More than half of homeowners reported a renovation project in 2019 (51%), tackling nearly three interior rooms on average. That’s quite significant given the fact that we’re living through times when frugality is being preached at us by all and sundry. But there’s something incredibly satisfying about making something old feel new. So, we thought we’d cast a spotlight on the most common home renovation trends of the last couple of years.
Renovation or decoration?
While renovations were found to be incredibly popular in 2019, even more homeowners decided to do a spot of decorating and furnishing. What’s the difference? Decorating is more aesthetic and simple, generally involving either painting, wallpapering, hanging pictures or adding new furniture. Renovation, meanwhile, can mean completely stripping the room back and changing its function entirely, sometimes involving quite thorough construction work.
Who’s doing the renovating?
Gen Xers (aged 40-54) accounted for two in five renovating homeowners in 2019 (42%). Baby Boomers (aged 55-74) and Millennials (aged 25-39) follow in renovation activity with 37% and 19% of home renovators, respectively. Why is it that a generation raised on Britpop, Saturday morning cartoons and incredibly slow dial-up internet have suddenly caught the renovation bug?
What’s the motivation
There are several reasons why a homeowner might want to renovate. Perhaps they are considering selling their home in the near future and they want to add some value to it before valuation? Or perhaps there is something they always meant to get done and finally have the means to and the time to do it? With the way the world is right now, the latter is probably a lot more likely.
How about the cost and time?
Any renovation requires planning and requires the homeowners to decide how much they are willing to spend and how much time they can afford for their home to be in disarray for. In 2019, the median spend on a renovation was around £11,000, which is certainly not an insignificant amount. The average amount of time it took, meanwhile, was around 8 months. Of all the rooms, it was the complete kitchen renovations that took the most time – an average of 10.1 months to plan and 5.2 months for construction.
Other ideas
Of course, complete renovations are expensive and take time but there are alternatives. Painting your kitchen or bathroom, for example, can give them a completely fresh feel. It might lack the excitement of a renovation but it will be a lot cheaper and it’s something you could even do yourselves without hiring in any help. Take a look at some of the more modern interior design trends and you might be inspired by what you find.