Forget a new bathroom, just fix the faucet: Consumers take a break from big home renovations

Households are hitting pause on their tub-to-shower conversion plans and buying new shower curtains instead.

After a pandemic-era renovation craze, the nation’s two largest home improvement retailers say customers are spending less on big projects in favor of cheaper do-it-yourself fixes.

Lowe’s said this week that it’s seeing shoppers cut back on kitchen and bathroom purchases and becoming more cautious about buying big-ticket appliances.

“Those who did engage in home improvement activities took on smaller, nondiscretionary projects with a heightened focus on value,” Lowe’s CEO Marvin Ellison told investors when the company reported its fourth-quarter earnings Tuesday. Sales dropped 6.2% compared to a year ago, which the retailer blamed on “persistent inflation and a stagnant housing market.”

A week earlier, Home Depot, the largest U.S. home improvement chain, reported its own sales dip, declining 3.5% in the fourth quarter from the year before.

“Major home renovation projects are on hold as consumers watch their finances, but they still have an appetite for lower-cost improvements they can do themselves,” said Joe Derochowski, home industry adviser at the market data company Circana.

Rising prices appear to be the main reason for consumers’ home renovation pullback. Circana data shows retail sales revenue for kitchen and bath projects declined just 1% from 2020 to 2023 — but unit sales were down 25% over that period, suggesting customers’ budgets are stretching across fewer items thanks to inflation.

The pace of consumer price increases has slowed dramatically, with the annual rate landing just above 3% last month after peaking over 9% in mid-2022. But after three straight months of improvement, consumer confidence