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Homeowners are renovating their kitchens to create a “super kitchen” that not only serves multiple purposes but also incorporates features, functions and decor traditionally associated with other rooms, dramatically blurring the lines between the kitchen and other living spaces, according to the 2016 Canada Houzz Kitchen Trends Survey. The survey of Canadian homeowners using Houzz who are in the midst of, are planning, or recently completed a kitchen renovation project found that these kitchens go far beyond cooking and baking, with 72 percent using the space for eating and dining, and nearly half for socializing (49 percent) and entertaining (47 percent). As the hub of the home, nearly two-thirds of homeowners spend more than three hours a day in their kitchens (64 percent).

Further blurring the lines between the functional and living areas of their homes, two in five renovating homeowners are making their kitchens more open to other living spaces (42 percent), with 47 percent of kitchens completely open to other interior spaces post-renovation. One in five updated kitchens are also more open to the outdoors following their upgrades (20 percent).

“The modern ‘super kitchen’ supports family, friends and work and does it in style,” said Nino Sitchinava, principal economist at Houzz. “Our findings show that homeowners expect kitchen renovations to go far beyond improving flow, storage or aesthetics. The ‘super kitchen’ has literally become a living room, family room and dining room, with finishes, layouts and decor that challenge us to define where the kitchen ends and the rest of the home begins.”

When it comes to functional priorities, creating a kitchen that’s easy to store and find things in tops the list (60 percent). To accomplish this, homeowners are adding new built-ins including pantry cabinets (48 percent), islands (42 percent) and reach-in pantry closets (24 percent). Meanwhile, a kitchen that’s stylish and beautiful is the top design priority for 54 percent of homeowners, followed by one that integrates with the rest of the house (48 percent).

The top trigger for kitchen projects is that homeowners can no longer stand their old one (45 percent). This is not surprising given that the nearly half of kitchens were last updated more than 20 years ago (48 percent). Other top motivations include wanting to do so all along and finally having the means (36 percent), and customizing a recently purchased home (23 percent).

Given the considerable longevity, homeowners are making choices to ensure they can live with their kitchens for many years to come, from products that last to designs that stand the test of time. Homeowners are sticking to the classics with finishes like white cabinets (43 percent) in Shaker (49 percent) or flat-panel (21 percent) styles, stainless steel appliances (70 percent) and engineered quartz countertops (32 percent).


Additional findings include:

• Large Scope Projects: Thirty-nine percent of homeowners updating their kitchens are increasing their size and more than half are changing the layout of the room (58 percent). U-shaped layouts are most common in updated kitchens (33 percent), followed by L-shape (31 percent), lending themselves most easily to open-concept floorplans.
• Pro Help Key: In light of these large projects, a majority of homeowners are enlisting professional help for their kitchen renovation project (83 percent). Building specialists, including electricians, plumbers and stone fabricators top the list (51 percent), followed by general contractors (40 percent) and cabinet makers (38 percent).
• Current Spending Exceeds Planned Budgets: Homeowners are also spending big on kitchens, often exceeding the budget for their projects. More than half of homeowners budget CA$25,000 or less for their upcoming remodels (57 percent), yet in 2015, only 45 percent of homeowners spent CA$25,000 or less on remodels. Similarly, only 16 percent of homeowners budget more than CA$50,000 on their upcoming kitchen renovations, yet 29 percent spent in this range in the past year.
• New Kitchen, New Style: Three-quarters of homeowners changed the style of their kitchen during their project (75 percent). While traditional rooms and rooms without a particular style were most common prior to upgrades (30 and 34 percent respectively), few homeowners selected these styles for their updated kitchens. Instead, homeowners describe their updated kitchens as contemporary (33 percent), modern (17 percent) and transitional in style (14 percent).
• Neutral Colors Reign: The majority of kitchen renovators gravitate toward neutral colors that will stand the test of time. Shades of gray, white and beige are top choices for updated walls (28, 21 and 18 percent, respectively). Updated counters are white, integrate multiple colors or are gray (22, 19 and 15 percent, respectively).