Alex Fisher
Four COVID-related trends were identified in the study, which queried more than 2,000 Houzz users who had completed a kitchen remodeling or addition in the past year, were currently working on one or planned to start one within the next three months. The study was conducted in late June/early July 2020 when the pandemic was entering its fourth month and stockpiling of food staples and household supplies was common.
With more people working and learning at home, open-concept floor plans have been put to the test — and been found noisy.
Today's islands are multi-taskers, accommodating not just casual dining and often a sink or appliance, but increased storage, as well.
Among homeowners who added or upgraded an island, almost all (98%) included some storage — cabinets with doors (76%), drawers (74%) and open shelves (14%). White continues to be the top choice for kitchen cabinets (41%) but its dominance is waning, down 4% from last year.
Wood-tone cabinets were the choice of 23%, followed by gray (10%), and multicolored (9%), which has been steadily rising in popularity for the past three years. A majority (68%) of homeowners who upgrade their backsplashes now take them all the way up to the upper cabinets or range hood, while 9% carry them all the way to the ceiling.
Houzz attributes the drop to the rising cost of engineered quartz, resulting from increased tariffs on imports from China.
Butcher block or wood was the top choice (41%), followed by granite (16%) and engineered quartz (15%, down from 28% in 2019, also likely the result of higher costs).
