DIY home decor sits inside a much larger home-improvement economy. In the United States, 51.6 million homeowners made improvements in 2023, while homeowners completed 50 million of 140 million projects themselves. The numbers show both sides of the subject: decorating and repairs can be personal, hands-on work, but they also connect to substantial spending and a broad retail ecosystem.
Table of contents
- The scale of homeowner improvement
- How much homeowners spend
- Where DIY projects fit
- Project categories with the most activity
- Renovation budgets and planning
- Retail and online marketplace context
The scale of homeowner improvement
The 2023 American Housing Survey universe included 86.9 million homeowners. Of those homeowners, 51.6 million made improvements, equal to 59% of the homeowner population. This is a useful baseline for understanding the potential audience for DIY home decor: improvement activity was common, but it did not include every homeowner.
The U.S. Census Bureau’s 2023 Home Improvements Infographic reported $827 billion in homeowner improvement spending from 2021 to 2023. The median homeowner improvement spend was $6,500. That median describes a typical homeowner’s improvement spending in the measurement period; it is not a forecast and should not be read as the average cost of a DIY decorating project.
The largest named improvement types in the same infographic were practical as well as visual. Water heater, dishwasher, or garbage disposal work represented 32% of the top improvement types. HVAC work represented 25%, and flooring, paneling, or ceiling tiles represented 21%. Flooring and ceiling treatments are especially relevant to decor because they can change the appearance of a room while still being counted within a broader improvement category.
Energy work was also prominent. The infographic counted 14.7 million homeowners who made energy-efficiency improvements, equal to 28% of improving homeowners. Disaster-related repair figures were reported separately: fire-related disaster repairs affected 663,000 occupied housing units, while tornado or hurricane disaster repairs affected 129,000 occupied housing units.
How much homeowners spend
Project costs varied widely in the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2023 Home Improvements Infographic. The following medians provide a compact comparison of selected work types. They are median homeowner improvement spends, not quoted prices for identical jobs in every location.
| Improvement type | Median spend |
|---|---|
| Security systems | $400 |
| Water heater, dishwasher, or garbage disposal work | $500 |
| Plumbing fixtures | $800 |
| Electrical wiring or fuse box work | $1,000 |
| Doors and windows | $2,800 |
| Flooring, paneling, or ceiling tiles | $3,000 |
| Porch, deck, patio, or terrace work | $4,800 |
| Bathroom remodels | $5,000 |
| HVAC projects | $5,500 |
| Kitchen remodels | $8,000 |
| Roofing | $10,000 |
The spread matters for anyone planning a decor project. A security system had a reported median spend of $400, while flooring, paneling, or ceiling tiles had a median of $3,000. Kitchen remodels had a median of $8,000, and roofing had a median of $10,000. These are different kinds of work, so the figures should be used as context rather than as a DIY price list.
Other reported medians filled in the middle of the range. Doors and windows were $2,800; driveways or walkways were $2,900; attached garage or carport work was $4,600; and porch, deck, patio, or terrace work was $4,800. The Census Bureau also reported $500 for water heater, dishwasher, or garbage disposal work and $800 for plumbing fixtures.
Where DIY projects fit
The distinction between DIY and professional work is one of the clearest statistics in the 2023 Home Improvements Infographic. Do-it-yourselfers completed 36% of projects, while professionals completed 64%. In project counts, homeowners completed 50 million of 140 million projects themselves.
Those figures describe project completion, not necessarily the full identity of the person doing the work or the amount spent on materials. A homeowner can complete a project personally while buying supplies through a major retailer, an online marketplace, or a handmade-goods platform. The figures also do not say that every DIY project was decorative; the broader improvement universe includes repairs, systems, outdoor work, and remodeling.
Several large categories show how much activity exists around the home. Landscaping or sprinkler systems accounted for 5.0 million projects and $93.5 billion in spending. Bathroom remodels accounted for 8.3 million projects and $83.1 billion. Doors or windows accounted for 12.8 million projects and $82.4 billion.
Flooring, paneling, or ceiling tiles accounted for 7.5 million projects and $68.9 billion in spending. HVAC accounted for 10.9 million projects and $51.0 billion. Kitchen remodels accounted for 7.0 million projects and $45.2 billion. Each category includes work beyond decorative styling, but together they show where room appearance, materials, and function overlap.
Project categories with the most activity
The same Census Bureau source reported several additional categories with substantial project counts and spending. Roofing accounted for 3.9 million projects and $32.8 billion. Driveways or walkways accounted for 7.9 million projects and $26.6 billion. Porch, deck, patio, or terrace projects accounted for 4.6 million projects and $20.9 billion.
For a creative-living reader, outdoor spaces are part of the decor picture even when the source classifies them as improvements. Porches, decks, patios, terraces, walkways, and landscaping connect the home’s visual character with its practical use. The data does not separate decorative installations from repairs inside these categories, so it supports a broad view of home improvement rather than a precise count of craft or styling projects.
The project counts and spending totals also should not be divided to create an unsupported “average project cost.” The published figures are category-level totals and counts, and the supplied research does not establish that the categories use identical scopes, timing, or project definitions. Keeping the reported figures separate preserves what the source actually measures.
Renovation budgets and planning
The 2024 U.S. Houzz & Home Study: Renovation Trends recorded a sharp rise in renovation spending between 2020 and 2023. Median renovation spend increased 60%, from $15,000 in 2020 to $24,000 in 2023. At the high end, the 90th percentile increased 77%, from $85,000 to $150,000.
The share of renovating homeowners spending at least $25,000 also rose. In 2023, 51% spent $25,000 or more, compared with 37% in 2020. These comparisons use the study’s stated years and measure renovation spending, which is broader and typically more expensive than a small decorative refresh.
Planning and building timelines differed by room. Kitchen renovations averaged 9.6 months of planning and 5.1 months of building. Living room renovations averaged 8.1 months of planning and 4.1 months of building. The figures suggest that a visible room transformation can involve a long preparation period even when the finished space looks simple.
Cash from savings funded 83% of renovation projects. Credit cards funded 37% of renovation projects in 2023, up from 28% in 2022, a rise of 9 percentage points. For bigger-budget projects between $50,000 and $200,000, home loans funded 23% and cash from home sales funded 21%.
Room-specific spending was also higher in 2023. Kitchen projects had a median spend of $24,000, up 20% year over year. Primary bathroom projects had a median spend of $15,000, up 11% year over year. The study reported that 9 in 10 renovating homeowners hired professional help. Specialty service provider hiring rose from 46% in 2022 to 47% in 2023, and the average number of specialty service providers hired was 1.7.
Retail and online marketplace context
The scale of home improvement is reflected in the businesses that supply materials, furnishings, and ideas. The Home Depot reported fiscal 2024 sales of $159.5 billion, net earnings of $14.8 billion, 2,347 retail stores, and more than 780 branches at fiscal year-end. It employed more than 470,000 associates. Comparable sales declined 1.8% in fiscal 2024. For fiscal 2025, the company projected about 13 new stores, approximately 2.8% total sales growth, approximately 1.0% comparable sales growth, and gross margin of approximately 33.4%.
Lowe’s reported 2024 sales of $83.7 billion and approximately 16 million customer transactions per week in the United States. It operated 1,748 stores as of January 31, 2025, with 195.0 million square feet of retail selling space. Fourth-quarter 2024 total sales were $18.6 billion, while comparable sales increased 0.2% and adjusted diluted earnings per share were $1.93. Lowe’s planned full-year 2025 sales of $83.5 billion to $84.5 billion, comparable sales growth from flat to up 1%, operating margin of 12.3% to 12.4%, and approximately $2.5 billion in capital expenditures.
Online channels add another layer. Wayfair had 21.4 million active customers at December 31, 2024, with $555 in last-twelve-month net revenue per active customer. It delivered 10.7 million orders in the fourth quarter of 2024, and repeat customers placed 79.4% of total orders in both the fourth quarter of 2024 and the fourth quarter of 2023. Average order value was $290 in the fourth quarter of 2024, and 64.5% of total orders were placed via mobile.
Earlier Wayfair figures provide a second dated snapshot: 22.3 million active customers at March 31, 2024, $537 in last-twelve-month net revenue per active customer, 1.84 orders per customer in the first quarter, and 9.6 million orders delivered in that quarter. The two snapshots use different reporting periods and should not be treated as a single continuous measure.
Etsy’s 2024 annual report recorded $12.6 billion in gross merchandise sales across its marketplaces, including $10.9 billion from the Etsy marketplace, or 86.4% of total GMS. At December 31, 2024, Etsy marketplaces connected 8.1 million active sellers with 95.5 million active buyers and listed more than 100 million items. About 30% of 2024 GMS came from custom or made-to-order merchandise. U.S. buyers contributed 74% of Etsy, Inc. and Etsy marketplace GMS, while buyers outside the United States contributed 26%.
Etsy’s top six retail categories represented about $9 billion of GMS, or 87% of 2024 GMS. The supplied figures do not identify how much of that total was specifically home decor, so the broader marketplace numbers should be read as context for handmade, custom, and design-oriented shopping rather than as a direct DIY home decor market size.
Finally, Houzz reported more than 25 million photos and more than 3 million home remodeling and design professionals in its 2024 U.S. Houzz & Home Renovation Trends material. Those figures describe the scale of the inspiration and professional-services ecosystem surrounding renovation. They do not measure the number of DIY decorators, but they help explain why planning, visual research, and product discovery are such substantial parts of the home-improvement journey.