Us homeowners plan for autumn home improvements

The poll, conducted by Zillow, found that more than half of homeowners in America planned to make an addition or improvement to their property in the coming months. In the summer, the site’s same survey found 60 per cent were planning to do some DIY. Now, that has fallen to 52 per cent, with homeowners planning to spend $1,000, $200 less than during the warm months.

Despite the drop, though, homeowners remain keen on home improvements, shifting their focus from outside the home to the inside: instead, homeowners will continue to focus on home office or playroom remodels.

"Fall is a perfect transition time from outdoor to indoor activities, which is resonating in home improvement plans and trends. Parents are sprucing up indoor play areas to keep the kids active and occupied, while looking for ways to update their own workspaces for the season ahead as workdays are shortened by kid pick-up and drop-off duty," noted Cynthia Nowak, Zillow Digs trend expert.

As the line between work and home continues to blur, homeowners are looking for quiet and clean spaces where they can wrap up leftover projects from the office or work from home during those rainy fall days. Six percent of homeowners said they would work on their home offices this fall, compared with 4 percent during the summer.

Kerrie Kelly of Kerrie Kelly Design Lab in Sacramento, Calif., recommends: "If your guest room must do double duty, look for furniture that keeps the room from being too businesslike, such as an office armoire, chests, cabinets, side tables and creative storage solutions that look pretty, too. A good- looking, uncluttered space is the best remedy for the chaos of a typical office. We find many people requesting a Murphy bed situation to provide a multi-functional space."

Mara Miller of Carrier and Company Interiors Ltd. in New York City says: "As laptops and tablets become more popular we're free to use more vintage furnishings than desks customized to contain a computer. For serious home offices, we're also installing a lot of coffee Bars to reduce trips to the kitchen and grazing while working from home."

Homes with children are significantly more likely to be planning three or more home improvements (31 percent) vs. households without children (19 percent). Overall, younger homeowners and homes with children are significantly more likely to be planning a home improvement or addition this fall, with 67 per cent of 18 to 34 year olds eyeing up DIY compared to 52 per cent of 35 to 54 year olds