After visiting 500 homes, IKEA released the first-ever New Zealand edition of the IKEA Life at Home Report.
Ahead of its arrival in late 2025, IKEA undertook extensive research to understand the everyday lives of New Zealanders before any products hit the shelves.
IKEA found that some of the most defining characteristics of the Kiwi home include carpeted garages, cluttered entryways, sentimental items on display and space for side hustles, in addition to big dreams for kitchens with better storage and renovations embracing the love of the outdoors.
Over three weeks, IKEA knocked on the front doors of 500 homes across Auckland, Christchurch, and Wellington. It visited tens of thousands of real homes every year to discover how people live in what is known as ‘Home Visits’, and its findings have been published in the IKEA Life at Home Report.
The first-ever New Zealand edition has been based on a first-hand Home Visits study of 500 New Zealand homes and quantitative research involving over 37,000 participants worldwide, including 506 New Zealanders.
“We want to enter the New Zealand market in the best way possible, so our first step is to understand life at home here deeply,” said Mirja Viinanen, CEO and Chief Sustainability Officer for IKEA Australia and New Zealand.
“Our IKEA product range may be the same all over the world, but the insights we have discovered from the very first New Zealand Life At Home Report help us create solutions tailored specifically for New Zealand homes so that when people step into our showroom visit us online, or shop remotely, they will they see themselves with our range, in what feels like home.”
The top insights from the IKEA New Zealand Life at Home Report revealed that 93 percent of garages were not for cars but carpeted and repurposed as extensions of the home for storage, laundry, work, exercise, hobbies, children’s play, and more.
Eighty-eight percent of homes struggled with crowded entryways, and 48 percent of homes encountered challenges with kitchen storage as well.
New Zealanders (43 percent) wanted their ideal home to help them save or earn money, with spare rooms and granny flats commonly converted into rental spaces.
As the shift towards sustainable living has continued, Kiwis have also grown fruit and veggie gardens, with many looking to tackle expensive grocery bills. Forty-five percent of Kiwis found that cooking and eating homemade meals made them feel the most content and at ease at home.
Displaying their personality at home was a top contributor to many of their senses of belonging, so showcasing personal and sentimental items in open areas of the home, like the living room, was expected.
Fifty-six percent of Kiwis preferred to air dry their clothes, and 44 percent of Kiwi pet owners spent time with their pets as a main source of enjoyment.
Thirty-six percent of Kiwis sometimes danced or sang when no one was around, higher than the global average of 30 percent.
Christine Gough, Home Furnishing and Retail Design Leader for IKEA Australia and New Zealand, who led the study, said Kiwi homes are some of the most unique in the world.
“IKEA has been visiting real people in real homes since the 1970s, and we’re incredibly proud to be the only home furnishing retailer in the world to do this,” said Gough.
