Home renovations come in all shapes and sizes, but the desire to overhaul our living space will always be a balancing act between budget, time, and resources. We recently ran a survey of 1,000 homeowners to find out about their dream home renovation projects. The feedback we received gave us some interesting insight into the aspirations and limitations of people looking to spruce up their home.
Not surprisingly, kitchens came in as the clear winner for prioritized renovations. An astounding 38% of respondents identified this room as their key focus for overhauling, updating, and renewing – if money were no object.
Top 5 dream renovation projects
- Update the kitchen – 38%
- Update the bathroom – 33%
- Update the garden – 25%
- New floors – 24%
- New windows – 23%
One-quarter of our respondents (25%) would run improvements in their garden, while 24% would implement new floors. 23% of our audience stated they would prioritize new windows as part of their revamp. This is a good indication that larger-scale renovations are less desirable to homeowners, and that they would rather make improvements to rooms as a whole, as opposed to one aspect of their home.
It’s no real surprise to see the kitchen and bathroom come out tops. They are the most frequently used rooms in every home, and the prospect of having to move out or ‘do without’ that space during renovations could put makeovers on hold for even the most seasoned re-modelers.
The survey also asked respondents whether they would choose to move to a new property over renovating their current home, and more than half (52%) said that they would choose renovations. This reiterates that there is a huge demand and growing market for home improvement businesses and that with the right tools at their disposal, the homeowner market is ready to spend time and money on making their homes beautiful.
Top reasons to renovate instead of move
59% of homeowners simply love their current home too much to consider moving over refurbishing.- Love their current home too much to leave – 59%
- Don’t want to leave the location – 48%
- They believe renovations would be cheaper – 34%
- The instability of the housing market – 20%
- They bought the property with the intention to renovate – 20%
Why the delay?
59% of UK homeowners cited a lack of funds for their delay in renovating their homes.With so many homeowners dreaming up the possibilities their home holds, we also asked respondents what the cause of delay was for them not acting on their renovation ambitions.
Lack of funds showed to be strongest with 38% of those we surveyed citing this as the reason for their delays.
Of course, the coronavirus pandemic also put a spanner in the works for many renovators; due to the lack of tradespeople and renovation material available during the nationwide lockdown, 22% of our surveyed audience have put their refurbs on the backburner.
17% of our respondents stated that the reason behind their postponement on renovations was down to them not wanting the imminent disruptions that are linked to overhauls, while 16% attributed their delay to a lack of time. We anticipate the 16% of responses attributing lack of time to their delay will have found exactly the right way for them to spend their weekend cooped up at home!
Indecision on new colour palettes and styles, the inability to get planning permission, as well as the need to temporarily move out the house for renovations to take place came in last as the reasons for delayed renovations.
Top reasons for postponing renovations
- Lack of money – 38%
- No tradespeople available due to the pandemic – 22%
- Don’t want the disruption – 17%
- Lack of time – 16%
- Lack of materials due to the pandemic – 14%
Home renovations can be time-consuming and can easily drain the budget without proper planning. This survey helped us understand the need for affordable, quick, and non-disruptive home improvement techniques that achieve the same goal without the drawbacks. If you’ve been considering revamping your home, or simply want to spruce up a room to add a new energy to your home – why not order your wallpaper sample and see how easily you can enhance and transform your living space?
They say a change is as a good as a holiday – and what better time than now to create your own stay-cation!
Image by Rudy and Peter Skitterians from Pixabay
