In April 2026, Forbes published coverage of the 2026 Houzz and Home Study, the largest annual survey of residential remodeling activity in the United States with more than 20,000 respondents. Forbes selected seven images from Living with Lolo's Bronco Revival project in Scottsdale to illustrate the article, placing the firm alongside national renovation data that shapes how homeowners, builders, and designers understand the current remodeling market. This post breaks down what the 2026 Houzz study found and what those findings mean specifically for homeowners in Scottsdale, Paradise Valley, and the broader Phoenix metro.
Why the Houzz and Home Study Matters
The annual Houzz and Home Study is not a lifestyle trends piece. It is a data-driven survey of actual renovation activity: what rooms homeowners renovated, what they spent, how they found their contractors, what caused project delays, and how spending compared to the prior year. Because the sample size exceeds 20,000 respondents, the data is large enough to be statistically meaningful and is widely referenced by designers, contractors, real estate professionals, and developers across the country.
Forbes coverage of the 2026 study used Living with Lolo's project photography to help readers visualize renovation outcomes across kitchen, bathroom, living room, and bedroom categories. Having project work selected for this kind of coverage reflects a standard of finish quality that resonates nationally, not just in the Arizona luxury market.
What the 2026 Houzz Data Shows
The 2026 Houzz and Home Study found that roughly half of all homeowners in the United States planned a renovation in 2026, a rate consistent with prior years but with a notable shift toward larger, more complex projects. The national median kitchen remodel cost reached $24,000, up from $22,000 the year before. Primary bathroom remodels have a national median of $15,000, with high-end remodels reaching $75,000. Living room and bedroom projects continue to grow as homeowners invest in spaces they now use differently than they did before the shift toward working and spending more time at home.
The study also found that homeowners are taking longer to make renovation decisions but spending more when they do. The planning-to-execution gap has lengthened, which tracks with what the Living with Lolo team sees from clients who spend six to twelve months in the research phase before booking a consultation.
How Scottsdale Compares to the National Data
National medians are useful for understanding broad trends but they describe a market that includes entry-level renovations in lower-cost metros. In Scottsdale and Paradise Valley, the starting point for a luxury kitchen renovation is typically several times the national median. Clients working with
Living with Lolo on kitchen projects are generally investing between $120,000 and $280,000 depending on scope, with custom cabinetry, premium appliance packages, and high-end stone countertops as standard expectations rather than upgrades.
Primary bathroom renovations in this market follow a similar pattern. Freestanding soaking tubs, steam showers, custom tile work, and spa-level lighting push project costs well above the national high-end benchmark. The national data describes what is typical across the full U.S. market. The Scottsdale luxury market operates in a different category.
What the Trends Mean for Homeowners Planning a 2026 Renovation
Several themes from the 2026 study have clear implications for homeowners in this market. First, material and labor costs have not retreated to pre-2022 levels. The cost environment has stabilized but has not reversed, which means renovation budgets that were set two or three years ago need to be revisited before project planning begins in earnest.
Second, the data shows that homeowners who work with full-service firms, meaning design and construction under one contract, report fewer cost overruns and shorter project durations than homeowners who coordinate separate design and construction vendors. This reflects what the
integrated design-build model is designed to solve: the coordination friction that adds time and cost to every handoff between separate firms.
Third, outdoor living and wellness-oriented spaces continue to appear in the data as high-priority renovation categories. In Scottsdale, where usable outdoor living season extends well beyond what most of the country experiences, this trend is not new. Clients have been investing in covered patios, outdoor kitchens, and pool surrounds for years. What is shifting is the quality expectation, with materials and finish levels approaching interior standards.
About the Bronco Revival Project
The Living with Lolo project that Forbes selected for its 2026 Houzz coverage is the Bronco Revival, a whole-home renovation in Scottsdale that involved structural changes, a full kitchen transformation, primary suite redesign, and comprehensive finish updates throughout. The project represents the kind of integrated design-build scope that is central to how the firm operates: design and construction managed under one contract, from first consultation through final installation.
