Remodeling TRENDS.(Statistical Data Included)

As a family man and an electrical engineer, Rick Taylor wouldn't consider himself a trendy type of guy.

And yet when he spent $7,500 recently for a do-it-yourself kitchen remodel in his Corona, Calif., tract house, he followed some strong trends in the home improvement industry.

Most notable is the remodel itself, one of millions undertaken each year in the United States. For the first time, the size of the residential remodeling industry now rivals new home construction, generating expenditures of about $150 billion a year and accounting for about two percent of the gross domestic product, according to the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University

For instance, "there's major remodeling going on" in the Seattle area, notes Appraisal Institute associate appraiser Nanette Lloyd. "It seems to be more the trend than new construction." Part of the reason for the remodeling boom, she explains, is the limited amount of space in the city for new homes.

Besides the sheer enormity of remodeling activity these days, more specific remodeling trends include the creation of great rooms (in his home, Taylor removed an island to open the kitchen to the adjacent family room), wood or wood-look floors (he installed a Pergo laminate floor), tile counters…