While most of us in the home furnishings industry are struggling to figure out what the next month will look like for the business, the people at the IFDA have a much more forward looking mission: to see what the home of 2030 will look like.
IFDA — the International Furnishings and Design Association — is one of the industry’s stalwart organizations, bringing together designers, journalists and people across the entire product development, sales and marketing spectrum of the business. Started more than 40 years ago in New York, it now has chapters around the world, including a new virtual chapter.
And once every decade since 2000 it has surveyed its members to forecast what the American home of ten years down the road will look like. The predictions for 2030 were released a little while back and earlier this month IFDA hosted an online “Crystal Ball” Zoom session to discuss the findings.
In a way it was refreshing to take a step back from trying to figure out what Christmas business would be or which color would be the star in home design next season. Putting a longer lens on how we will all live — not to mention where and with what kinds of furnishings and household products — offers a chance to do some longer term thinking…which isn’t bad these days.
And as the results from the 2010 survey on how we would live this year have turned out to be pretty spot-on, this survey offers some real insights.
A couple of the highlights:
- Our homes are going to get smaller. Close to two-thirds of those surveyed thought so, versus only about half ten years ago.
- Homes may get smaller but spaces outside homes are going to get more prominent and more popular. And this was before the pandemic made close contact a problem.
- The move to smart homes will continue to gain although the 2010 forecast turned out to be a little too optimistic on where we would be today. Security remains a concern, then and now. Look for voice to be the go-to technology in controlling all of these features.
- Technology will also play an increased role in how interior designers work with their clients, as artificial intelligence makes all kinds of new tools available for the design process.
- No surprise, health and wellness, sustainability and energy efficiency are all here to stay and will only become more important in selecting products and systems for our homes.
There was a lot more and you can see it all right here.
Springboard Futures produces some great, not-to-be-missed information on trends and forecasts for the more foreseeable future of the home business but if you’re blue-skying and want to make your plans for 2030, check it out.
Award-winning Journalist & Consultant for the retailing and home furnishings industries with extensive business media experience in both fields.
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