Forget anthracite grey. Homeowners love white.
New research from Deceuninck reveals that the end-users’ enduring love affair with the white window is set continue – unless you offer them an alternative.
Half of all homeowners would choose white windows. The findings of a newly released survey commissioned by Deceuninck and conducted by YouGov found that white remains the default choice for 49% of homeowners when choosing new windows and doors.
Why is colour not more prevalent?
“It’s because it’s what’s being offered to them,” says Rob McGlennon, MD, Deceuninck, “or at least what’s being offered to them by a large percentage of the market.
“On reflection that’s not fair. They might be being offered anthracite grey!,” he quips.
Nonetheless the findings are unlikely to be welcome news for Deceuninck, which has built its reputation on its range of colours and their timely supply…
“The figure of 50% isn’t a surprise, we still extrude a lot of standard white – and foiled white – profile, so we know people are still buying it,” Rob says.
“The difference for us and our customers is that colour and foiled finishes make up more than 60% of what we and they do – and they sell more and at higher margin on the back of doing it.”
So, what does the Deceuninck study tell us about window and door colour trends in 2023?
Look a little bit deeper and the figures from the YouGov study paint a far more complex picture of homeowner colour choice for windows and doors.
“For a lot of properties, white is going to be the choice because it matches the appearance of the property. For a lot of period homes, it’s always going to be the go to choice, because it helps to deliver a period match,” continues Rob.
“This is supported by the finding that white woodgrain is the preferred colour finish for around 9% of homeowners.
“We certainly sell a lot of our Heritage flush system in white woodgrain.
“The growing demand we see for white woodgrain is not, however, reflected in colour woodgrain finishes more broadly, in fact, we’re seeing a definitive shift to flat and solid colour options.”
This is represented in the YouGov consumer research results which showed colour woodgrains, excluding white, were the preferred choice of only 5% of respondents.
This compared to around 10% for solid colours and just under 5% for textured and metallic finishes. Natural woodgrains accounted for 10% of results.
This tallies with data from Deceuninck’s sales of foiled product, which reveals a clear preference for solid colours at 83% over foiled product at just 17%. Of Deceuninck’s colour options, greys (including anthracite, agate and anthracite ulti-matt) accounted for 41% with creams and crystal white at 27%.
In comparison, woodgrain finishes such as Irish oak, golden oak and black cherry made up just 15% of sales.
How do the new results match up with past research?
The results this time around are broadly in tune with Deceuninck’s last consumer study of colour in 2020.
This also identified smooth colours were the most popular finish for homeowners and that they were favoured by younger homeowners with 28% of 35- to 44-year-olds, and 31% of 45- to 54-year-olds citing a preference for smooth colour options.
This compared to only 19% of those in the over 55 age bracket who were more inclined to choose a natural woodgrain (18%) than their younger counterparts, with only 8% of 25- to 34-year-olds indicating a preference.
“The market is changing”, says Rob. “Colour clearly isn’t new but the choices that people are making are, with a shift to solid colours and texture metallic colour matched finishes.”
What is the on-trend colour for the second half of 2023?
“Anthracite grey is still dominant but black is on trend,” says Rob. “The volumes are still comparatively small but have been steadily increasing for the past couple of years and we predict that to continue throughout this year and into 2024.”
To this end, Deceuninck has recently added the new Yakisugi black to its Express range, which is available on a 15-working day lead time. Meanwhile it continues to offer 30 plus different colour and finish options from stock.
“We supplied 196 different colour pathways last year,” continues Rob. “Colour has been a foundation for our success but most importantly, the success of our customers, and accessible to them on rapid lead times.
“We will continue to refine and build that offer throughout the remainder of 2023 and into 2024 as a key foundation for our customers’ future sales.
“Reflecting on that headline figure that half of homeowners will choose white; well half of them will choose a colour. Which half do you think is prepared to pay more?,” he concludes.
