Whole-Home Design is Becoming Increasingly Interconnected, According to Research Commissioned by NKBA and HPMA
By NKBA Editorial Staff
The Kitchen, Bath & Whole-Home Design Study, jointly commissioned through the Strategic Alliance Partnership between NKBA and the High Point Market Authority (HPMA), sheds new light on the changes impacting the residential design profession.
Designers are navigating evolving business opportunities and challenges, heightened client expectations, and various financial and technological forces shaping the future of the industry. This new research also reveals that kitchen, bath, and whole-home design are becoming increasingly interconnected – across rooms, disciplines, project phases and professional relationships.
The findings are based on a survey of 878 designers, including 502 NKBA and 376 HPMA members, as well as ten in depth interviews that added further context to the quantitative findings.
Among the key insights:
Kitchens are a common gateway to broader projects, but other rooms also play a role
Kitchen renovations frequently lead to broader client relationships and project scopes.
While 78% of NKBA designers identify the kitchen as the typical starting point, HPMKT designers are nearly evenly split between the kitchen (40%) and living/entertainment spaces (39%) as starting points. Nearly half of NKBA and HPMKT designers (49%) said their projects frequently expand beyond the original scope. Sixty-one percent of current residential projects are multi-room or whole-home.
Whole-home projects are broadening roles – and expectations
As project scope expands, designers are taking on greater responsibility for coordinating across the home and working with a broader network of specialized professionals. NKBA designers report working with an average of 10 types of professionals on whole-home projects, compared with 12 among HPMKT designers.
Economic, demographic and technological factors are shaping residential project environment
The surveyed designers identified several factors that are having a meaningful effect on their day-to-day work. Homeowners are remodeling instead of moving, including many preparing to age in place, spurring investment in major projects. Cost volatility, however, is leading them to spend more selectively. Customers count on designers throughout the process more than ever before as AI and other technologies power visualization and change client expectations.
“The exciting growth in whole-home projects brings both opportunity and added responsibility for designers,” said Bill Darcy, Global President & CEO, NKBA I KBIS. “They’re taking on larger roles as homeowners entrust them with managing the tremendous complexities of multi-room renovations.”
Access all of the insights by downloading the full Kitchen, Bath & Whole-Home Design Study.
