Good Riddance to Open Floor Plans and Cabinets Galore: Top Kitchen Trends of 2021
January 22, 2021
Homeowners forced by the coronavirus pandemic to hole up in their homes for much of the past year are changing a few things about their homes.
For starters, COVID-19 exposed the flaws of the open floor plans touted on HGTV and other design shows—finding a quiet space to jump on that Zoom meeting with the boss while the kids are remote learning a few feet away can be a logistical nightmare. Fewer homeowners created an open-concept floor plan leading into 2021, according to a recent survey from design and remodeling site Houzz.
Less than half of kitchen remodelers, or 43%, opened up their kitchen to other interior spaces, according to the survey. That’s a big drop from the 53% of homeowners who did so in 2019.
(More than 2,000 homeowners responded to the survey conducted June 24 to July 9. They were all planning, working on, or had finished a kitchen remodel or addition in the past 12 months, or were expecting to begin one within three months.)
Kitchen storage has emerged as the must-do home renovation of 2021. About 94% of homeowners plan or did some work on their kitchen cabinets, with 63% replacing them. This may be because the pandemic made amateur chefs out of people more accustomed to dining out.
“Storage has really come into focus as people have spent more time at home during the pandemic,” Liza Hausman, Houzz vice president of industry marketing, said in a statement. “More homeowners are reaching out to professionals … for help making their kitchens work better, most often within the same layout and square footage.”
Despite the recession and economic hardships, homeowners spent a median $35,000 upgrading their kitchens, the same as last year.