The Results Are In — Our Exclusive Survey Ranks Home Décor Purchases & Plans for Spending in Months Ahead

With the economy hard to pin down from one month to the next, manufacturers and retailers want fresh statistics on which home décor categories consumers have spent money on so far in 2025 and which they are holding off on purchasing until 2026.

Fortunately, the first report from News Now Media Group’s Consumer Insights Now survey series –  sponsored by Bread Financial – has just been released and provides insight as to what is on the collective minds of your potential customers.

This week’s installment of Consumer Insights Now centers on consumers’ thoughts about the economy in general, their own personal finances, their observations of retail prices, and how all of these factors have influenced their purchasing decisions when furnishing their homes this year.

The opinions of 12,000 consumers who have either purchased a home from January to mid-August 2025 or plan to buy a home in late August through December 2025 have been tabulated and summarized in the fall edition of Consumer Insights Now. Respondents were surveyed in August and carefully selected to provide a balanced mix of males and females, ethnicities, and household incomes.

While the majority of consumers surveyed ranked their perception of the economy as Fair or Terrible/Poor, the demographics that lighting showrooms should pay particular attention to are the Baby Boomers (age 61+), Gen X (ages 40-60) and Older Millennials (ages 37-44)  — these groups not only felt the most positive about their finances, but also expressed willingness to pay more for product quality. Survey results show 72% of both Boomers and Older Millennials say that they are more quality-driven than price-driven when choosing home furnishings, while Gen X was not far behind at 70%.

With rising inflation and tariff rates this year, consumers appear to be cognizant of retail prices edging higher. For example, 57% of survey respondents said the prices for lighting fixtures seemed higher, and 51% said the same about portable lamps.

When it comes to making purchases in-store or online, 60% or more of survey respondents of all generations – with the exception of Older Millennials (53%) – say they believe prices to be higher when shopping brick-and-mortar versus online. Lighting showrooms will have to put in considerable effort to combat this perception through their marketing efforts via direct mail/email and advertising to their client lists or to potential customers on their websites.

Roughly half of the consumers surveyed  – with the exception of Boomers, high-income earners, and those willing to pay more for quality  – stated they have put their plans to purchase new home furnishings on hold this year due to the tariffs. However, many (36%) are looking more closely at purchasing American-made products. Among the survey respondents who indicated that they would be buying lighting in 2025, 39% said they are more likely to purchase lighting fixtures made in America and 31% stated they were more likely to buy portable lamps that were U.S.-made.

For the comprehensive analysis of how these 12,000 consumers evaluated their recent home décor purchases and future spending plans, click here to access the full Week 1 Consumer Insights Now report on the economy, complete with all relevant charts.

Over the next four weeks, more consumer insights regarding recent home decor purchases and plans will be tabulated and released by topic as separate Consumer Insights Now reports.