Millennials are the biggest population segment in the US today, and dominate the new home market. You are a millennial if you were born from 1980 to 1996. Even if you are not, you will most likely sell your home to one. You will want to know that millennials like when it comes to kitchen countertops and cabinets in 2022 and beyond.
The good news is that millennials share many preferences with the previous generations when it comes to home ownership, particularly with the Baby Boomers and Generation X. There are some exceptions, however, and those are the subject of this article.
Generally, millennials prefer to live in the city rather than the suburbs or rural areas. They prefer to buy homes rather than build one to their specifications, and surprisingly have a more casual attitude towards environmental-friendly products than the previous generations.
Millennials like all the bells and whistles when it comes to their kitchens. They want wet bars, trash compactors, full kitchen islands with a range, and built-in seating. When it comes to bathrooms, there is a return in interest in bathtubs, specifically hot tubs.
One survey asked participants about the amenities they most wanted and least wanted. While the list on both sides of the paper was quite extensive, some interesting trends appeared.
• About 80% of millennials consider a patio an essential feature in a home, despite the relative non-essential nature of the feature to daily life. However, this does reflect the same attitude of the previous generations, so it might be more a cultural rather than generational preference.
• Older generations clocked at 90% for the desirability of Energy Star rated features for homes such as windows, putting it as their second most desired feature for the home. Compared to just over three-fourths of millennials that ranked it 15th in their most desirable list, it was an unexpected result.
• Millennials and Generation X participants agreed on almost everything for their 10 most desired features, with the exceptions being double sinks and garage storage, which millennials consider quite important. Baby Boomers disagree with millennials about the importance of a front porch, table space, double sinks, and walk-in pantries.
• Interestingly, millennials put a top priority on laundry rooms, ranking it as their most desired feature.
While these general preferences are certainly interesting, it would be more useful to get down to specifics in design. A National Association of Home Builders survey set out to find out the millennials choice when it comes to colors and features for kitchen countertops and cabinets. Here are the highlights:
• Almost a third of millennials chose white for their kitchen cabinets, with 14% choosing black and 13% choosing gray. About 20% chose espresso and other dark colors and more than 15% chose the middle shades.
• Cabinet color preferences reflect similarities between millennials and previous generations, with the exception of black and dark cabinets. Fewer Baby Boomers (9%) chose dark cabinets, and even fewer (2%) chose black cabinets. About the same number of Generation X people (19%) like dark cabinets, but a lot fewer (8%) chose black.
• More than half (64%) of millennials chose a stainless steel finish for their appliances, followed by 22% choosing black. White appliances took third place at just 12%.
• Appliance color choices are similar across the different generations, with some slightly higher aversion on the part of previous generations when it comes to black. Only 16% of Generation X people chose it, while Baby Boomers clocked in at 13%.
• A majority of millennials (62%) and Generation X people (64%) continue to choose natural stones for their kitchen countertops, specifically granite. Slightly fewer Baby Boomers (53%) concur.
• Just 17% of Millennials and 15% of Generation X people chose engineered quartz, despite reports that it is currently the most popular materials for kitchen countertops. This might be attributable somewhat to the fact that more than a quarter (28%) of Baby Boomers chose it over natural stones.
Survey says
All that these surveys show is that millennials do not greatly differ from previous generations in their preferences when it comes to home ownership and design. They do tend to be a lot more vocal about what they think, but when it comes to the crunch, they tend to be rather conventional when it comes to colors and features.
That said, there are a few interesting results that might pay to take notice. They consider walk-in pantries and a full kitchen islands desirable, as well as hot tubs. They also prefer white cabinets and granite countertops. These can help you in making some choices when it comes to kitchen and bathroom remodeling, especially if you are aiming to impress or sell.
Conclusion
Knowing what prospective homebuyers might want can be a good guide when making design decisions for home remodeling. Surveys show that millennials are not that much different from other generations, but they are much more likely to insist on them. Fairfax Kitchen Bath can help bring your home up to date and guarantees you will love it for life.
Fairfax Kitchen Bath services the DC, MD and Northern Virginia metropolitan areas. We are a Class A, licensed and insured contractor, registered in the Commonwealth of Virginia. We have a showroom in Fairfax, Virginia, which houses all our products.
We sell only top quality products for all your kitchen renovation needs, from natural and engineered stone slabs, cabinets, shelves, sinks, faucets tiles, backsplashes, knobs and pulls, and hardwood flooring. We carry only the top brands for these products, such as Schrock Cabinetry, Silestone, Blanco, Kohler, and Mosaic Décor.
Contact us today to get free in-home design consultation and quote for your home and kitchen renovation.
