Good quality-price ratio remains the main criteria by which residents are choosing their future homes. There are also an increasing number of buyers who want to purchase furnished housing so that they can move into it here and now – this saves time and costs. What else do buyers pay attention to before making what is probably the biggest investment of their lives, experts share.
Tomas Žiaugra, Director of the Development Department at EIKA Development, says that when buying a home, the first thing people pay attention to is the developer’s reputation, experience, guarantees and quality. The interviewee says that he has noticed that the age of customers purchasing their first home is getting younger, and they also often want everything here and now. As a result, there is an increasing interest in apartments that are furnished down to the last detail and can be moved into immediately.
Helps save time and avoid mistakes
Tomas Žiaugra claims that buyers are increasingly interested in furnished housing not only because it can save time, but also costs or even avoid major financial losses. One of the company’s projects, where some of the homes are sold to buyers already furnished down to the last detail, is the “Bajorų alėjos” project.
“Furnishing a home requires a lot of time and effort, and without experience, many costly mistakes are sometimes made. Since 2014, a quarter of buyers in our project “Bajorų alėja” have purchased fully furnished apartments. We aimed to make these homes not only cozy, but also convenient, and for residents to feel comfortable as soon as they move in. They no longer have to worry about how much more they will need to invest in an apartment in order to feel comfortable and live comfortably in it. These apartments have attracted great interest, so we are confident that the demand for fully and high-quality furnished housing will continue to grow,” comments T. Žiaugra.
Quality and price ratio
Part of the interior solutions for the project developed by EIKA Development were taken care of by IKEA’s business client team. The interior designer who worked on the project says she has noticed that the country’s residents pay much more attention to the quality of materials and furniture and other solutions than before.
“Quality solutions will last longer, they will require less maintenance, so in the long run such a choice will pay off. It is worth paying attention to the warranty provided for the furniture and its duration. For example, the most popular IKEA kitchen furniture system METOD has a 25-year warranty, and the PAX wardrobe system has a 10-year warranty. Another key recommendation is to choose not only high-quality, but also easy-to-maintain solutions, for example, surfaces that are easy to clean,” says IKEA interior designer Rūta Gajauskaitė.
Modern interior with accents for comfort / The color chosen in the project is a creator of comfort
Tomas Žiaugra continues that, in addition to quality, buyers also care about the layout of the home, daylight, modern interior solutions, and furniture. “Our goal was to create bright and spacious homes with modern interiors that would be furnished with quality, practicality, and an attractive price. We also wanted the interior to be lively and have brighter details,” he shares.
For this reason, IKEA’s business interior designer enlivened the rather neutral and earthy colors in the interior by introducing details of a repeating color, such as warm terracotta accents.
“In addition to light colors, recurring brighter accents add coziness and warm up the space. And stainless steel-colored details, such as handles or chair legs, “cool” it down a bit,” she comments on the chosen solutions.
R. Gajauskaitė adds that furniture alone is usually not enough to create coziness in a home, and details such as textiles, lamps emitting cozy light, and other accessories help to fill the space to the fullest. “We purposefully did not hang paintings or other accessories on the walls of the furnished apartment – we left the opportunity for future residents to personalize the home themselves, for example, by hanging their favorite works of art or family photos,” shares the interior design specialist.
The specialist also says that she is increasingly hearing requests from clients to create minimally furnished interiors, which have enough closed storage solutions to help hide and keep things organized. The concept of home lighting has also changed: there is no longer just one light fixture in the center of the room, but more solutions are being sought for a specific function or coziness. For example, table or floor lamps are being applied in several corners of the room, or lighting for cooking under kitchen cabinets.
Free interior design service for business
IKEA Business offers aesthetic and functional interior solutions for businesses. Interior designers prepare an interior design project, help you choose the most suitable furniture and implement the idea in the right premises: an office, a store, a café, a hotel, an apartment for rent or sale, etc.
By deciding to implement a project proposed by IKEA designers and purchasing at least 70 percent of the IKEA furniture and accessories included in it, interior design service is provided free of charge. For more information on companies, please visit here.[vc_gallery type=”image_grid” images=”49068,49070,49072,49074,49064,49066″ img_size=”medium”]