The Top 23 Home Improvement Trends of 2025

Ventless washer dryers see growing demand as a high-ROI way for landlords to boost rental income

One of the easiest ways for landlords to boost rental income isn’t adding a gym or a rooftop deck—it’s adding laundry.

Renters are willing to pay up to 20% more for apartments with in-unit washers and dryers, and in tight markets, this can mean faster leasing and increased property value with minimal investment. The problem? Many older buildings, especially in cities, weren’t designed with dryer vents.

Enter ventless washer/dryers. Unlike traditional dryers that require an exhaust vent, ventless models can be placed virtually anywhere—in closets, kitchens, or even under counters—making them ideal for small apartments and historic buildings where installing vents would be impossible or prohibitively expensive.

Beyond convenience, ventless dryers are also more energy-efficient. Some European countries, like Switzerland, have already banned vented dryers in favor of their more sustainable counterparts, while the U.S. has experimented with tax rebates of up to $840 for heat-pump dryers.

Though ventless dryers typically have a higher upfront cost, the long-term savings on energy bills—plus the ability to charge higher rent—makes them an increasingly attractive investment. For property owners looking for high-ROI upgrades, ventless laundry might just be the simplest way to turn a closet into cash.

Homeowners and landlords increasingly favor SPC and LVP flooring due to their durability and soundproofing qualities

In cities like New York and San Francisco, many leases include a surprising clause: that 80% of flooring should be carpeted. This rule is mostly to reduce noise, since carpets are vibration-absorbent, which is especially helpful in a more crowded dwelling like an apartment complex.

Carpets are falling in popularity, both for aesthetic reasons and due to concerns about allergies, so more people are buying uncarpeted floors. While hardwood flooring is still a default option, more and more homeowners and landlords are opting for new materials that will still absorb some sound. Popular options include stone plastic composite, or SPC flooring, and also LVP flooring, which stands for luxury vinyl plank flooring.

These are both dense and durable and can be bought with patterns that look like wood, stone, or other materials.

And not only are they long-lasting, but their scratch-resistant properties make them especially appealing to landlords, who get less wear and tear when tenants move in and out. Even when they are damaged, individual pieces can be removed and replaced without removing the entire floor.

Consumers seek out new ways to make homes quieter, following carpet’s decline over the 30 years

American homes are getting noisier as carpet usage has declined over the past several decades.

Wall-to-wall floor carpeting was common for much of the 20th century – it even started as a sign of luxury.

But as a growing percentage of Americans became more mobile, and many homeowners lived in their houses for shorter periods of time, they began to optimize more for the resale market than for comfort or personal preference.

This gave hardwood flooring the perfect in. It’s better for resale value, and cleanliness, and has, in recent times, grown into preference among the American population.

And as technology improves, hardwood synthetics like LVP and SPC flooring are bringing down prices.

Meanwhile, with the carpet industry struggling, the rug industry has been using a number of strategies to stay relevant. For one, the rug industry continues to support a common apartment lease clause – used in most NYC apartment leases, for example – which says that at least 80% of the floor must be covered in rugs in order to reduce sound. The rug industry has also created the washable rug category which, beyond just being convenient, effectively reduces the cost of a rug significantly with fewer trips to an expensive dry cleaner, and a longer lifespan of the rug even after it’s seen spills.

At the same time, with carpets making their way out of homes, consumers are increasingly looking for ways to dampen sound. Some companies are incorporating sound-dampening elements into trending interior styles like fluted panels and cashing in on this monumental change in American home layouts.

Falling aerial imagery costs has boosted businesses that use satellite images to simplify roof repair quotes, cutting down on-site visits and injuries

Roofing is the 4th most dangerous job in America. The industry also is surprisingly massive and relatively untapped. Every year, a whopping $50 billion is spent on replacing American roofs.

But it’s incredibly fragmented – the US has more than 100,000 registered roofing companies, most of which have fewer than 5 employees. And many contractors still visit homes to take measurements to prepare quotes for potential customers.

Roofr, among several other growing companies in the space, makes it possible to send quotes without the visit. The company relies on a network of low-flying planes to gather high-resolution photos, higher than commercial-grade satellites.

Lawns are becoming more functional spaces, driving demand for lawn care tools that help make lawns flatter and greener

Lawns are at the center of several overlapping trends—pandemic-driven suburbanization plus outdoor socialization, the rise of Internet-fueled DIY, and the fascinating history of the lawn. As lawns switch from being mostly aesthetic to being functional, practical lawn care has started to matter.

As of 2005, American lawns covered an area roughly the size of Texas, making it the most cultivated crop in the country. But unlike corn, grass cannot be eaten; the main purpose is to help us look and feel good about ourselves. A well-maintained lawn signals that the owner has the time and/or money to support it.

Lawns are so central to American culture, in fact, that many homeowner associations regulate lawn maintenance frequency and have been known to levy fines on households that don't comply. Even the American communities in the deserts of Saudi Arabia have lawns.

Lawn care in general is a growing and increasingly Internet-dominated category. Reddit's lawn care subreddit has grown 140% year over year, and now has over 100K members who swap tips on weeding, sprinkler selection, and pest control. With more people spending time on their lawns, some products originally intended for professionals have slowly moved into the rest of the market. Lawn leveling rakes are commonly used to maintain golf courses where flat terrain is essential. But they're helpful for a regular lawn, particularly one with more foot traffic—an uneven lawn can look fine, but still represent a tripping hazard.

Lawn leveling rakes for consumer use are still a very new category. The top-reviewed brands on Amazon have just a few hundred reviews. Many of these reviews include buyer complaints about poor quality, with some users saying they had to drill holes in the components to make them fit together correctly. Other lawncare fans build their own out of PVC pipe instead of buying a pre assembled one, but demand for a one-stop solution is rising. Since it's early in the adoption cycle of the lawn leveling rake, next year's lawn care season should be a stronger one for lawn leveling rakes.

Electric screwdrivers and other ergonomic tools are becoming more popular among DIYers as home improvement adapts to aging populations and rising arthritis rates

Shifts in the health of a population don’t only create trends in the healthcare industry. On the contrary, they can affect markets as remote and seemingly unrelated as home improvement.

Arthritis diagnoses have increased 132.2% worldwide over the past 35 years and are predicted to continue growing through 2050. With increasing numbers of people losing hand dexterity and strength, some surprising markets are seeing surges in demand.

While the electric screwdriver has been a DIY essential for many years, this basic gadget is now more popular than ever. The market is expected to be worth over $500 million by 2032 and is largely powered by industrial demand and DIY buyers.

For DIY-ers, electric drivers make home improvement more accessible, reducing repetitive strain and the compressive forces on small joints, leading to less discomfort for the growing number of people suffering from arthritis, carpal tunnel syndrome, and tendonitis.

For similar reasons, ergonomic products in other categories are gaining popularity — from electric pepper grinders on the dinner table to continuous spray bottles for cutting hair.

With the proportion of the global population aged 60 and over expected to double by 2050, this trend will likely roll on for years to come.

Rising vehicle repair costs are pushing more drivers to take on DIY maintenance

Like most things nowadays, the cost of vehicle repairs is rising rapidly. On average, repair shop bills have jumped 36.2% in the last five years, and industry experts predict they’ll climb even higher as new tariffs drive up supply chain costs.

To avoid the eye-watering bills, many drivers are taking on more basic maintenance tasks themselves. With the help of online tutorials, hands-on car owners are now changing air filters, replacing transmission fluid, and cleaning battery terminals on their own. As a result, more people are searching for car maintenance products that were once mainly used by professionals.

This trend is mainly tied to gas power. While EVs are equally (or more) expensive to maintain, they are often more technically complicated, making DIY repairs more difficult and generally requiring different types of maintenance.

That said, the enthusiasm for DIY car repairs isn’t likely to lose steam. While the proportion of EVs on the road is growing, the overwhelming majority of cars are still gas-powered. Additionally, many are older models that require more upkeep.

With repair costs continuing to rise, DIY car maintenance is becoming more than just a trend—it’s a necessity for many drivers looking to save money. As long as gas-powered vehicles remain dominant on the roads and repair shop prices keep climbing, more people will turn to online resources and hands-on fixes to keep their cars running.

While EVs may change the landscape in the long run, for now, the DIY movement is here to stay.

Sturdier toilet seats see growing demand as average body weight grows

Americans are getting much heavier, with the average person weighing 25 pounds more today than in the 1960s. That doesn't just affect people's clothes and lifestyles; it affects their furnishings and fixtures, too, and is a driving factor in the growing market for replacement toilet seats.

Another market for replacement seats is rental apartments. When the previous tenant moves out, some property managers replace the toilet seat and leave the box for the new replacement in the bathroom during tours so future tenants can see that they'll have brand-new seats. It’s the “minimum viable repair,” the lowest-cost way to seemingly replace an old product with something brand-new. It’s an extension of how cleaning crews will often leave toilet paper folded so users know it’s been cleaned.

There are two mostly separate bathroom supply chains, one for in-home bathrooms and one for shared facilities. Public and private restrooms use different designs, with sinks typically lower to avoid splashing and toilets often open in the front because they’re cheaper and more sanitary.

Public bathrooms give consumers a chance to experience fixtures they'd consider for home use, such as slow-close toilet seats (especially useful for shared living quarters, since no one wants to accidentally announce the end of their bathroom use with a bang). In this way, toilets are part of a category of products where new feature discovery is often owed to the shared nature of the product. Consumers don’t typically share things like toothbrushes, for example, so discovery of new toothbrush features is sometimes comparatively slower.