# New global IKEA study: Nearly 4 in 10 are staging a "silent protest" over household mess

- Link: https://www.thailand-business-news.com/pr-news/new-global-ikea-study-nearly-4-in-10-are-staging-a-silent-protest-over-household-mess
- Published: 2026-08-24T18:00:00+07:00
- Author: PR Newswire

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MALMÖ, Sweden, Aug. 24, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — **In 38% of homes, someone is quietly
leaving things out and hoping someone else will deal with it. (They won’t.) Welcome
to the silent protest. It’s one of many findings from the IKEA Store & Organise 
Report 2026: Finding Meaning in the Mess.**

 [⌊IKEA Report - Top 10 Store and Organize Trends⌉](https://mmx.prnasia.com/media/MS1973617/IKEA-report-top-10-store-and-organize-trends_original.jpg?id=OA2901978&p=medium600)

IKEA Report – Top 10 Store and Organize Trends

Life at home is getting busier and space tighter — so this year, IKEA is focusing
on helping people find calm, not just storage.

The report surveyed 31,488 people across 31 markets — and found that clutter creates
real tension at home. Nowhere more so than the kitchen countertop, the hardest space
to keep clutter-free (24%) and the most likely to cause an argument (37%).

One in ten of us even use the oven for storage, rising to 21% in South Korea. Somewhere,
someone’s about to get a very unpleasant surprise.

Living spaces are getting smaller. But there’s a clear shift towards "meaningful
mess": owning with intention, keeping what holds value. With 59% preferring a lived-
in home over a minimalist one, perhaps the goal was never a perfect home.

"People aren’t chasing a perfect home anymore. They want a home that feels like 
them — one that holds their stories, their memories, the things that matter. What
we keep says a lot about who we are. It was never just stuff. At IKEA, we believe
everyone deserves a home that works for them. That’s what smart, affordable solutions
are for," says Licca Li, Home Furnishing & Retail Design Manager, Ingka Group (IKEA).

82% keep things purely for sentimental reasons, even if rarely used or out of sight.
Then there’s the 26% hiding mementos from past relationships — men more so than 
women.

68% of households have a drawer of doom, and inside? Cables, mostly. 54% of Boomer
men still keep them for gadgets they no longer own.

When guests are coming, one in 10 admit to cancelling plans with friends because
the house is too messy, and 34% shuffle clutter before they arrive.

Even so, 15% globally see mess as a form of creativity — rising to 31% in China 
but just 4% in Japan. Maybe the goal was never a perfect home; just a happy one.

For more information visit [IKEA Store & Organise Report 2026](https://www.ingka.com/reports/)
and [Ingka newsroom](https://www.ingka.com/newsroom/latest-news/).

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