From shop window displays to glossy magazines that give us advice on how our homes should look, in today’s world we are surrounded by picture perfect homes that very often stray far from the truth about home living. It is true that we all want a beautiful home that is welcoming, warm, spacious and filled with love and life, the images of expectation that we are presented with however, are far from the reality.

Furniture store IKEA recently conducted a survey looking into expectation versus reality when it comes to home living and here are some of the results.

Spending a lot of Time With Family and Friends

This is one of the more heavily featured images in home magazines, groups of family and friends dining together in a beautifully decorated living space, all laughing and joking. While for some people this can be true, in the main, the time constraints and pressures of dally life mean that such gatherings are very difficult to arrange. When it comes to cooking in the home this also is an area that people find tricky, in the survey 73% said that they cook to make themselves feel at home, 42% however, stated that they rarely have the time to do this consistently. Of the people surveyed that live alone, 34% claimed that they wish they could eat with people more often.

The Impact of Social Media

Those surveyed were asked about social media and its impacts on home life especially when it comes to food. Firstly and somewhat surprisingly, 23% of those asked said that reliable wi-fi was more important to them than space in the home to socialize, interesting that people would rather socialize digitally than face to face. 60% said that they used social media for food ideas which is great as it shows more people are trying to expand their range of meals that they can cook. The survey drilled down a little further and found that 16% of the 18-29 year olds that were surveyed eat and drink while online and 15% of these regularly post pictures of their food online. It seems that social media both encourages people to cook together and at the same time isolates people at home.

Spacious and Inviting Home

When it comes to having spacious and inviting home, many people feel that they don’t have sufficient space, the expectation here is to utilize all space available to create a welcoming atmosphere. Many however, either don’t have the creative mindset to get the best from small spaces or they fail to maintain the space that they have. When it comes to mess in the home, 39% said that a messy house annoys them on a weekly basis, especially in the kitchen, having a messy home is one of the biggest reasons that a home doesn’t feel inviting. Expectation may be perfection but the reality doesn’t always look the same.

To support the survey results here is a video based on the expectations of home living by IKEA.