Home Remodeling Trends for 2017

Thus far, 2016 has been a good year for the U.S. housing market, a trend that expert believe would persist through the year. Growth in jobs and salaries, along with rising home prices, have been driving the demand for new home as well as improvement of existing homes, according to a report by CNBC in March 2016. In fact, the report went on to say that following the slower growth in 2015, Harvard University’s Leading Indicator of Remodeling Activity (LIRA) expects home improvement spending to accelerate in 2016. The LIRA predicts that spending would rise from 4.3% in the first quarter of 2016 to 7.6% by the third quarter, with the annual spending expected to exceed the peak levels seen in 2006. In terms of sales, the Home Improvement Research Institute predicted that home improvement product sales would rise from $318 billion in 2015 to $332 billion in 2016. With so much remodeling happening all across the U.S., how do you make your own home a personal statement of style? Here’s a look at the home improvement trends expected for 2016 and beyond.

One prominent trend revealed at the Design & Construction Week, held in Los Angeles in January 2016 and attended by over 110,000 manufacturers, designers, builders and media professionals, low maintenance tops the list of the most desirable features in a home among existing and prospective home owners. According to Consumer Reports, however, this should not come at the cost of superior design and beauty. For instance, people are increasingly choosing quartz countertops rather than the traditional granite or marble ones, because they are easier to maintain. Similarly, appliances and other design items are now preferred in stainless steel, again for its low maintenance feature. In fact, more and more manufacturers are now using stainless steel to create products. And they look good too, being lustrous and some even scratch-resistant. In addition, this is true not only for kitchen but for living spaces and even outdoors. For instance, Consumer Reports describes an “easy-to-assemble pergola is available with a motorized canopy, providing instant sun and rain coverage to any deck or patio space” that is made with an aluminum core but stainless steel hardware.

More and more home owners are becoming conscious of the need to use energy-efficient and eco-friendly supplies and materials to build and remodel homes. The need for an environmental focus was only highlighted by the drought-like conditions experienced recently across some parts of the United States. And manufacturers are responding to this demand by innovating on products that are energy efficient and/or save water. For instance, at the Design & Construction Week 2016, Aquarius Brands unveiled their latest product, the AquaBoy Pro II, “an atmospheric water generator that produces up to five gallons of purified water, hot or cold, from the air.” In fact, according to GreenSurface Resource, “Affordable Sustainability” was a key theme when it came to green home trends. Today, both manufacturers and the consumer are focused on green sourcing and low impact operations and waste cycles. When the consumer is aware, the manufacturers do fall in line. Agreeing with this theme, experts at Tuscan Basins went on to say that the biggest change is being seen in the design of kitchens and bathrooms, where concerned Americans are choosing products like water efficient faucets that can help save a considerable amount of water, which in turn leads to savings on utility bills.

Another trend that is making a huge comeback is a move away from fabrication and toward real wood, according to Better Homes and Gardens. Whether it is the floor, the walls, cabinetry or furniture, a huge variety of grains, styles and types of wood has been seeing rising popularity. However, here too, the consumer seems to prefer an environment friendly approach. For instance, pine flooring is usually sourced from sustainable forests or is salvageable, making it an eco-friendly product.

The bottom line? Today’s home owner knows exactly what they are looking for and want the right balance between savings, making a style statement with their spaces and not harming the environment more than we already are.