It takes a lot of work to make a house a home – and of course anyone who has ever tried already knows that. This is exacerbated by the fact that most of us live within limited means. When building a home, it’s almost impossible to check everything off of your wish list. Do you go for the new surround-sound speakers for the living room, or an expensive modern sofa for your guests? Unsurprisingly, what you find most important says a good deal about you – even if you didn’t know it.
To delve more into home decoration and furnishing, we asked:
Excluding those who answered “I don’t know / Does not apply,” we found that the majority of consumers care most about furniture when decorating a home. Next up comes family memorabilia (21%), and technology (12%). Surprised?
So, how do these groups break down?
BY GENDER
There are three main insights to note here:
1) Men are roughly 5x as likely to say that technology (TV, speakers, etc.…) is most important when furnishing a home. We’re not ones to stereotype, but this doesn’t come as a great shock.
2) Women are much more likely to consider furniture most important when decorating a home.
3) Women are more likely to answer that family memorabilia is most important when decorating a home.
So, for retailers hoping to make some significant sales this quarter (i.e. all of them), keep this in mind when starting a conversation with potential buyers.
BY AGE
It doesn’t come as big shock that Millennials are more driven by technology when furnishing a home. But, what did shock us is that Millennials are more likely than any other age group to consider artwork most important when decorating a house. Millennials are also the least likely age group to consider furniture important.
And if you needed a bit of hope for the younger generation, we found it fascinating that Millennials are almost equally as likely as other adult generation to consider family memorabilia most important when decorating a home.
These insights about Millennials, in particular, may prove extremely valuable to retailers within the home design industry. Many Millennials will soon be buying or renting homes for the first time. If retailers hope to win their business, it’s critical to understand exactly what they want, and how they differ from those who have bought and decorated houses in the past.
BY INCOME
This also proved interesting to us. Those who make over $100k+ annually are much more likely to consider furniture most important when decorating a home. Again, this may be because they are able to afford more quality furniture. In addition, this group is the least likely to consider family memorabilia most important.
OTHER INSIGHTS
What other insights did we uncover about home decorators?
Those who care most about artwork when decorating a home are more likely to go the movies at least once a month. This most likely is due to their younger age. So, galleries and art distributors may want to advertise in movie theatres if they don’t already.
Those who care most about family memorabilia also presented some interesting traits, mainly dealing with food. They are more likely to favor restaurants with fast service, be conscious of price when shopping for food, buy locally grown food, and be interested in eating fast food value menu items.
So, fast food restaurants may want to offer lockets or other small trinkets to hold family memories to entice these price-conscious, family-oriented diners.
Lastly, those who care most about furniture are more likely to follow health and fitness trends, cook their own dinner, regularly search for recipes online, and save money diligently.
Given these traits relating to cooking, retailers may want to sell cooking and furniture items near each other in stores. This may not be the most instinctive move, but it may prove useful to capture the home decorators / at-home-chefs.
Interested in other insights? Check out these recent posts: A Newbie’s Guide to the Meryl Streep Fan Club, The Latest Foodie Buzzword? Sustainability , and The New York Times and Spotify Collaboration is Pitch Perfect!
