Every year the National Kitchen & Bath Association (NKBA) asks the people who design, build and sell bathrooms where the market is heading. Its 2026 Bath Trends report, released in November 2025, draws on nearly 700 industry experts across North America, including designers, manufacturers, remodelers, architects, showroom professionals and dealers.
What the report measures
Rather than simply listing what is fashionable, the report rates 18 bath design trends by where they sit in their lifecycle — emerging, growing, mainstream or declining — and by whether their appeal is broad or niche. That distinction matters: a niche, emerging look can date quickly, while a mainstream, mass-appeal choice is a safer bet if you plan to sell.
The report also looks at who is remodeling and why, breaking motivations down by generation. The reasons it tracks include accessibility and safety, a style refresh, fixture upgrades, home value, layout changes, expanding the room and adding smart technology. It groups its findings into 10 key themes and gives specifics for 12 product categories: vanities and cabinets, countertops, sinks, faucets, showers, tubs, toilets and venting, flooring, lighting, mirrors, walls, ceilings and windows, and water sustainability.
How to use it for your own bathroom
The full findings are available to NKBA members or for purchase, but the structure alone makes a useful planning checklist. Work through the same 12 categories when you brief a designer or contractor, decide early whether accessibility features such as a curbless shower or grab-bar blocking belong in your plan, and ask how each choice affects water use. Before any work starts, read our list of questions to ask before a bathroom remodel and our guide to how long a bathroom remodel takes.
Source: NKBA | KBIS 2026 Bath Trends Report, National Kitchen & Bath Association. Figures in this article come from that source.
