With the TV food-show craze passing its prime, home decorating and improvement television shows are now up and coming. Since following nifty cooking tips in our daily lives is easier than trying home decorating ideas, the effects of home decorating and improvement television shows are not as far reaching as those of TV food shows. However, they still work as a good alternative to cooking broadcasts, called ‘cookbang’ in South Korea.
Home decorating and improvement television shows -- such as “Old House, New House” (JTBC’s DIY home decoration battle show that can be called a cooking version of popular cookbang ‘Please Take Care of My Refrigerator), “tvN’s home decoration talk show “My Room's Class” and tvN’s Let Beauty Home -- are gathering a large audience in front of TV sets.
As more people throw online housewarming parties to reveal their personal spaces to others on social networking sites and online clubs, the word Roostagram (room + Instagram) was coined and there has been a growing interest in DIY home decorating ideas. With growth in the number of one-person households, more people want to personalize their own spaces, whether they be rented houses or their own houses. Some people flaunt as great home decoration skills as those of professional decorators.
Such a trend is making an impact on the home furnishing industry, as well as the home appliance industry. As home appliances started to offer similar features, product design increasingly influence purchasing decisions. More consumers take into account their home interior design even when they shop for small home appliances.
The influence of design on purchasing decisions
Therefore, home appliance manufacturers are keen on making their products aesthetically pleasing and innovative by using different design patterns or new materials.
TVs designed by furniture designers upscale the living room; massage sofas looking more elegant than normal sofas satisfy the five human senses. Retro-style coffee machines on the kitchen countertop and a cute-looking flex cam placed on the desk become decorative accessories.
Swedish home appliance manufacturer Electrolux, which successfully marketed its products by getting star chef Choi Hyun-seok to endorse its products, has been carrying out clever marketing strategies in line with the popularity of home decorating TV shows. Electrolux exhibited its products embodying Scandinavian design ideas at Fika Swedish Cafe & Bistro.
The Masterpiece Collection from Electrolux, which reflects North European lifestyles valuing simplicity and modernism–based Scandinavian design, has proven that kitchen appliances can turn into decorative accessories. Samsung Electronics has recently launched the Serif TV designed by world-famous furniture designers, the Bouroullec brothers (Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec).
Inspired by the letter 'I,' the Bouroullec brothers designed the Serif to look like a capital ‘I’ from the side. Thus, it is made to look like a piece of furniture that blends well with its surroundings wherever it is placed. Samsung Electronics has been holding Serif TV exhibitions in high-end furniture stores such as Duomo&Co, A.HUS and Dansk in Seoul. Furthermore, the company showcased the Serif TV at the Salone Internazionale del Mobile in Milano in a bid to project its new TV as a fine piece of furniture.
The Full Stainless 3.0 Eco Classico, an electric rice cooker from Cuckoo Electronics, sets itself apart from other rice cookers by featuring a body covered with leather-like material.
Unlike other rice cookers with a plastic or metal body, the Full Stainless 3.0 Eco Classico’s curvy body is covered with leather-like material, thus offering a luxurious feel. Besides, the fingerprint- and stain-resistant leather-like material helps users keep the Full Stainless 3.0 Eco Classico clean. This rice cooker also comes with a white LED display and a Classico Smart Wheel (menu dial).
What’s more, the LG PuriCare air purifiers with round, curvy body designs and the iF award-winning Philips Pasta and Noodle Maker are great examples of home appliances morphing into objets d'art. The emergence of such home appliances is projected to continuously excite those who want to add personality to their home.
