Surface Materials Help Accent Walls Pop From A White Backdrop in Master Bathrooms

During master bathroom renovations, many homeowners are opting for light, bright spaces with white as the top choice for countertops (51%), shower walls (45%), vanities (34%), and walls outside the shower (32%) according to the 2020 U.S. Houzz Bathroom Trends Study*. Surprisingly, among the more than one third of homeowners adding an accent wall in their renovated space (37%), white remains the top pick (23%), followed closely by gray (21%) and blue, which is on the rise (19% in 2020, up from 16% in 2019).

With neutral color palettes popular in updated bathrooms, renovating homeowners employ other methods to help their accent walls stand out. Surface material is the most common choice for distinguishing an accent wall (51%), up seven percent from last year. Other features that help the walls pop include color (45%), pattern (41%) and texture (28%). Accent walls are slightly more common outside the shower area (19% in 2020, up from 15% in 2019), than inside the shower area (18%).

The majority of homeowners replace wall finishes and flooring outside of the shower during master bathroom renovations (83%, each). Paint is by far the leading option for non-shower walls (77%), followed by ceramic or porcelain (26%) and wood (7%). For flooring outside the shower, ceramic or porcelain tops the list (59%), followed by vinyl or resilient flooring, which jumped four percent from last year (11% in 2020, up from 7% in 2019).

Nine in ten renovating homeowners change the style of their master bathroom during renovation projects (89%), with modern, transitional and contemporary styles being the leading choices (20%, 18% and 18%, respectively). Traditional and farmhouse styles both inched up in popularity, increasing to 12% and 5%, respectively.

For additional findings from the 2020 U.S. Houzz Bathroom Trends Study, check out the full report at this link.

*Houzz survey of nearly 1,600 U.S. homeowners using Houzz who are in the midst of, are planning, or recently completed a master bathroom project, was fielded between June and July 2020.