A new Hettich survey of bedrooms reveals interesting insights about consumer behaviour and their expectations from bedroom furniture.
Following market studies on the use of kitchens and bathrooms, Hettich now enters a very personal space with its survey of bedrooms. Most people spend a significant amount of their time in the bedroom for relaxation or sleep. Apart from the kitchen, it is also the room that needs the most storage space.
Hettich’s study involved a total of 102 consumers including 65 from Germany, and the remainder from Italy, France, Sweden and India. Most of the respondents were aged between 20 and 50 years.
Key findings from Hettich’s bedroom survey:
The bedroom
The average bedroom measures 17 square metres and is mostly furnished with a freestanding wardrobe, a chest of drawers, a bed with slatted mattress base and two bedside tables. The average age of the furniture is nine years. About 50 percent of the respondents had already moved home with their current furniture and didn’t find it difficult to dismantle and reassemble the furniture.
The bedroom furniture
While wardrobes and chests of drawers are traditionally used for storing clothes, underwear, socks, bedlinen and towels, respondents revealed they also use the storage space for shoes, jewellery and cosmetics as well as music instruments, sports equipment and office materials. The inference is that bedroom furniture needs to be more versatile to meet a wider range of needs, with Hettich seeing clear potential for a more user-friendly design. For instance, wardrobes or chests of drawers can be fitted with an interior organisation system.
The bed
Beds are not just used to sleep on; for instance, people read, watch television and have breakfast in bed. Given the various activities, an adjustable bed would make perfect sense. Respondents, in fact, indicated that an adjustable bed was high on their wish-list for a dream bedroom.
What consumers want
Of the 102 consumers interviewed for the survey, only 24 per cent said they were unhappy with their current bedroom and lack of storage space was the main reason for the dissatisfaction.
