IKEA piece of furniture is a ubiquitous feature of the 20 - something ’s apartment . But at some point , IKEA furniture tends to get replaced with furniture from more upscale , “ adult ” stores — but when?Earnest , a student loan startup , put together some data on when people age out of their IKEA shopping habit , and find that it chance at about 34 years previous , perPopular Mechanics .
Earnest ’s data comes from tenner of thousands of loan applicants who respond to their sight . The company compare the ages of citizenry who turn first to IKEA for their furniture ask to those who go to Lowe ’s , Crate & Barrel , and other stores . IKEA is the only store whose peak customer age is below 30 , according to Earnest , while people in their 30s tend to go to Bed Bath & Beyond and Williams - Sonoma , though that does n’t mean they ’re not still sitting on their IKEA sofa . And most people who are more than 40 geezerhood one-time go to ironware / dwelling improvement stores like Home Depot or Lowes .
But what the heartfelt analysis is missing is that people ’s preferences do n’t just exchange because they ’re getting erstwhile ; as age increases , so does purchasing power in most family . Consider this graphical record on medial house income by years in the United States , drawn fromdata from a 2015 Census report . It ’s no surprisal that people make a lot more money at age 35 than they do at 25 . So not only might they be tired of the received Scandinavian esthetic , they might also not worry quite as much about throw off $ 1200 on a new couch .
Household Income by Age
The Motley Fool
There are presently four boxwood of yet - to - be - built IKEA furniture in my apartment , because I am 26 years former and have a payroll check that reflects that ( not to mention I do n’t live in a two - income household ) . I get laid mass - grow Swedish flat - mob design , but more importantly , looking at furniture from other stores give me heart shaking — I certainly ca n’t afford to betray at CB2 , despite the fact that itcalls itself“affordable . ” Until my income doubles , I ’ll in all probability be revel myMALM - themed sleeping room . At least it appears that I ’m not the only one in that situation .
[ h / tPopular Mechanics ]
streamer prototype courtesy of iStock ; all other images courtesy ofEarnestunless otherwise notice .
