#2 Restoring My 1880 Victorian House And Found This Vibrant Tile Original To The Home After Partially Removing A Faux Fireplace
Chances are, we'll be seeing many more cool finds. According to Houzz's annual Houzz & Home study, U.S. home renovation activity and spending have reached the highest rates since 2018.
More than half of homeowners (55%) renovated in 2021, up from 53% in 2020 and 54% in both 2019 and 2018.
Following 15% growth in median renovation spend in 2020, homeowners reported an additional 20% jump in 2021 median spend, which now stands at $18,000.
#3 I Took A Knife To The Lino In The Bathroom And Found The Original Edwardian Tiles. My Great Great Grandmother Was A Housemaid Here In Cupar In The 1880s
#4 My Wife And I Are Upgrading Our Kitchen. We Found This Fossil Under The Floor Boards
Recent homebuyers, who account for 10% of renovating homeowners, spent nearly double the median ($30,000) in 2021, surpassing the median spend for short-term and long-term homeowners ($19,000 and $15,000, respectively).
Recent homebuyers who had higher-budget projects (the top 10% of spend) invested $175,000, compared with $100,000 for short-term homeowners and $90,000 for long-term homeowners.
Experts say this higher spend potentially can be attributed to the number of projects recent homebuyers undertake at a single time—an average of three to four rooms as well as home systems such as electrical and plumbing.
#6 My 84-Year-Old Father Is Renovating His House. Hidden Behind The Wallpaper He Found These Wall Murals, Which He Believes Are From 1912
#7 Demo Team Pulled This Out Of A Fireplace In A 1950s House We Are Renovating
#8 Found 83 Gold Coins At The Bottom Of A Coal Container After Renovating The House
In 2021, the median spend icreased for all interior room renovations.
The kitchen, which remains the most popular option to be upgraded and is the room with the highest spend, saw an bump in investment of 25% ($15,000 in 2021 versus $12,000 in 2020).
Interior rooms with the most dramatic spend increase are guest bathrooms (38%), laundry rooms (33%), living rooms (33%), and guest bedrooms (28%)
#9 Found These (On The Left) Under Old Carpet When We Got Stairs Re-Carpeted. 10 Months After We Moved In Found "Minton" Or Possibly "Pugin" Tiles In The Hallway Under A Laminate
#10 Twitter User Finds A Secret Hiding Place In His Walls While Renovating, Inside Was A Children's Book Of Poems From 1835
#11 Was Helping To Clean Out An Old Mansion In Minnesota And Found This Civil War Letter In The Attic. He’s Saying That The War Will Be Over Soon And He Will Be Coming Home
#12 Found A Suitcase In The Attic Of My Dad's Old Comic Books. Most Of Them Seem To Be Marvel Dated In The 70s
The percentage of homeowners relying on cash from savings to fund their renovation projects declined by 7 points in 2021 (to 76%), after remaining stable over the three years prior (83% each year).
Simultaneously, the percentage of homeowners financing renovation projects with credit cards increased by 6 points (to 35%).
#14 Took A Radiator Off The Wall To Decorate And Found This Ancient, Alien Invasion Wallpaper
#15 I Was Cleaning My Attic And Found A Doll House TV With The Twin Towers On It
#16 Day 1 - It Was An Unbelievably Exciting Morning When We Discovered This Gem Hidden Behind Various Layers Of Plaster And Wallpaper In The Master Bedroom
It also looks like renovating homeowners want their investments to be safe. They spent 25% more on home security systems in 2021 than in 2020.
Interestingly, outdoor security systems are now three times more popular than they were in 2015 and the second most frequently installed outdoor upgrade (17% ), behind lighting (22%).
Outdoor security system upgrades are most popular among short-term homeowners (21%), followed by recent homebuyers (20%) and long-term homeowners (14%).
#17 We Tore Up Some Carpeting In Our House Expecting Concrete But Instead Found This 70’s Masterpiece
#18 While Re-Mortaring An Old Brick Wall Inside A Building, I Found A Loose Brick. This Note Was Behind It. 32 Years. Added My Name And Date, Then Mortared It Up Again
#20 We Have A 23-19! My Friend Found A Monsters Inc. Door While Doing A Recent Renovation
People who are renovating continue to hire professionals at a high rate—nearly 9 in 10 homeowners relied on pros for their remodels or upgrades in 2021.
Recent homebuyers (those who tackled a lot more projects than the ones who'd been in their home a while), were particularly keen to get help (93%) but hiring was widespread among short- and long-term homeowners as well (88% each).