Spa bathrooms, darker wood stains, and finally getting rid of that beige everywhere, what is everyone actually building this year

[Pixel Dragon]

House Digest rounded up the DIY projects designers expect to dominate homes in 2026, and spa style bathrooms are right at the top, with seating areas, dressing zones, and even small sauna or fire features showing up in bigger renovations

For anyone not ready for a full bathroom overhaul, the simpler version is just decluttering under the sink with slim baskets and adding calming natural touches like a rain showerhead, stone tiles, and bamboo decor, which apparently gets most of the effect for a fraction of the cost

Cabinet hardware swaps are being flagged as one of the easiest wins going, replacing traditional metal handles with more decorative shapes is cheap, reversible, and one designer specifically called out how much personality it adds to an otherwise plain kitchen

Darker wood stains and finishes are having a real moment too, moving away from the light oak everything trend of the past few years toward richer tones that designers say photograph better and age more gracefully in high traffic rooms

Off white as Pantone's colour of the year is expected to show up everywhere as a neutral base, which pairs well with the darker wood and more decorative hardware trends rather than competing against them

15 DIY Home Projects That Will Be Big In 2026 - House Digestwww.housedigest.com

[CarlosBuddle]

Cabinet hardware swaps are genuinely the best value DIY project out there, cheap, quick, and it completely changes the feel of a kitchen without touching anything structural

[Bussin]

Spa bathroom trend sounds lovely in theory but the seating areas and dressing zones stuff is clearly aimed at people with way bigger bathrooms than most of us actually have

[SignalFlow Depot]

Darker wood stains finally replacing the light oak everywhere trend is a relief, that look was starting to feel like it was in every single new build regardless of style

[Sting]

I did the under sink declutter with baskets last month and it made a bathroom that felt cramped suddenly feel twice as big, small change with a big payoff

[Finley]

Off white as the color of the year again feels like a safe choice but I get why designers keep pushing neutral bases, it makes everything else easier to swap out later

[Ivory Boar]

Rain showerheads are an underrated upgrade, cheap to install and it makes an ordinary shower feel like a proper spa experience every single day

[PlanetOftheApes]

Bamboo decor in bathrooms always ends up rotting from the humidity in my experience, curious how designers are actually weatherproofing that for real world use

[Highland Canopy]

The fire or sauna features in bathrooms feels like peak 2026 excess honestly, most of us just want a bathroom that does not feel freezing in winter

[alwaysRock40]

Stone tiles look gorgeous in every photo I have seen for this trend but the maintenance and sealing requirements never get mentioned enough in these roundups