Most homeowners looking to undertake home renovations are also interested in increasing the physical size of their kitchen spaces, new research has found.
This was the finding of a recent study conducted by home renovation platform Houzz, which asked around 500 homeowners about their recent or planned home renovations.
Three-in-five homeowners said that they are looking to make their kitchens bigger, with a quarter of participants saying that they increased the total size of their kitchen by more than half of its original size.
Houzz concluded that this was being driven by the continued popularity of open-plan kitchen designs.
According to its research, almost half of those polled wanted their kitchen to be more open to nearby rooms as part of their most recent renovations. A third renovated their kitchens to have a completely open-plan design, without any dividing walls.
As part of renovation projects, half of those questioned reported moving the kitchen’s location within the home entirely.
The survey also says it found that the average price of a kitchen renovation had increased over the past year. According to the research, the median spend on a kitchen renovation is now £13,000, which is an increase of roughly 8% over last year.
Adding further context, Houzz believes this had risen to £15,000 for “large kitchens” and is around £9,000 for smaller kitchens.
For the design of the kitchen itself, according to the study, 71% reconfigure the kitchen’s layout and 62% upgrade plumbing, electrical or heating systems.
In terms of colour, grey still appears to be the most popular cabinetry colour, with an average of 20% of those polled admitted to using it in their most recent renovations. However, this dropped two percentage points year on year.
White dropped to around 15%, being overtaken by green, which has risen to around 16% popularity in projects.
Unsurprisingly, the research also reflected that brushed nickel continues to be the most popular finish for handles, and that hi-tech home appliances are continuing to rise in popularity. In fact, hi-tech appliances reportedly rose almost 10% in popularity in just the last year.
“Creating a bigger and more open kitchen appeals to homeowners for both functional and aesthetic reasons, but doing so may impact the project’s overall budget, requiring more technical changes,” said Houzz staff economist Marine Sargsyan.
“We’re seeing homeowners make significant structural updates during their kitchen renovations, such as layout or location changes, which require the expertise of professionals.”
Other recent research into the KBB industry has shown that despite the year’s economic challenges, the majority of retailers reported seeing “positive” sales and revenue figures in 2023. Recent data collected as part of the kbbreview Retailer Survey encouragingly showed that nearly a quarter of retail businesses have order books of between four and six months
