White Cabinets Remain at the Top of Kitchen Wish Lists

This kitchen features some of the most popular choices among homeowners renovating their kitchens: white cabinets and countertop, wood floors, gray cabinets (on the island) and multicolored backsplash.

Since survey respondents had completed a kitchen project in the previous 12 months, were working on one or planned to start one in the next three months, their responses provide a window on what’s trending in American kitchens now. Read on to find out which colors and materials were most popular.

Replacing countertops is a popular move. As this graph shows, the most popular feature to upgrade in a renovated kitchen was the countertop, followed by the sink and backsplash, according to the survey. Faucets, wall finishes, lighting fixtures and cabinets were next on the upgrade list.

White and multicolored countertops top the list. Renovating homeowners were split between white countertops and multicolored ones (27 percent each) as their top choices. A multicolored countertop might be one with colorful Moroccan-style tile or one made of marble with veining in a different color than the background.

Note that this graph shows just the five most popular color choices, which is why the totals don’t add up to 100 percent. Subsequent graphs showing popular color choices for different kitchen components follow the same format.

Popular countertop materials. Engineered quartz is now the most popular material, chosen by 43 percent of renovating homeowners updating their countertops. Granite was next, at 34 percent. Note that in the graph, granite is grouped under natural stone. That category includes granite, quartzite (8 percent), marble (6 percent) and soapstone (5 percent). (The total is greater than 45 percent because respondents could select more than one natural stone.)

Wood floors are the top choice. When it comes to colors for the floor, neutrals reign these days. Wood tones have become the most popular for upgraded floors in renovated kitchens, chosen by 52 percent of renovating homeowners upgrading their flooring. Gray floors were a distant second, followed by brown and beige.

Natural hardwood still leads. Hardwood was the top choice for new flooring materials, followed by ceramic or porcelain tile and then engineered wood. While wood tones are still the most popular choice, actual hardwood (29 percent) is losing some steam as a choice. Two years ago in the survey, by comparison, 34 percent of respondents chose hardwood.

Browse flooring materials

White cabinets continue to rule. The white kitchen has been a popular choice among renovating homeowners for some time, and with 43 percent of homeowners choosing this neutral for their cabinets, it looks as though the trend has staying power. Wood was the second-most popular color choice for cabinets, followed by another neutral, gray.

Shaker is the most popular cabinet style by far. The most popular cabinet style among those upgrading their cabinets was Shaker, followed by flat-panel (also known as slab), the study found.

Shaker Style Still a Cabinetry Classic

White backsplashes top the list. More than one-third of renovating homeowners (36 percent) chose white for their kitchen backsplashes, while 19 percent chose multicolored and 13 percent chose gray, the survey found.

Gray is the most popular wall color. Neutrals topped the list for kitchen wall colors, with renovating homeowners most often choosing gray (27 percent), white (24 percent) and beige (21 percent). Blue (7 percent) and green (6 percent) came in as the fourth- and fifth-most popular choices.

The 2018 U.S. Houzz Kitchen Trends Study, fielded in September and October 2017, reflects the responses of 1,734 registered U.S. Houzz users who completed a kitchen project in the previous 12 months, were working on one or planned to start one in the next three months.