Recent Home Improvement & Lumberyard Trends
The overall construction market is highly variable, with month-by-month trends based upon supply and demand. Homeowners and contractors alike find themselves asking when things will ‘level out.’ The truth is: the construction industry is volatile and ever-changing, with no inherent ‘end’ in sight.
Despite this, month-by-month and year-by-year, new trends emerge, causing the next wave of renovations and remodels to occur. This blog serves to identify and explain some of the most recent trends in the home improvement and lumber yard industries.
Home Improvement Trends
Relaxing, Spa-Like Bathroom Spaces
Following the COVID-19 pandemic, many homeowners realized that they wanted their homes to feel cozy and inviting - this included their bathrooms. One of the most continued trends in 2023 is the need for almost a spa-like bathroom space, complete with benches, towel warmers, large vanities, and expansive showers.
Homeowners are keeping this trend going by painting their bathrooms with neutral colors, changing out the lights for dimmer options, and adding hardware that makes the space more convenient. Moreover, the addition of plants, candles, side tables, and tabletop decorations into the bathroom space are enhancing the environment and creating a calming tone.
Enhanced Outdoor Spaces (Screened Porches, Decks, & Pergolas)
Outdoor spaces continue to be a great investment for a number of reasons, with the primary two being 1) increased return on investment (ROI) and 2) more usable area on your property. Homeowners are finding that, by adding a screened porch, open-air deck, or even pergola, they gain more usable space at their home, decreasing the amount of time and money spent going out with family and friends. These types of outdoor additions can also lead to increased ROIs of upwards of 70% of the original home value when homeowners go to sell their properties in the future.
Outdoor spaces, such as screened porches and pergolas, are great for any-time use because they are partially or fully covered from uncooperative weather. However, any of the above-mentioned additions will lead to an increased ROI and more usable space, be that for personal use or hosting guests.
Eye-Catching Wallpapered or Painted Accent Walls
While complete wallpapering is not making a comeback any time soon, wallpapering or painting one accent wall is a trend on the rise. Many doctor’s offices in the early 2000s and 2010s actually founded this trend as a way to improve patients’ moods during tough appointments. Nowadays, that same mentality has been moved into the homes of hundreds of thousands of Americans.
Homeowners are using this trend to improve their overall moods and set the tone of different rooms. Many kitchens are accented with yellows, oranges, and lighter shades of greens to incorporate vibrancy into the room. In comparison, dining rooms and bedrooms are often accented with darker shades of blues, greens, and reds to incorporate seriousness and cleanliness into the room.
Plenty of Natural Light
Although large window panels require additional, laborious cleaning, they are one of the most recent home improvement trends of 2023. Homeowners are finding that having more windows that are particularly large both 1) increase their mood and 2) reduce their electricity bills. The floor-to-ceiling window look is a major trend, although collaborative walls with specifically-placed windows around photos and other wall decorations are also trending.
The primary drive for this trend is heightened natural light within the home. Sunlight scientifically improves people’s moods, even those with diagnosed mental disorders, such as anxiety and depression. While there’s the added bonus of lower electricity bills, the improvement of overall mood is the driving force behind this home improvement trend.
Multifunctional Kitchen Islands (Sinks, Dishwashers, & Stovetops)
While the kitchen island has been a staple of many kitchens across the country for decades, there is a recent trend pushing the traditional island into a new era: functional devices within the island. Homeowners, especially those of new builds, are constructing kitchen islands that possess sinks, dishwashers, stovetops, and more technological advancements directly in the island.
Although this particular trend is one of the more costly ones, several kitchen island additions are lowering in cost and are expected to be affordable to more middle-class families in the coming years. Things like a kitchen island sink or extra kitchen island burners are likely to become widely available and affordable in five years’ time.
Multipurpose Rooms
Similarly to the bathroom trend, the need and expectation of possessing a multipurpose room in 2023 is widely due to the COVID-19 pandemic. With work and school still in-part or in-whole happening at home, many homeowners are converting their spare bedrooms or former home gyms into true multipurpose rooms. These spaces ideally support three or more activities, with easily accessible tools and devices.
In 2023, the three most commonly paired activities within multipurpose rooms are 1) work/school, 2) exercise, and 3) hobbies/crafts. For some homeowners, a multipurpose room might include a foldable workout bike, an office desk with supplies, and an arts/crafts cart in the corner. While the activities and uses vary dramatically, homeowners are expected to maintain and expand upon this trend over the coming years.
Functional Entry Spaces
While the Midwest and South call them ‘Mudrooms,’ the more appropriate description is ‘Functional Entry Spaces.’ When homeowners come home after a long day at work, or when they arrive back with muddy kids and dogs, the last thing they want is to track footprints and debris into their home.
While the traditional functional entry space is nothing new, homeowners today are expanding this trend by adding washing machines, dryers, built-in storage, and much more into their spaces. Often, these spaces are being created in the homes of Millennials with animals and children, as it can greatly improve cleanliness and livability of an otherwise chaotic home.
Expanded Built-In Storage
Storage is something that almost everyone needs more of. Built-in storage has become the latest trend to solve space problems. While built-in storage is not inherently a new trend, it’s trending more now because built-in storage is becoming more affordable and widely available for all, whether money or space was previously an issue.
Homeowners are finding that window seats with built-in storage, as well as outdoor benches with built-in storage, are the two most beneficial solutions. These two solutions allow for storage of common-day household items, without taking up any additionally unused space. This trend is only expected to grow as lumber supply issues level out.
Lumber Yard Trends
More Technological Advancements
Lumber yards are seeing their customers buying more technology-driven additions for projects, be those indoor or outdoor. Customers, be those homeowners or contractors, want products that make life easier and more convenient, which means there has been an influx in the purchase of smart-home items and electronic improvements.
Certain lumber yards, especially big box stores like Lowe’s and Home Depot, have found themselves selling more lighting solutions, televisions, speakers, wiring, and other electrically-driven devices than ever before. It is uncertain how long this trend will last or whether it will continue to grow as more products of similar categories are released.
Ecommerce Claiming More Market Share
While ecommerce still only accounts for roughly 30% of all construction sales, that number is up dramatically since last year, and continues to grow exponentially. Lumber yards are seeing less homeowners and contractors coming into their physical stores and more ordering from their online stores and/or competitors’ online stores.
Big box stores are succeeding at ecommerce over smaller, independent lumber yards as their product offerings and delivery options are wider and often cheaper. Although ecommerce is a new trend, it is expected to continue over the coming years, with large corporations like Amazon and Walmart anticipated to take the lead.
DIY Shoppers Over Contractors
Lumber yards have noted they are seeing more homeowners and DIYers shopping at their stores than contractors. Part of this trend has been attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic, where many homeowners learned to do minor repairs and projects themselves out of necessity. The other part of this trend has been attributed to higher costs associated with hiring contractors, especially during periods of economic uncertainty and inflation.
This trend is expected to level over the coming years, assuming supply chain issues level and prices become more reasonable. Lumber yards expect 2023 to be slower in general (as discussed down below), and this trend will parallel that expectation.
40%* of Purchases for Repairs or Replacements
Similar to the housing trend of new builds slowing, new projects are slowing, with roughly 40% of purchased materials from lumber yards going towards repairs and replacements. Lumber yards predict that this data point is so high due to corrections of pandemic projects; however, some construction experts suggest this data point is so high due to material expansion and contraction caused by climate change and the extreme weather from recent years.
Lumber yards and construction experts alike are uncertain about the continuance of this trend. While both are speculating the cause and what that means for the future, it is certain that the rest of this year will be filled with repairs and replacements based upon 2020 - 2022 construction statistics.
70%* of Material Used is Lumber
Lumber is by far one of the most commonly used materials in any construction project, especially those that are outdoors. Recent statistics suggest that for all outdoor spaces, lumber accounts for nearly 70% of materials used. Lumber yards do not expect this trend to change dramatically within the next five years, as lumber has been consistently in demand for the last five years.
One point that many lumber yards have been stressing, however, is the need to order necessary lumber well in advance, especially if the project requires hardwood. Lumber is still the number one material cause for delay of construction projects in the United States, and hardwood in particular is the preferred wood choice for almost 63% of projects.
Big Box Stores Maintain Market Dominance
Big box stores, like Lowe’s and Home Depot, continue to maintain the highest amount of market share, which comes as no surprise to independent lumber yards. The surprise for many lumber yards is that independent lumber yards are losing market share to their big box competitors. The recent trend is that consumers enjoy one-stop shops, and that is inclusive of their home improvement and construction shopping needs.
Lumber yards are working hard to combat this stealing of share by offering more products when applicable, and even emulating some larger store chains by adding cash-wraps with small snacks, knick-knacks, and other last-minute spontaneous purchases. This trend is anticipated to continue, with big box stores obtaining more market share over the coming years, unless independent lumber yards find a unique offering for their patrons.
Demand Expected to Slow, Then Climb
Lumber yards anticipate 2023 to be a slow year all-around, for homeowners, contractors, and lumber yards alike. This prediction is in part because of the pandemic; in part because of supply chain issues with lumber; and in part because of economic uncertainty. Towards the end of 2023 and beginning of 2024, lumber yards then anticipate a spike in demand for construction products and work to be done.
While lumber yards are tracking 2023 to be a slower year, they acknowledge that certain specialty products, especially those that are for outdoor spaces (excluding lumber), will grow this year. Overall, demand trends are dependent upon events that have yet to happen, so much of this trend is purely speculative in nature.
20%* of Transactions by Contractors
Recent data suggests that only about one fifth of transactions happening at lumber yards are by contractors. This trend supports the above-noted trend of DIYers, but served as an unexpected statistic to several lumber yards and construction experts.
Lumber yards are uncertain what is immediately causing the decline of contractor shoppers in their stores, besides the increase of DIYers. There is also uncertainty about whether this trend will continue or if it will level out over the coming years.
* = roughly figured and rounded; anticipate percentages in actuality to vary within 3% points.
Sources
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