Steady spending, sharper priorities
Homeowners across the country still spend more than half a trillion dollars a year on improvements and repairs, but the growth has slowed. In its July 2026 projection, the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies expects that spending to hold at about $519 billion through mid-2027, with year-over-year growth easing to half a percent.
When budgets grow slowly, priorities sharpen. The trends below share one idea: put the money into the rooms and the materials you live with every day, and keep what still works. Each example comes from a real project, most of them from our team’s earlier work in Central New York and some from here in East Tennessee.
Walk-in showers in place of unused tubs
In the Oneida Lake bathroom, a walk-in tub that nobody had ever used was removed and the plumbing relocated to make room for a very large shower. The old shower’s tiny corner became the toilet room. In Marcellus, the shower was made much larger, with a shower head on either side.
A tub still earns its place for some families. In a custom home in Central Square, the shower and the tub share one wet area, so children can splash without damaging anything. Our guide to choosing a bathtub or walk-in shower covers the decision in detail.
Keeping what works, and spending where it shows
Not everything has to go. In a bathroom refresh in Central New York, the tub was in good working condition, so it stayed and only its fixtures were changed to black, while the floor was leveled and relaid and the vanity, mirror and lighting were replaced.
On an attic bedroom in an older house, the walls were skimmed rather than replaced, so the room stayed usable and the work stayed inside its time and budget. Spending where it shows, and saving where the structure is sound, gives a modest budget the most visible result.
Vanity lights that hang from the ceiling
In the Central Square home, the lights over the primary vanity hang from the ceiling instead of sitting on the wall as sconces. It was an unusual choice when the house was built and it is a common one now, because it frees the wall for the mirrors and turns the lighting into a feature of the room.
Drawers in place of cabinet doors
Deep drawers instead of base cabinets, wherever the layout allows, bring everything within reach instead of hiding it behind a door at the back of a shelf. The Central Square kitchen uses drawers wherever possible, along with two pantry cabinets and a walk-in pantry behind the range.
Construction matters as much as the layout. In the Oneida Lake home, the children’s bathroom has solid wood cabinetry with soft-close doors and drawers, which is how our team prefers to build cabinets every time.
Natural materials with a story
Materials with character give a room something no catalog finish can. In a farmhouse in Central New York, old barn wood was repurposed throughout the house. In a custom home in Hastings, the floor is a lava tile made from lava remnants, fragile to work with and very durable once it is down.
Outdoor living that asks little upkeep
Outdoor space is part of how a home is used, and upkeep decides how much it gets used. On a deck we rebuilt in Farragut, the section open to the weather was built in composite, with a light wired into every step and storage built in beneath. Our comparison of composite and wood decking explains the trade-offs, and our deck building page covers the work itself.
In Central Square, a covered patio with a bar counter, seating and a ceiling fan was built along with a stamped concrete patio, so the outdoor space works in sun and in rain.
Fixing the cause before the finish
The most valuable work is often the part nobody sees. In Oak Ridge, the rot was repaired and the cedar siding replaced, with more than two hours spent at the paint shop matching the color. The same job found a bathroom exhaust fan that had never vented outside, and venting to the exterior was added.
In Farragut, the deck had rotted because water had nowhere to drain. Finding the cause first is what keeps a new finish from failing the same way, and it is the heart of our home repair work.
Plan the trends that fit your home
Trends are only useful when they fit the way you live. Explore our services, browse our projects, or request a free estimate to talk through your own home with Master Hand Construction Services.