Treating ourselves to a new item of home decor – be it a lovely scented candle, a fancy bedding set, or a fun kitchen accessory – is without doubt one of our favourite pasttimes. But we’re well aware that random splurges probably aren’t the best choice for our bank balances.
According to new research from Hammonds Furniture (opens in new tab), us Brits are actually splurging over £1,000 on new homeware that we barely even use. Eek!
It was revealed that there are actually three main decor items we’re wasting money on – can you guess what they might be?
What three items do Brits waste the most money on?
In the furniture brand’s new survey of 2,000 adults, around 5 per cent of people asked admitted that they repurchase one of these three items at least once a month – giving them barely four weeks to use the original items.
So what items are they?
Hammonds revealed that 5 per cent of Brits admitted to buying new cushions (including covers), throws or blankets, and lighting, such as lamps or fairy lights at least once a month, costing them an estimated £1,116 each year.
The research shows that the bulk of that cash is being spent on throws and/or blankets, accounting for £547 of the overall £1,116 spend.
Are you guilty of repurchasing items on a monthly basis, leaving your previous items to be shoved into storage?
(Image credit: Future PLC/ Max Attenborough)
Joshua Hammonds, Marketing Manager at Hammonds Furniture, explained that the idea of ‘Keeping up with the Joneses’ (or Instagram, as it were), is very much to blame, with shoppers desperate to pick up the latest items covering their social media feeds.
He said, ‘Many (25%) say that keeping up with homeware trends is important to them, while others (25%) say they are regularly buying trendy homeware items after seeing them on social media.’
(Image credit: Sofa.com)
But while it’s funny to joke about updating your home decor style on a monthly basis, it’s arguably one of the most damaging things we might be doing to the environment.
An estimated £2.17billion worth of homeware products are actually sent to landfill each year in the UK, Hammonds notes, with 9 per cent of Brits surveyed admitted that they will simply throw out homeware items they no longer want.
Of course, this isn’t an ideal way to approach our interior decoration – especially when there are many avenues through which to recycle, upcycle, or donate products we no longer want, or that don’t match our homes anymore.
Or, as the research shows, the key may well lie in simply buying less stuff in general!
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