Bathrooms are consistently one of the most popular spaces for homeowners to renovate, but style, feature and layout preferences of course evolve over time. To help remodelers and designers stay on top of what’s in and what’s out, we’ve compiled 10 highlights from the 2023 U.S. Houzz Bathroom Trends Study, based on responses from almost 2,000 homeowners about their recent or planned primary-bath renovation projects. The data offers insight into current homeowner choices and motivations, which you can use to help you better prepare for future projects.

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General Bath Renovation Trends

1. Hiring of pros is up.

An overwhelming majority of homeowners (86%) rely on professionals to help with their bathroom renovations, and hiring is up across all the major categories this year. Here are the stats on those who have hired or will hire pros for their projects: general contractors, 53%; cabinetmakers, 23%; interior designers and bathroom designers, 14% each; and architects,10%. GCs saw the most significant increase, gaining 5 percentage points since 2022.

2. Median spend is way up.

For all bathroom remodels, the median spend has grown by 50% year over year, increasing from $9,000 in 2021 to $13,500 in 2022. The median spend for major and minor remodels has increased by 33% and 60%, respectively. (The minimum requirement for a makeover to be considered “major” is that the shower must be replaced.)

“This is the fourth consecutive year in which median spend has increased for primary bathrooms, likely driven in part by supply chain disruptions and inflation,” says Marine Sargsyan, Houzz staff economist. Despite the higher costs, homeowners “continue to invest in improvements out of necessity and future needs,” she adds.

For major remodels of large bathrooms, the median spend has increased by 25% year over year and now stands at $25,000. For major remodels of bathrooms smaller than 100 square feet, it has increased by 50% and is now $15,000. 

Structural and System Trends

3. Bigger Is Better for Many

More than one in 5 homeowners (22%) enlarges the bathroom, and more than half of (61%) increase the shower size. Nearly 3 in 5 bathrooms (59%) measure 100 square feet or more post-renovation. 

“We’ve seen homeowners work with home professionals to find new ways to maximize their existing space and better meet their needs since the beginning of the pandemic,” Sargsyan says. “Now they’re finding ways to reconfigure rooms to expand bathrooms and showers.” 

Among those expanding their space, 44% take square footage from closets, 24% from bedrooms, and 7% from hallways. One in 6 (17%) create a larger footprint via an addition. 

4. System Upgrades Are Standard

Upgrading systems remains the most popular major bathroom improvement, at 62%. The most common systems added are a ventilation fan (61%), radiant heating (16%) and a tankless water heater (9%). Many homeowners also change the layout (43%) and modify the walls (41%), while 5% change the location of their bathroom entirely. 

Bonus stat: More than a third of homeowners (34%) undertake bathroom remodels because the bathroom has deteriorated or broken down.

Shower and Fixture Trends

5. Upgrading showers greatly increases spend.

The median spend among renovating homeowners who upgrade the shower is $20,000 — more than twice as much as the spend among those who don’t ($8,000). But given that 84% of renovating homeowners tackle a shower upgrade, the higher cost isn’t a deterrent. An even higher share (87%) upgrade faucets, but wall finishes, flooring and lighting fixtures aren’t far behind, at 83%, 83% and 82%, respectively.

6. Curbless showers gain notable share.

Low-curb (43%) and alcove (42%) shower styles are still on top, and both styles have grown in popularity since last year (increasing by 1 and 2 percentage points, respectively). However, curbless showers have gained even more share, increasing by 3 percentage points; nearly a quarter of renovating homeowners (24%) choose them.

Most renovating homeowners (78%) select a frameless shower door style, while more than 1 in 5 (22%) prefers a semiframed or fully framed style. As for shower door types, 45% choose hinged, 15% go for sliding and 10% select fixed. And nearly 1 in 5 renovating homeowners (17%) opts for a shower with no door at all.

Bonus stats: More than a quarter of homeowners (26%) remove the tub during a bath renovation. With the extra space, the majority enlarge their shower space (77%).

Material and Finish Trends

7. Majority prefer paint and tile. 

Paint is by far the most popular finish for nonshower walls (79%), while porcelain or ceramic tile follows at a far distance (24%). When it comes to inside the shower, however, that same tile is unsurprisingly the overwhelming favorite, given its greater longevity in a wet environment; 82% choose it for shower walls (up notably by 13 percentage points since 2021), and 61% go with it for shower floors. 

All the other finish choices for shower walls and floors follow at a great distance. While marble is holding steady in the No. 2 spot, only 15% choose it for shower flooring and 11% choose it for shower walls. An even smaller share of homeowners (1% to 4%) opt for quartzite, granite, slate, travertine, limestone or onyx for shower flooring or walls.

Bonus stats: White is the preferred color for shower walls, at 43%, although that figure is down by 6 percentage points this year compared to the previous year. The rest of the colors all hover much farther down: gray, 16%; multicolored 12% (up by 2 percentage points); and beige, 11%.

Vanity Trends

8. Wood takes top spot from white.

Among the 76% of renovating homeowners who upgrade the vanity, the majority (33%) choose a wood-tone option, overtaking white this year (29%). Gray is also a fairly common choice (13%), despite a decline in popularity of 2 percentage points year over year.

9. Custom or semicustom and built-in are still preferred.

The majority of renovating homeowners (62%) continue to opt for a custom or semicustom vanity. The most popular features are soft-close drawers (81%), soft-close doors (75%), built-in electrical outlets (33%) and built-in drawer organizers (26%). As for size, given that 41% of bathrooms are 100 square feet or smaller, it’s not surprising that 2 in 5 upgraded vanities (41%) are 48 inches or smaller. Still, 18% of homeowners opt for vanities that are larger than 72 inches. 

Also of note: When upgrading the vanities, 61% of renovating homeowners choose a built-in mounting, the finish is much more likely to be matte (54%) than glossy (6%), and engineered quartz is the most popular vanity countertop material (39%).

Bonus stats: Shaker style remains the top choice for vanity doors, chosen by 46% of renovating homeowners, but that percentage is down by 4 points this year. As for handles, the majority (62%) still opt for bar pulls.

Medicine Cabinet Trends 

10. Stock styles and mirrors are most popular.

Among the 34% of renovating homeowners who upgrade the medicine cabinet, 55% choose a stock model, while only 32% go for custom of semicustom. The vast majority of medicine cabinets selected (69%) have mirrors on the outside, and 67% of renovating homeowners choose a recessed mounting style. The share opting for surface mounting is less than half the latter (30%) but has increased by 5 percentage points year over year. 

Bonus stat: 24% of upgraded medicine cabinets have hidden electrical outlets.

Interested to glean even more information about current bathroom renovation trends? Download the complete 2023 U.S. Houzz Bathroom Trends Study.