new design trends

Secret hideaways and sunrooms are the hottest home design trends right now

The holidays are for spending time with loved ones, but they can also be a good time for refreshing home decor or catching up on the honey-do list.

In the spirit of the holiday season and the winter solstice, the experts at Houzz have shared their top emerging design trends to inspire Houston homeowners heading into 2024. Considering the true winter weather in Texas doesn't catch up until late January or early February, there's still plenty of time to find inspiration for that next home improvement project.

Here are the top four trends Houzz is forecasting in months to come.

From indoor to outdoor, nearly seamlessly
An increasing number of homeowners are interested in blending the indoors with the outdoors, and with Houston's extra-sunny weather throughout the year, it's easy to see why. Houzz reports that searches for solutions like "bedroom window seats" and "living room bay windows" have grown exponentially in 2023 in comparison to this time last year.

Another popular solution homeowners are looking into is a "four-season room" – think a sunroom, solarium, or an enclosed patio. The main attraction of a room like this is to have floor-to-ceiling windows that allow full visual access to the landscape beyond the house. It also provides an immersive viewing experience during a Houston rain storm — or rare snow.

Though this is a great idea for Houston'' milder months, keeping the space consistently cool during the hot summer is one thing homeowners should consider before making the investment.

"Four-season rooms" like a solarium can be great addition. Photo courtesy of Dave Perry-Miller Real Estate

Entertainment-focused gathering spaces
Large familial gatherings are another big part of the holidays, which is another focus point for many homeowners trying to revitalize their spaces this time of year. A living room sectional with coffee table was the most-searched-for idea, Houzz discovered, skyrocketing 47 times higher in 2023 than the previous year.

Family rooms with a TV over the fireplace, built-in entertainment systems, and home theaters were three other top searches for homeowners – painting the perfect picture for families wanting to get comfortable and watch a cozy movie, play games, or watch sports.

Hidden spaces
Every house has its secrets, and the upcoming winter season shows more homeowners are incorporating whimsical hideaways and secret spaces that are just for them.

"Homeowners are gravitating toward the inclusion of 'trap doors' and 'kitchens with hidden pantries'...allowing seamless access to storage," the report said. "Incorporating a covert 'speakeasy home bar lounge' or 'wine bar and cellar under the stairs'...adds a fun element of surprise."

Houzz also predicted other kitchen hideaway ideas like appliance garages will be a top home design trend in 2024.

Green, green everywhere
Green is not just a color for Christmas, it's the "color of renewal," according to Houzz. It can be used as a year-round accent through decor, plants, and wall paint. The beautiful thing about green is that there are so many shades to choose from that can adhere to virtually every color scheme already present in a home.

"Searches for 'light green kitchen cabinets,' 'sage green walls,' 'teal living room,' 'dark green exterior,' 'green bathroom tile' and 'pewter green' have all increased compared with the same period in 2022," Houzz said.

Green can even be used in collaboration with other popular colors, such as Peach Fuzz, Pantone's Color of the Year for 2024. Lindsie Davis, the founder and principal designer of Wimberley-based home design firm Blueberry Jones Design, chose to mix the terra cotta of these Apartment F soup bowls with a lovely shade of green as a way to introduce the peachy tones into the kitchen.

Houzz winter home design predictions 2023

Photo by Esslinger Design Company / Picture Perfect House

There's nothing like getting the family together on the oversized sectional to watch a movie or play some games.

Terra cotta bowls, Peach Fuzz Terra cotta is a similar color to Peach Fuzz, according to Lindsie Davis.shopaptf.com

The full report on Houzz's winter home design trends can be found on houzz.com.

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Self-care is key among hottest bathroom renovation trends right now

Photo by Pete Helme; design by Interiors by Chloe

White and off-white are still the most frequently picked tones for bathroom walls.

The interior design experts at Houzz are unveiling the hottest renovation trends for Houston homeowners who are ready to say goodbye their outdated bathrooms and step into updated, self-care retreats.

The "2026 U.S. Houzz Bathroom Trends Study" surveyed over 1,600 homeowners who are currently renovating or have recently completed a bathroom renovation to determine the top design choices, features, and the overarching goals for their projects.

"Homeowners want their bathrooms to work harder for them to support both daily routines and self-care," said Marine Sargsyan, Houzz head of economic research. "That's showing up in the numbers, with median spend rebounding to $15,000, and nearly half of homeowners making their showers bigger. Pros are helping their clients to reconfigure layouts and make more room for the features that elevate everyday comfort."

Below are the most sought-after bathroom upgrades in 2026.

Bathrooms stay relatively the same size, but self-care tops the priority list
One of the main highlights in the report was that half of all homeowners surveyed said they spent more time relaxing and "soaking up self care" in their bathrooms after renovations were finished. Fore 28 percent, that's for beauty and pampering routines, and for 23 percent, it's for rest and relaxation.

With this in mind, most homeowners also said they don't want their bathrooms to be larger and take away precious space in the primary bedroom. Instead, homeowners are making strategic improvements like reworking the bathroom layout; increasing the size of the shower area; or updating ventilation, heating, or plumbing.

"The vast majority of bathrooms (82 percent) keep their size after renovation, while just 1 percent shrink," the report said. "When bathroom footprints increase, they tend to be modest."

Additionally, about 90 percent of homeowners said they were hiring a professional to help with their renovation projects rather than doing it themselves. This takes away some of the stress of executing renovations, though it might come at a higher cost than a DIY project.

Top-picked styles and design details
The majority of homeowners (81 percent) update the style of their bathroom when they renovate, the report said, with transitional and contemporary styles leading as the most popular choices.

Specifically, homeowners are most often choosing solid wood (like maple and white oak) for their cabinets, and white or off-white quartzite for countertops, and white or off-white paint across the shower walls and non-shower walls. While this may seem sterile at first, about 34 percent of homeowners are including an accent wall to add a touch of personality to the space.

"Renovating homeowners who include an accent wall in their bathroom projects mostly use patterns to make them stand out (53 percent)," the report said. "Color is the second choice (48 percent), followed by surface material (45 percent) and texture (25 percent)."

Porcelain and ceramic tile are the top two choices for shower flooring and for the flooring outside the shower, Houzz reported.

Specialty features surging in popularity
Recessed lighting, bidet toilet seats, and mirrors with adjustable lighting color temperature are a few of the hottest specialty features being added to bathrooms, the report found.

"[A] third of renovating homeowners add a specialty mirror feature (33 percent), most often LED lighting (26 percent) or an antifog system (21 percent)," Houzz said.

For vanity updates, 61 percent of homeowners upgrade to entirely custom or semi-custom piece, and 21 percent of homeowners opt for stock models. These new vanities are most often wider than what was previously used, and feature soft-close drawers and doors. Built-in features — such as electrical outlets, hair tool organizers, and drawer organizers — are another popular choice for vanity upgrades.

Accessibility features for homeowners planning for the future
Nearly three quarters of homeowners are planning bathroom upgrades to address their future needs.

The top aging-in-place features incorporated by renovating homeowners are grab bars, continuous or nonslip flooring, low-curb or curbless showers, additional lighting, ADA-compliant toilets, and wheelchair-accessible doorways. Four percent of homeowners said they were lowering the height of their vanities, and two percent said they were lowering their shower fixtures.

Several of these ideas were also highlighted in Houzz's 2025 renovation trends report.

Photo by Pete Helme; design by Interiors by Chloe

White and off-white are still the most frequently picked tones for bathroom walls.

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