Most trend articles describe what a writer noticed. This one reports what two industry surveys measured, names both, and separates them — because they answer different questions. The NKBA | KBIS 2026 Bath Trends Report asks kitchen and bath professionals what they expect; the 2025 U.S. Houzz Bathroom Trends Study asks homeowners what they actually chose. Where those two disagree is usually the interesting part.
What Colors Are Actually Going Into 2026 Bathrooms?
Neutrals, overwhelmingly, and it is not close. 96% of professionals name neutrals as the most popular bath colors — off-white at 58%, light brown and tan at 54%, white at 40%, ahead of dark brown at 30% and black and dark gray each at 18% — NKBA | KBIS 2026 Bath Trends Report.
The accent that is moving is green, specifically the brown-based end of it: sage at 64% and olive at 43%, while the bolder options trail well behind — teal and turquoise at 19%, emerald and juniper at 16%.
What that means for a Raleigh remodel is a narrower and more forgiving palette than "trend" usually implies. Warm neutrals with a sage or olive accent is a scheme that dates slowly, which matters because bathroom tile stays on the wall far longer than paint or furniture stays in a room.
Are Bathrooms Getting Bigger?
Professionals expect so. 72% expect the overall bath footprint to increase — NKBA | KBIS 2026.
In the Triangle this rarely means an addition. It means reclaiming space that already exists inside the house — a linen closet absorbed into the shower footprint, a hall closet backing onto the bathroom, a bedroom wall moved where it is not load bearing. Which of those is available is a structural question, and it is answered at the site visit rather than in the design phase, because a wall that turns out to be load bearing changes the plan rather than the price of one line.
Has the Curbless Shower Become Standard?
Not yet, but it is the clearest trend line in either survey. Among homeowners upgrading a shower, 20% chose a curbless one, behind low-curb at 44% and alcove at 42% — 2025 U.S. Houzz Bathroom Trends Study. Among homeowners renovating with aging in place in mind, curbless reached 28%. Those are choices homeowners made, not expectations designers hold, which makes them the more conservative numbers of the two available.
The professional read supports it. 32% of NKBA respondents agree aging-in-place design is now mainstream, and a further 48% say it is on its way to becoming so — NKBA | KBIS 2026. Together that is four in five who see it arriving.
The reason curbless works as a trend where other accessibility features stall is that nobody has to buy it as an accessibility feature. One continuous plane of tile makes a small bathroom read larger. That it also removes a trip hazard is a second reason, not a compromise. Our full treatment of how the floor stays dry without a curb is in the curbless shower guide for Cary.
What Is Happening With Wellness Features?
Less than the marketing suggests, and the gap is instructive. 36% of renovated bathrooms included wellness-oriented features — upgraded lighting at 30%, soaking tubs or spa baths at 18%, and water features at 13% — 2025 U.S. Houzz Bathroom Trends Study.
So the single most-installed "wellness" feature is lighting. Not a steam generator, not a spa tub — light. That is worth knowing before allocating budget toward the features that photograph best.
Bathtub upgrades tell the same story. Among homeowners adding or upgrading a bathtub, 55% included a specialty feature, and the ones they chose were ordinary comforts: space for two at 12%, whirlpool or jets at 12%, built-in seating at 7% — Houzz, 2025.
Why Is Lighting the Trend Nobody Photographs?
Because it is the one the professionals are near-unanimous on. 92% agree task lighting should always be included in the primary bath. 88% list natural light as a top priority, and 80% are including nighttime-specific lighting — NKBA | KBIS 2026.
Three separate jobs, and a single ceiling fixture does none of them well. Task light at the mirror puts light on a face instead of behind it. Nighttime lighting is a low-level path light that does not wake the whole room. Natural light is a design constraint rather than a fixture, and it is the reason window placement often survives a remodel that changes everything else.
All three are rough-in decisions. They happen before the walls close, which puts them earlier in the sequence than most homeowners expect.
What About Tile and Smart Fixtures?
Texture is returning. 66% expect patterned and textured tiles to gain prominence — NKBA | KBIS 2026. That is a shift away from the flat, uniform surfaces of the last decade, and it comes with an installation consequence: a textured or patterned tile is less forgiving of an uneven substrate, because the pattern makes any misalignment legible across the whole wall.
On technology, the expectation is narrower than the category implies. 51% expect smart toilets to rise over the next three years — the same report. Note what is not in that list: the mirrors and speakers that dominated smart-bathroom copy a few years ago.
The features worth the money in a Triangle house are the unglamorous ones. A humidity-sensing exhaust fan runs on the condition rather than on somebody remembering, which matters in a climate where a bathroom does not dry out on its own. A leak detection sensor under a second-floor bathroom is inexpensive and prevents the failure mode that costs the most.
What Does All This Mean for a Raleigh Remodel?
Three of these trends are decided before tile is chosen — footprint, lighting rough-in, curbless entry. Two are selections that can move late — palette and tile texture. Knowing which is which is worth more than the trend list itself.
FAQ
Do these survey numbers apply to North Carolina specifically? Both are national. They are a reliable read on direction, not on what your neighborhood is doing — which is why every figure above is attributed rather than presented as local fact.
Why do the two surveys give different numbers for similar things? They measure different things. Houzz asks homeowners about their own renovations; NKBA asks professionals what they expect. Expectation runs ahead of installation, consistently.
Is a curbless shower possible in any bathroom? No. It needs depth below the finished floor for the slope and drain assembly, and how much exists depends on the framing. Where it is not achievable without structural work, a low-threshold entry solves most of the same problem.
Should palette be chosen early or late? Late, and that is a genuine advantage. Color is one of the few decisions that stays reversible right up until the order is placed.
Which trend gives the most for the money in an older Raleigh bathroom? Lighting, on the survey evidence and on ours. It is the most-installed wellness feature, it is a rough-in decision so it costs least when made early, and it changes how the room feels every day.
Every project carries a 1-year workmanship warranty, and the written itemized scope follows the site visit. Start with bathroom remodeling, see our work across Raleigh, or request a written estimate.