Preparing for a foray here last year, Ikea, a global home furnishing giant, did some research on Korean consumers, collecting as many images of their homes as possible.

What it ended up with were hordes of images of almost identical-looking apartment units: white wallpaper, cookie-cutter room and furniture layouts and, above all, the decided lack of decorative items.

Lee Yu-rim, who runs home interior shops in Seoul, calls this the “dark age” of Korean homes.

For decades, furniture was something only for soon-to-be wed couples or new homeowners. With homeownership a lifetime goal of many, practicality and timeless design outweighed personal tastes.

“Even as Koreans lead in fashion and cosmetics, they have remained in the dark on home interior,” said Lee, who is the president of Riviera Maison Korea, a local unit of the Dutch furniture lifestyle brand. 


Recently, however, Koreans are undergoing a home decor awakening.

Increasingly wealthier, freer and interested in living, rather than mere surviving, they are fast discovering a whole new world of home styling.

And this new consumer recognition is reshaping the industry, similarly to how the “well-being” trend transformed the local food market about a decade ago.

The much-feared and talked-about arrival of Ikea last year came against this backdrop.

“Ikea has opened Koreans’ eyes to a new level of home decor,” said professor Yoon Sung-ho at Kookmin University.

Since opening in December last year, the Swedish giant’s first Korean outlet in Gwangmyeong, southwest of Seoul, has been attracting big crowds, causing major traffic congestion in the neighborhood.

While Koreans considered home decorations as extravagant, Ikea suggested a new way of adding style to their living space with trendy and reasonably priced furniture and small, affordable decorative items that can liven up a room’s ambience, Yoon said.

Given Korea’s slowing economy and amid consumers’ newfound interest in interior decorating, what Ikea has shown is bound to have some impact, regardless of the company’s success here, market insiders say.

Do-it-yourself furniture is one such area.

In online communities and the blogosphere, DIYers are actively sharing tips on how to add a personal touch to furniture pieces. Workshops that offer beginners A-to-Z guides on woodwork or building furniture based on a customized design are sprouting up in big cities.

In a sensation that pundits have dubbed the “candle effect,” Koreans are consuming scented candles, diffusers and other small decor items that were hard to find in Korea just five years ago.

Local furniture brands are speeding up their transformation to “total living brands,” introducing a vast spectrum of household goods from tableware to furniture.

By Lee Sun-young (milaya@heraldcorp.com)