Survey Results To Date

The aim: To establish how people WANT to feel at home, and how they USE furniture, fabrics, colours and lighting to create that feeling - an IN-HOUSE sensory experience.

I consider my interiors to be more appropriate for bedroom and living spaces, rather than kitchens or bathrooms so I asked the participants to choose one of these rooms to think about whilst answering the questions.

Style:

- 87% of the participants felt that the room they were thinking of conveyed their own personal style, with over half of them using a similar style to the way they dress, to then decorate the space.

- 82% prefer bespoke items rather than mass produced, this supports my decision of making unique organically designed pieces.

- The results show that people use a variety of resources to gather interior decor inspiration, social media gaining the highest percentage over all, at just over 20%, developing a website and online presence for The Hungry Ghost via instagram has been an important focus for my 2D portfolio development.

Colour:

- When asked what factors did people consider when designing the space the majority said colour, style and lighting, all focal points for the development of my samples. It also confirms that people do create an individual relationship and connection with colour more than any other element, 40 out of the 60 participants selected colour and 92% feel that colour adds to the mood of the room.

- My colour research to date has focused on readings and works from psychologists and Dr.s who established that the majority of people will respond well to warm colours, this is supported with the result that 85% would prefer warm lighting in their space.

- When asked how many colours they had used in the space, 72% said 3 or less, this also supports my market being considered a niche market, aiming more at a particular genre of people who enjoy a lot of colour in their homes. 42% said this was a subconscious decision. My research to date also establishes that our relationships with colour are built upon subconscious factors that could stem from our childhoods, cultures, surroundings and religions. We subconsciously make many decisions about colour and tactility, so even when we don’t think we are considering colour palettes, its something that come naturally to us as humans, its engrained in us as people.

Mood:

- When asked if people aimed to create a certain feeling when decorating their room, the result was an evenly split 50/50, however the results show that people do consider how they like to feel in the space; feeling relaxed, comforted, peaceful and happy were how people aimed to feel, even if they weren’t aware of this while decorating, this supports my colour choice for each part of the story and the over all mood that I am aiming to achieve.

- 87% of the participants wouldn’t want their living room and bedroom decorated in the same style or colour palette, the small % who did used colours and tones like pale grey or white, that could be refreshed and redefined with different interior accessories, this was also to create an even flow through the home.The 87% who said they prefer different decor do so to create different feelings and spaces within the home. The majority of the feedback was that people prefer a more vibrant setting in the living space, having a more relaxing mood in the bedroom.

- 72% consider themselves to be tactile people who enjoy and respond well to tactile surfaces, 60% think that is reflected in their space, supporting the decision I have made to create a collection of tactile fabrics to be used within the home.

- 70% like to use pattern and print within their space, 80% like to use co-ordinating items, whether that be coordinating through colour or pattern/print. This will come to inform design decisions when creating collections and sets of items.

Sustainability and materials:

- A shocking 82% of people do not consider sustainable factors when purchasing interior products. Wool is a sustainable material, and even though it is used heavily within my samples, I have used more decorative yarns that are not.

- When asked what materials people would use in their homes second to cotton, which was the most selected, was wool, which again supports my decision to predominately use wool within my collection, even though 60% of those participants were not aware of the benefits of using wool in their home. The awareness of the benefits of wool need to be raised and thats something I will consider when designing promotional materials for the products.

- 97% of the participants said that they currently don’t own any woollen interiors, but because the results show that people would like to use wool at home, there is a market for it.