Bathroom Design Trends: Popular Shower Heads, Accessories & Finishes
Dec 15, 2022We love these trends in bathroom fixtures, finishes, lighting, and vanities for 2022
When you spend every day with homeowners who are designing their dream bathrooms, it’s fun to see trends emerge out of the numerous design styles they choose from! Part 1 of this year’s Bathroom Design Trends report has great insight into how color and accessory selections for showers have changed over the last two years. In this section of the report, we’re diving into what’s new in trends for bathroom fixtures and finishes that bring the space together.
Bathroom Design Trends: Most Popular Shower Heads & Fixtures 2022
We have a new preferred selection for most popular shower heads and fixtures in 2022!
- The refined and more traditional Brantford fixture collection saw a huge jump in popularity for 2022. After being selected for only 17% of projects in 2020, Brantford is now the most popular shower heads and fixtures selection, chosen for 34.7% of projects in 2022!
- With Brantford in the top spot, the more geometric Gibson collection slid to second place. In 2020, fully half of projects (51%) used Gibson fixtures. For 2022, that number dropped to just 34.3%.
- Wynford’s elegant design remains the third most popular fixture collection, selected for 13% of projects in 2022.
- Despite a flip-flop in design preferences, trends in bathroom fixtures indicate that homeowners still prefer brushed nickel as the most popular finish. Brushed nickel was chosen for 44% of projects in 2022, up from 42% in 2020. Chrome retained second place, used in 30% of projects in both years. Matte black edged up in popularity for 2022 with use in 16% of projects, compared to 14.8% in 2020.
Trends in Bathroom Fixtures: Grab Bars Grab Attention
Outside of plumbing fixutres, grab bars are among the most popular additions to bath and shower remodels – and that popularity is growing.
- In 2022, requests for grab bars increased by 50% from two years ago. Improveit crews installed roughly 6 grab bars for every 10 projects in 2020. This rose to 9 grab bars for every 10 projects in 2022!
- Brantford continues to be the most popular grab bar style by a wide margin. Brantford grab bars made up 39.7% of grab bars installed in 2022, up from 30.8% in 2020. This represents an even bigger lead over the second most popular grab bar, Eva, which comprised 25.2% of installed grab bars, down slightly from 27.8% in 2020.
- Brushed nickel was, once again, the most popular grab bar finish, with chrome coming in second. Nearly half of grab bars selected for projects (46.6%) were brushed nickel, while chrome made up a third of product selections with 32.3%. Popularity of both finishes increased two points from 2020.
- Popularity of grab bar lengths is somewhat even. Medium-length 18-inch grab bars are the most popular, comprising 40% of installed grab bars. Both 12-inch and 24-inch grab bars accounted for 30% of fixtures in this category.
- Three-globe light fixtures are, by far, the most popular option for bathroom lighting. This arrangement was selected for 51% of projects, with 2-light fixtures coming in a distant second at 21.6%, and 4-light fixtures at 19.6%. Only 7.8% of projects included single-light sconces in the bathroom.
- The traditional Belfield design was the most popular light fixture in 2022, selected for 35.3% of projects. Brantford fixture (matching the most popular shower fixture collection) were used in 25.5% of projects, followed by clean-lined Voss fixtures at 15.7%.
- Unsurprisingly, brushed nickel was also the most popular finish selected for light fixtures. Half of fixtures installed in 2022 (51%) were brushed nickel, followed by matte black at 19.6%.
- For bathroom storage, the Shaker-style Franklin vanity was the favorite by far, selected for 55.7% of projects, followed by Park Place at 26.4%. Cement grey and white were the most popular color options for bathroom vanities, accounting for about a third of selections each (33% and 29.2%, respectively).
The most popular shower heads, finishes, and vanity bathroom design trends are just the start! Learn about 2022’s most popular shower wall colors and bathtub selections in our extended Bathroom Design Trends report.
