating sharply. The median spend on a major kitchen remodel, including cabinet replacement, remained stable at $35,000; $45,000 was the median for a large kitchen and $30,000 the median for a small one.
