Consumers want to create dream spaces, says Houzz

Nearly 60% of people are spending more than three hours a day in their kitchen spaces, according to home renovation and design platform Houzz.

Speaking at kbbreview’s Retail and Design Conference at KBB Birmingham, Houzz events manager Ffion Francis (pictured), said its report found that people are now dining, entertaining, socialising and doing work in the kitchen, which has seen a trend shift towards more inclusive spaces that “integrate into the home”.

“People are creating their dream spaces,” said Francis. “This requires major work as 64% are increasing the size of their spaces, 73% are changing the layout and 54% are making their spaces open-plan.”

According to Francis, kitchen renovations and kitchen extensions are the most popular way to expand a home’s footprint, with almost a third of homeowners increasing a kitchen’s size by more than 50%.

Merging the kitchen and the outdoors is another emerging trend in 2016, with 49% saying they are making kitchens more open to the outdoors when renovating. This includes installing double doors, a row of doors, bifold sliding doors and French doors.

“People are trying to create a seamless flow from their open-plan kitchen spaces through to the garden,” said Francis.

The UK is becoming “obsessed” with storage in the kitchen, with cutlery organisers (80%) and deep drawer organisers (61%) topping the list for kitchen storage.

“People are trying to create that personalised space with lots of personal touches and features like wall art, TVs, bar stools, plants and greenery and designated work spaces,” she said.

People are also investing in the smart home and adding hi-tech features to their kitchens, such as colour touch screen displays (65%), built-in apps (13%) and wireless controls (3%). One in ten people said they are adding a dedicated kitchen tablet and 7% a computer screen

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