It seems things haven’t changed as much as we would expect since the 1950s with Oneflare reporting an increase in interior design services for the living room.
But you’ll only know this if you’ve ever come across “home beautiful” type of books from the 1950s, in which you could note they were living room obsessed.
After all, the living room was where only the finest of homes would display the ‘sunken conversation pit’ (fireplace) and could act as the backdrop for televisions and radiograms.
According to Oneflare, the online marketplace that connects Australians with trade and services professionals, saw a 43 per cent increase in the number of people requesting the help of an interior designer in 2016 over the previous year.
Of the renovation jobs requested last year, almost half of all customers wanted help with their living room.
This was followed by needing help with the bedroom (19%) and then the kitchen (13%).
Eleanor Jesse from Kenz Interiors, lists her interior design business on Oneflare and said that for most families, the living space is the room most used in any home.
“Open areas such as living rooms, dining rooms and kitchens are the dwelling spaces where families and guests will spend their most time together,” Miss Jesse said.
For one room, 24 per cent of customers had a budget of more than $2000. However, 22 per cent opted for a more pocket friendly budget of under $500.
“Those that hire a designer are often looking to spend more wisely so would be willing to spend more for the right items,” Miss Jesse said.
COO of Oneflare, Ken Tabuki has also noticed an increasing trend in the number of people looking to get their home in order early in the year.
“We often see that more people will try to tackle larger projects at the beginning of the year and with Oneflare being the one-stop-shop for finding professionals to help with projects such as renovations, interior design, cleaning, building, gardening and more.
“We’re seeing a lot of the work that needs to be done for the home, being completed at the same time,” Mr Tabuki said.
One reason for the increase in interior design requests for living rooms could be because of the trend in open plan interiors. Open plan interiors usually combine the kitchen, dining and living space in one, with the lounge taking up most of the room. Therefore, they may just refer to the entire space as the living area.
Another reason could be because homeowners are eager to impress guests, with people more likely to use the living area to host friends or even events.
- (Oneflare is a joint venture of Fairfax Media).