Are you spending three hours or more in your kitchen every day?
correction
An earlier version incorrectly stated the percent of kitchen renovators spending $25,000. Thirty-nine percent spent $25,000 or less. The story has been updated.
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 Don't worry that your stainless fridge is going to be a hulking outdated monster in a few years.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 whopping 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).
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