Social media has a big influence on what we cook, wear, and where we go on holiday, so it’s no wonder it’s having an effect on how we decorate our houses too.
According to a new study into home improvement motivations by London property maintenance experts Aspect, 29% of UK respondents have spent money on home improvements to emulate an idea they’ve seen on social media. Homeowners in Manchester, Brighton and Hove, and Aberdeen are the most likely to get #inspo from social media.
Flicking through interior design magazines used to be the first place many would go for ideas, but that’s been replaced by the accounts we follow and hashtags we look at.
“Irritating” the locals
Having a beautiful home in certain areas of the UK can have some unexpected side effects. Residents in Notting Hill recently complained their homes have become an unwitting backdrop for Instagram influencers. Known for being affluent and colourfully painted, homes in Notting Hill sell for around £1.9 million on average.
This is clearly a big pull for social media influencers who want to capture the perfect shot for their social profiles. It’s not just about the colour of your front door or paint work either, it can be something else on your doorstep you don’t have responsibility for. One pink blossom tree in particular is getting a lot of attention from ‘Insta-tourists’ when it’s in full bloom.
The downside of having an aesthetic doorstep
A 21-year old Notting Hill resident quoted in the Evening London Standard claimed “you can hear them laughing and directing photos from our living room”. She thinks it was “cute” at first, but has more reservations after seeing an increase over the past 6 months.
Another resident says she’s spotted her front door on people’s Instagram accounts multiple times, and found some influencers can be surprisingly uncompromising. “They’ll just set themselves up for hours on your doorstep with a range of outfits. They make no effort to move when people come in and out of their houses.”
According to the London Evening Standard, some influencers will even bring pop-up tents to the area so they can change outfits, and particularly desirable houses can have a queue of waiting influencers outside!
How to make your home ‘queue-worthy’
If you think attracting a swarm of influencers is worth it, there are things you can do to your home’s exterior to make it more ‘Instagrammable’.
Apart from the obvious prestige of the area, influencers are drawn to Notting Hill in particular because of its colourful houses and iconic Victoria terraces. Dubbed the ‘Portobello Road effect’, homeowners around the country are taking inspiration from their neighbours’ design choices.
Aspect’s research revealed 41% say that seeing improvements to neighbours’ homes in ‘real life’ – also known as ‘curb appeal’ – has inspired them to make changes to their own homes. 32% decided to give their home a facelift when approached directly by a tradesman working on a neighbouring property. Whether it’s a paint job, new windows, or even giving the front garden a tidy, it can make a significant difference to desirability and property prices when several houses in one locale are well looked after.
According to Nick Bizley, director of operations at Aspect, “People have always been motivated to make the best of their homes and the habit of ‘keeping up with the Joneses’ never went away. What we’re seeing now are just different sources of inspiration for doing so. Whether we’re inspired by a picture on social media or a TV show, it’s great for the tradespeople we employ that UK residents still show so much pride in their homes.”