What’s cooking in kitchens for ’16
Are you spending three hours or more in your kitchen every day?
According to the justreleased 2016 Houzz Kitchen Trends Survey, nearly twothirds of homeowners spent more than three hours in their kitchens doing things like watching TV, entertaining, eating and reading, in addition to the traditional cooking and baking.
The annual kitchen survey by the online source for home remodeling and design polled more than 2,400 U.S. homeowners who are planning or recently completed a kitchen renovation project.
The survey is a snapshot of what American homeowners are cooking up in one of the most popular rooms in the house. In terms of how much a kitchen renovation costs these days, the survey showed that 39 percent of renovating homeowners spent $25,000 or less on kitchen renovations and 30 percent are spending more than $50,000.
So what are the hottest trends? We took a look at the 28-page survey and here are some of the results worth noting and stashing in the "kitchen remodel" online folder.
Wood floors rule. The survey revealed that 34 percent of the participants chose hardwood (one exception is in the South, where porcelain or ceramic tile is the top choice). Engineered wood came in at 12 percent nationwide. And you thought cork was the hottest thing in your cul de sac — only 2 percent chose cork floors.
Keep the walls neutral. About 61 percent of renovators painted their walls one of three colors: gray, beige or white. The outliers liked green (10 percent) and yellow (8 percent).
Storage is key. The most valued functional aspect of a kitchen is storage, the survey found: 60 percent of consumers valued that as their top feature. The most popular built-in feature? For 67 percent it was pull-out waste or recycling drawers. Second place: cookie sheet/tray organizers at 56 percent. (Three percent put in pet-feeding stations.)
Stainless steel is holding firm. Don't worry that your stainless fridge is going to be a hulking outdated monster in a few years. A whop- ping 75 percent of those surveyed were going with stainless for the new appliances in their updated kitchens. (White came in at 10 percent and black at 8 percent.)
And who said granite
was out? Although design divas may turn up their noses at granite ("so 1990s"), it's still the most desirable and practical choice out there. For 45 percent, the popular natural stone was installed as their new countertop material. Runners-up: engineered quartz (26 percent) and quartzite (14 percent).
The home and design coverage of Jura Koncius has taken her inside hundreds of homes, from tiny studios in Penn Quarter to country castles in Warrenton. Jura also hosts the Home Front live chat, Thursdays at 11 a.m. ET.