Nearly a third of home design professionals in the U.S. surveyed about trends in kitchens and bathrooms report seeing greater client demand in 2015 for more bathrooms, as well as more investment in larger ones. Americans' desire for larger or more food-prep areas, meanwhile, has cooled only slightly, they say.
In its annual look at the money being spent on kitchens and baths, the American Institute of Architects polled 500 architecture firms that focus on the residential sector and found that those areas of the home continue to hold primacy, with kitchens increasingly expected to serve as a center of various activities.
Though fewer respondents to the AIA's "Home Design Trends Survey" saw an increased appetite among consumers for larger kitchens or additional facilities related to food preparation (such as pantries), the attraction remains strong. In 2014, 35% reported that more consumers were seeking bigger kitchens; in 2015, it was 31%. Meanwhile, 64% reported that demand as being stable.
The architects also said a "computer work/recharge area" continued to be a top priority for consumers, with 49% seeing more requests for this as a kitchen component last year, just slightly less than in 2014, when it was 50%.
As for bathrooms, the number of designers who said they saw a demand for more of them in homes rose to 32% last year from 25% in 2014. Though not as dramatic an increase, 29% reported more interest in larger bathrooms in 2015 compared with 24% the year before.
A feature that's growing in appeal -- in both kitchen and bath design -- is LED lighting. In 2014, 88% of designers saw an increased craving for it in kitchens. That grew to 90% last year. In 2015, 84% reported a rise in the number of consumers ready to make the switch to LED illumination in their bathrooms. It 2014, it was 81%.
Among other features that the AIA's architects said were growing in popularity in kitchens were recycling centers and high-end and built-in appliances. In the bathroom, the same applied to radiant heating, as well as shower stalls separate from tubs, and larger walk-in showers.
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