Keeping abreast of the latest kitchen trends can stimulate your creativity as you update your home. Since Houzz has 65 million homeowners and design enthusiasts in its community, along with 3 million residential construction and design professionals, I always pay attention to their trend announcements. The Houzz 2025 U.S. Kitchen Trends Report is chock full of information on the most popular colors, styles, materials, and more.
I was eager to get insight from Marine Sargsyan, Houzz staff economist, along with photos from Houzz designers that demonstrate the new kitchen trends.
Traditional Style Makes A Comeback
Interestingly, the percentage of homeowners electing to change their kitchen’s style has decreased by 3 points, compared to last year’s report. However, 81% do plan to change their kitchen’s style. And, according to Sargsyan, traditional style is making a comeback, increasing by 5 points compared to last year.
However, traditional style is preferred by 14%, making it second to transitional style, which is favored by 25%. “Modern style is holding steady at 12%, contemporary style sits at 11%, and farmhouse style (at 7%) is declining in popularity,” Sargsyan says.
Carving Out Space For Larger Kitchens
Another interesting trend: homeowners don’t mind taking square footage from other rooms. “Although 64% of homeowners renovate within the kitchen’s original square footage, 35% tap into other rooms to make those kitchens larger,“ Sargsyan says. For example, 29% take space from the dining room, and 12% opt for a smaller living room. Also, 18% build a home addition to create a larger kitchen.
Backsplash Coverage Expands
Another popular kitchen trend is expanding backsplash coverage up to the cabinets or range hood – in fact, Sargsyan says 67% of homeowners are opting for full backsplash coverage. “Also, 12% are extending backsplashes to the ceiling,” she explains. In addition, over 76% choose tile as their backsplash material for kitchen renovations. Among this group is ceramic (34%), porcelain (17%), engineered quartz (10%), quartzite (8%), and glass (7%).
Classic Tile Shapes And Patterns Are In Favor
Rectangular tiles are preferred by 68% of homeowners, making it the most popular shape by far. “Only 4% are choosing hexagonal tiles, with even fewer choosing diamond, octagonal, and tiles without a particular shape,” explains Sargsyan. Among patterns, she says horizontal brick is preferred by 20% of homeowners, followed by 15% choosing horizontal stack. “Herringbone and vertical stack are selected by 7%, followed by mosaic (5%), diamond (4%), and checkerboard (1%).”
Specialty Features Desired In Appliances
The study reveals that homeowners want specialty features in their kitchen appliances, especially in microwaves (65%), refrigerators with freezers (63%), and ovens (63%). Popular features are sensory reheat in microwaves, and also automatic cooking, and oven functionality. Control locks are also features homeowners want in microwaves, refrigerators with freezers, and ovens. “In addition, 46% want faucets with specialty features,” Sargsyan says.
Motives For Remodeling Kitchens
When asked why they want to remodel their kitchen, Sargsyan reveals that 41% say they can’t stand the style of the old kitchen, and 35% say their kitchen has deteriorated or is “broke down.” Money is also a factor, and 33% say they can finally afford to renovate the kitchen. “The study also reveals that 27% recently purchased the home and want to personalize it, 25% are improving resale value, and 22% finally have the time to renovate,” Sargsyan says.
Scaling Back On Some Upgrades
Renovating homeowners are prioritizing countertops (91%), backsplashes (85%), and cabinets (85%). However, compared to last year’s report, they’re scaling back on full appliance replacements (51%). Non backsplash wall finishes, like paint and wallpaper, have also declined to 43%.
But among homeowners upgrading the countertops, 41% opt for a white color, and 23% choose off-white. Less popular color choices include black (8%), gray (7%), and beige (5%). The popularity of white colors also tracks with Houzz’s bathroom trends.
Cabinet Upgrades
While 69% of homeowners replace all of their cabinets, 27% partially replace their cabinets. “Among this group, 55% refinish the exterior, 27% add some cabinets, 25% replace some cabinets%, and 22% only replace the cabinet doors,” Sargsyan says.
Regarding cabinet colors, white remains the top choice (33%), followed by wood tones (23%), and off-white (14%). Only 4% of homeowners choose either green or blue, while 2% choose brown, and 1% select black.
However, among the 24% who choose different colors for the upper and lower cabinets, there’s a willingness to incorporate more color. Among this group, the most popular upper cabinet colors are white (44%), off white (19%), wood (12%), blue (5%), and gray (4%).
But lower cabinet colors are wood (33%), blue (23%), green (10%), gray (9%), and black (8%).
Kitchen Islands Get Some Love
During kitchen renovations, 30% add an island, and 28% update an existing island. Among those adding or updating an island, 52% opt for a square island less than 7 feet, 29% select an L-shape island between 6 to 7 feet, and 19% prefer a rectangular island less than 6 feet.
“Kitchen islands provide an opportunity for more kitchen storage, and among homeowners electing to get kitchen islands with storage, 80% want drawers, and 79% want island cabinets with doors,” Sargsyan says, adding that only 14% want open shelving.
In addition to storage, kitchen islands also house at least one appliance, with 37% adding a microwave in the island, 29% adding a dishwasher, and 20% adding a garbage disposal. “To a lesser degree, homeowners are also using other items in the island – 16% are adding cooktops, 10% are adding beverage refrigerators, and 7% are putting wine refrigerators in kitchen islands.” Sargsyan says. And here’s an interesting tidbit: in the Houzz Emerging Winter Trends Report, searches for kitchen islands with a drop leaf have increased 202% over the previous year.
Read more in the 2025 U.S. Houzz Kitchen Trends Study
Read the full article here