The Future of Interior Space - The Meaning of Home Decor & Design

We start off season two with a challenge! Join our hosts as we go deeper into the world of Meaning and apply it to, as one listener put it, just about anything. The first topic: Home decor and design. Throughout the pandemic the meaning of ‘Home’ and the space we live (and work) in has shifted.   Erin, Jason and Ujwal explore the meaning of home design and decor via three themes - accessible living, calming retreat, and working & learning - and how retailers can jump on the opportunity of helping consumers to create multifunctional spaces.   Welcome to Why Meaning Matters. A Story Studio Network podcast hosted by Erin Trafford with MotivBase cultural anthropologist, Ujwal Arkalgud and MotivBase president, Jason Partridge.   Creating accessible homes is less of an afterthought and more forward thinking. It’s becoming about people incorporating their value systems into the design of their home and displaying their social capital.   UJWAL [00:04:38] “If my home is accessible, in the future, one day, for example, if I have somebody who comes to my home who is in a wheelchair they will realize that my home is just as welcoming to them as it is to anybody else who can walk on their two feet with privilege.”   Thanks to social media and virtual meetings, our home interiors are now exterior facing reflections of our choices.   JASON [00:08:04] “So as we start to think about these different choices about what they say and those choices showing the values of the type of person we are, those are clearly things that are going to be shared across the spectrum and garner feedback.” In addition to paying attention to how we want others to feel about our homes we’ve also spent a lot of time considering how we want to feel inside our homes. The notion of a calming retreat is seeping into the mainstream. UJWAL [00:09:52] “It's also feeling like that because I'm also looking at myself in the damn Zoom camera and I'm seeing my own space and my own background and that also kind of makes me feel good about what I've achieved.” So, where are the opportunities for companies and marketers in the home decor and design space? MotivBase says it’s not just about solving the accessibility, calming and work at home problems. UJWAL [00:13:10] “I think what the audience needs is the Lego pieces, because the audience can't figure all this out on their own. Right? So, if you have a retailer saying, ‘Hey, I'm going to give you all the Lego blocks and I'm going to give you the instructions. Just go put that together in your space.’ Huge opportunity.” JASON [00:13:26] “Whoever cracks ‘multifunctional creativity’ in the home will win because that cat is out of the bag now.” Next week on Why Meaning Matters, the developing Meaning of fashion and apparel. Why Meaning Matters is a podcast produced by Story Studio Network and iContact Productions for MotivBase- Decoding implicit meaning behind what people talk about. If you want to contribute to the conversation, make sure you drop us an email at hello [at] storystudionetwork [dot] com. If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to SHARE it, RATE it, and SUBSCRIBE to the show!