In master bathroom remodels, showers are taking the primary focus, finds a new survey from Houzz, a home remodeling website. Homeowners are making extra space for fancier showers. Eighty-three percent of homeowners recently surveyed say they updated their shower during a master bathroom renovation, and 54% increased the shower size, according to the Houzz 2019 Bathroom Trends Study, released on Tuesday.
Roomier showers remove some common pet peeves homeowners have with their master bathrooms: The showers can be too small and outdated.
Homeowners are making substantial improvements to their master bathroom. Bathrooms have the second highest median spend in home remodels at $8,000 nationally—a 14% annual increase from 2017 to 2018. The median spent on a major master bathroom remodel was between $10,100 to $12,000, while a minor remodel cost between $2,000 to $2,300. San Francisco and San Jose homeowners tended to spend the most on their master bathroom remodels at $15,000 and $13,000, respectively.
“Bathrooms have always been a top room to renovate, along with kitchens, and now we’re seeing homeowners double down on their master bathrooms,” says Nino Sitchinava, Houzz principal economist. “The cost of materials including stone and tile has increased due to trade disputes, driving up master bathroom spend. Despite this, renovation activity remains strong, propped by high home equities and homeowners’ desire to stay put given the limited housing supply.”
Some additional bathroom remodel trends that emerged from this year’s Houzz report:
Accent walls: More than one-third of homeowners renovating their bathroom added an accent wall. More than half of the accent walls appeared in neutral palettes of gray (22%), blue (16%), or white (15%). Sixteen percent chose a bold, multicolored accent wall.
Medicine cabinets: Two in five homeowners say they opted for custom or semi-custom medicine cabinets during their renovation. Two-thirds of the upgraded medicine cabinets have mirrors on the outside. Many owners also opted for specialty features with their medicine cabinets, such as lighting on the outside, hidden plugs, or antifog systems.
Mirrors: Seventy-seven percent of homeowners replaced their mirror during a master bathroom renovation. In general, they opted for two mirrors over each of the two sinks. The top features in mirror upgrades included antifog systems, LED lighting, and hidden plugs.
High-tech toilets:One-third of remodeled master bathroom toilets contained high-tech features, such as self-cleaning units and seats with bidets, heat, overflow protection, or nightlights.
Lighting: Eighty-one percent of renovating homeowners also updated their lighting, such as additional wall lights, recessed lights, or shower lights. Some owners opted for decorative touches, like chandeliers (17%) or pendant lights (15%). Most of the new lighting uses both metal and glass.
Alternative flooring:Ceramic or porcelain tile is the most popular flooring material in master bathrooms, but its use is declining (25% in 2019, from 30% in 2017). Flooring materials like vinyl and resilient and engineered wood flooring is also on the rise (10% in 2019, up from 6% in 2017).
