High Point Market Authority
The High Point Market Authority (HPMA) and the National Kitchen & Bath Association (NKBA) revealed key findings from their jointly produced 2026 Whole-Home Design Study during HPMA’s Fall Market Keynote Series event on Saturday, Oct. 17.
The research was commissioned to better understand how the residential design profession is evolving as kitchen, bath, and whole-home design become increasingly interconnected, and the study was designed to provide a deeper understanding of today’s design professionals and the changing opportunities shaping the future of residential design.
Bill Darcy, NKBA global president and CEO, and Tammy Covington, HPMA president and CEO, discussed some of the insights live during the event. Three takeaways from the study include:
- Residential design is expanding beyond the single-room project. Respondents reported 61% of current residential projects are multi-room or whole-home, and nearly half of designers report that project scope typically expands. Looking ahead, 66% of NKBA designers and 76% of High Point Market designers want to take on more projects that extend across multiple rooms or the whole home.
- The kitchen remains a key gateway to whole-home design, but other spaces can play an equally important role. While 78% of NKBA designers identify the kitchen as the typical starting point, High Point Market designers are nearly evenly split between the kitchen (40%) and living/entertainment spaces (39%). Client trust in the designer and adjacent rooms feeling outdated or disconnected by comparison are key drivers of scope expansion.
- Whole-home design is broadening the role of the designer.Whole-home projects require coordination across spaces and with a broader network of specialized professionals. NKBA designers report working with an average of 10 types of professionals on whole-home projects, compared with 12 among High Point Market designers.
Looking Ahead
Spacecrafting
Another aim of the whole-home study is to qualify the evolving relationship between kitchen and bath professionals, interior designers, and the broader home furnishings industry. This was spurred by the independent trade organizations of HPMA and NKBA entering into a strategic alliance partnership themselves last year to better support home design professionals.
“The partnership between HPMA and NKBA is a strategic one,” Covington says. “When we work together to reduce friction for our stakeholders, everyone wins. This study greatly emphasizes the critical and central role designers play in a project. The findings also highlight areas of opportunity for designers looking to potentially expand their services or reach.”
“No single designer can do it all, so building a strong network of specialists is essential,” Darcy adds. “That intersection is where NKBA and HPMA align, and High Point Market is the perfect place to foster those connections.”
They also hope the findings will help both organizations better support the design community through future research, educational programming, and collaborative initiatives that strengthen member value, foster cross-industry connections, and help designers thrive in an evolving whole-home environment.
A summary of the report, highlighting the findings, is available on the High Point Market website. The full report is available to NKBA members and available for purchase by non-members on the NKBA website.
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