According to new research from Houzz, homeowners are unsurprisingly still looking to increase the size of their bathrooms. However, freestanding baths, as well as Japandi and Scandi design styles have all seen a surprising boom over the last year.
According to the design platform’s new 2025 UK Houzz Bathroom Trends report, one-in-five of those who have completed a bathroom renovation chose to also increase the size of their bathroom by taking space from an adjacent room (21%). The most common space to borrow from is said to be the bedroom.
Research shows that 13% of recent renovators increased the space of their bathroom by as much as 50% of its original size, and around one-in-ten (8%) enlarged the bathroom by more than 50%.
“We’re seeing a notable shift toward larger bathroom footprints, suggesting that homeowners may be rethinking the role of this room in the home,” said Marine Sargsyan, Houzz staff economist.
“Rather than focusing purely on function, many are turning to professionals for help creating spaces that support relaxation and daily comfort, with changes to showers and layouts playing a central role.”
Looking at what prompted homeowners to renovate their bathrooms, Houzz found that “bathroom deterioration” was still the leading motive, being cited by 51% of study participants. Interestingly, this percentage has decreased slightly from last year’s study, which was noted by almost 60% of homeowners at the time.
This is followed by 35% of homeowners who said they undertook a renovation because they couldn’t stand the style of their old bathroom, 28% who wanted to personalise a recently purchased home, and 24% who decided to renovate because they finally had the financial means to do it.
Houzz also asked participants about the size of their recently renovated bathrooms. Two-in-five newly renovated bathrooms are between 5 – 9.99 square metres (40%), and one-in-five are between 8 and 11.99 square metres. Just 12% of new bathrooms in the last year measured at less than 3 square meters, and a slightly larger 14% measure at 12 square meters or more.
According to Houzz, contemporary, modern and traditional style bathrooms remain the three most popular decorative styles, making up 38%, 26% and 8% of renovations, respectively. However, contemporary styles are up by 2% over last year, and traditional style has also increased by 1%, while “modern” bathrooms have dropped in popularity by a slight 5%.
Interestingly, although not the most popular styles (at only 4% each), both Scandinavian-inspired and Japandi bathrooms rose in popularity by 3% over the last year, marking a significant increase for these styles.
Looking closer at colours, neutrals still rule the bathroom with white continuing to be the most popular wall colour, being used in roughly a quarter of renovation projects (26%). This is followed by off-white (16%), grey (14%) and beige (10%). For more colourful bathrooms, one-in-ten said their bathroom featured green walls, and 7% used blue.
From a product perspective, Houzz says floating vanities are still the most popular vanity choice, with roughly half of homeowners choosing one for their renovation. Almost 30% opted for a built-in vanity, and 19% wanted a freestanding vanity – a choice which has seen a meteoric 7% increase over last year.
Around nine-in-ten renovators also upgraded their basin. Integrated basins are the most commonly selected style, chosen by a quarter of renovating homeowners (28%). Wall-mounted (24%) and drop-in (22%) styles are not far behind. Interestingly, 13% of homeowners said they have two basins in their bathroom instead of just one, a design trend that has enjoyed a 3% increase this year.
Seven-in-ten homeowners selected a shower with a door, and a frameless model was the top choice, being used by 56%. The most popular style is hinged, which was reported by almost a quarter (23%), followed by sliding (19%) and fixed (15%) styles.
Freestanding baths are also noticeably on the rise, having increased by 4% this year to 34%. Alcove baths (defined as being surrounded on three sides) dropped by a stark 9% in popularity to being selected by 31% of homeowners.
Finally, almost nine-in-ten homeowners chose to use sustainable features in their bathroom renovation (87%). This includes 72% of renovators that used LED light bulbs, and two-in-five that chose to incorporate water-efficient features (42%).
The findings of Houzz’s most recent survey are made up of answers from 330 Houzz UK users, who were asked about their recent 2024-2025 renovations. You can read the full report here.
