Wall Art and Home Decor Statistics: Housing, Habits and Buying Behaviour (2026)

Last updated: 6 August 2026. Reviewed annually.

This is a reference collection of published statistics on housing, decorating habits and wall art, compiled by Inprint Designs. Every figure names the survey behind it, the year and the country or region it covers, so any number here can be traced back to its original source.

What kind of art do people choose for their walls?

Photography and landscapes lead, and most homes have art in more than one room.

• Asked what art they had hung, 62% of homeowners chose photography and nearly half preferred landscapes. (Source: Buildworld, 1,016 respondents in the UK and US)
• 46% said they have at least one piece in every room, and 81% also owned decorative functional items such as shelving. (Source: Buildworld, 1,016 respondents in the UK and US)
• 63% were satisfied with the art in their home and 20% could not be happier — but more than a third wished they could afford more, and better, art. (Source: Buildworld, 1,016 respondents in the UK and US)

The preference for landscape and natural scenery is visible in what sells: our nature wall art prints are built around that quality. If you want art in more than one room without the wall turning busy, our guide to creating a minimalist gallery wall covers how to keep a multi-piece arrangement calm.

Why do people put art on their walls?

To make a home feel like theirs, not to make it worth more.

• 68% decorated their home to make the space feel personal rather than to raise its value, and nearly half used art as the finishing touch. (Source: Buildworld, 1,016 respondents in the UK and US)
• One fifth said their decor moderately or somewhat increased the perceived value of their home, while one third said it made no difference at all. (Source: Buildworld, 1,016 respondents in the UK and US)

What matters most when choosing a piece?

Price first, then style, then size — colour comes later.

• The most important factor when choosing a piece was price, followed by style and size. Respondents most engaged with art also considered how a piece matched the rest of the decor and analysed the colour palette before buying. (Source: Buildworld, 1,016 respondents in the UK and US)

Size is the one of those three that most often goes wrong, and it is fixable before you buy: our room-by-room canvas size guide gives the measurements for each space. For the colour question, see how to match wall art to your furniture and interior colours.

Does art actually change how a room is judged?

Yes, and it was tested rather than asked.

• Respondents were shown pairs of identical rooms, one with art and one without, and rated the room with art higher on design, on luxuriousness and on sophistication — in all three tests. (Source: Buildworld, 1,016 respondents in the UK and US)
• 86% of people who had art in every room were happier with the overall state of their home than those with art in only a few rooms. (Source: Buildworld, 1,016 respondents in the UK and US)

The room used in that test was a living room with a sofa, which is also the hardest wall to get right — our complete guide to wall art prints for the living room covers scale, placement and the mistakes that undo an otherwise good room.

How do people shop for furniture and decor?

Research happens online, but the purchase often does not.

• 47% of millennials buy furniture online, often after weeks of research, and 75% check prices at multiple retailers before deciding. (Source: Home Furnishings Association, US)
• 70% of consumers shopping for furniture begin the process online, and 39% of online furniture shoppers are mid-process, narrowing options rather than ready to buy. (Source: Perq, 9,000+ consumers across 30 furniture retail websites, 2017)

Buying a print without seeing it means judging quality from a photograph, which is possible if you know what to look for — our guide on how to choose a quality canvas print and spot a cheap one lists the signals that show up in product photos.

Do people really pay more for sustainable products?

They say yes far more often than they do it, and furniture is a category where the gap is visible.

• In 2024, 59% of EU citizens said they were willing to pay more for products that are easier to repair, recyclable and sustainably produced — down from 72% in 2007, a decline attributed to inflation reducing households' capacity to afford them. (Source: Eurobarometer / European Environment Agency, 2024)
• Among furniture shoppers, 52% said they consider sustainability, but only 19% would actually pay a premium for it. (Source: BCG European consumer sentiment report, 16,000 consumers across nine countries, 2025)
• Across all retail categories only 17% of European consumers said they would pay a premium, with the sharpest declines in Germany, Sweden and the UK. (Source: BCG, 2025)

Our own answer to that gap is to make sustainability the default rather than a paid extra: every piece is made to order on FSC-certified canvas and wood, printed at the production hub nearest the customer. The materials and production detail is in our frequently asked questions.

How many people buy home furnishings online?

Online buying is the default in Europe, but furnishings remain a minority category — and the buyers are older than most people assume.

• In 2025, 78% of EU internet users bought goods or services online in the previous 12 months, up from 62% in 2015. (Source: Eurostat, E-commerce statistics for individuals, 2025)
• In 2024, furniture or gardening products were bought online by 19% of EU internet users, behind clothes and shoes at 46%, restaurant deliveries at 21% and cosmetics at 20%. (Source: Eurostat ICT survey, nearly 200,000 respondents aged 16–74)
• Online buying peaks at 89% among people aged 25–34 and 86% among those aged 35–44, falling to 53% among people aged 65–74. (Source: Eurostat, 2024)
• Older age groups, particularly those aged 55–74, are more likely than younger ones to buy furniture and home accessories online, while under-35s buy mostly clothes and shoes. (Source: Eurostat, E-commerce statistics for individuals)

What do people actually put on their walls?

Paint leads by a wide margin, but art prints come second — ahead of original artwork.

• Asked what they planned to use on their walls, 91% of homeowners said paint, 22% said art prints, 17% said original art, 17% said crown moulding and 16% said family photographs. (Source: Houzz Decorating Trends Survey, 1,700+ respondents, US and Canada)
• In 2018, 19% of Americans had no artwork anywhere in their home — 21% of men and 17% of women. (Source: YouGov Omnibus, US, 2018)
• Among Americans who did have art on their walls, 44% had received at least some of it as a gift and 36% displayed work they had made themselves. (Source: YouGov Omnibus, US, 2018)

Art prints outranking original work is a price and access story rather than a taste one. If you are starting from bare walls, our wall art collections are grouped by theme and format so you can narrow by style before size.

Do younger people frame their art?

Framing is something people grow into rather than start with.

• Only 19% of American millennials with art on their walls had all of it framed, compared with 41% of people aged 35 to 54 and 48% of those aged 55 and over. (Source: YouGov Omnibus, US, 2018)
• 32% of American millennials had a poster on a wall, against 13% of people aged 55 and over. (Source: YouGov Omnibus, US, 2018)

The choice between an unframed poster, a framed poster and a canvas changes the price, the weight and how finished the piece looks — our comparison of canvas print versus framed poster sets the three side by side.

What actually drives a decorating decision?

Personal taste, not trends.

• 84% of homeowners named personal taste and 75% named comfort as the biggest drivers of their decorating decisions. (Source: Houzz Decorating Trends Survey, US and Canada)
• Only 15% said following current trends was a priority, though a quarter of men said trends influenced their choices. (Source: Houzz Decorating Trends Survey, US and Canada)
• Asked which small changes had the most impact on a home, 44% of US homeowners named hanging art. (Source: Slickdeals / OnePoll, 2,000 US homeowners, 2023)

Art bought because someone liked it tends to outlast art bought because it was current — which is the argument for restraint rather than statement pieces. Our guide to minimalist wall art ideas for modern homes shows how that plays out room by room.

How often do people redecorate the same room?

A room is rarely finished — it is revised, and wall art is usually among the first things to change.

• 66% of homeowners had already decorated the room they were currently working on at least once before. (Source: Houzz Decorating Trends Survey, US and Canada)
• 21% redecorate the same room within two years, and 45% within five years. (Source: Houzz Decorating Trends Survey, US and Canada)
• In the US, 52% of homeowners undertook a decorating project in 2025 and 54% a renovation, with a median renovation spend of $20,000. (Source: Houzz & Home Study 2026, 20,358 respondents)

If a room is likely to be redone within five years, art that survives a change of paint and furniture is the safer buy — black and white wall art is the most forgiving of a shifting palette.

How many people rent the home they decorate?

Roughly a third of households across the US, the UK and the EU live in rented housing.

• In the US, 65.0% of households owned their home in the second quarter of 2026, leaving about 35% renting. (Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Housing Vacancy Survey, 2026)
• In England, owner occupation was 65% of households in 2024–25, with 19% in the private rented sector and 16% in social housing. (Source: English Housing Survey 2024–25)
• In the EU, 68% of people owned their home in 2024 and 32% rented. (Source: Eurostat, Housing in Europe 2025)
• Germany is the only EU country where renting is more common than owning, at 53% of the population. (Source: Eurostat, 2024)

Who is most likely to be renting?

Age is the sharpest divide in tenure, which matters because renters cannot always drill into a wall.

• In England, among households headed by someone aged 16 to 34, 42% were owner occupiers and 43% were private renters in 2024–25 — the only age group where the two are level. (Source: English Housing Survey 2024–25)
• Among those aged 35 to 64, 64% were owner occupiers; among those 65 and over, 79% were. (Source: English Housing Survey 2024–25)

Where drilling is not an option, art does not have to go on the wall at all — our guide to leaning art on a dresser, shelf or mantel covers the alternative.

How many people in Europe live in a flat rather than a house?

Just under half across the EU, and a clear majority in cities — which sets a practical limit on wall size.

• In the EU in 2024, 51% of the population lived in a house and 48% in a flat. (Source: Eurostat, Housing in Europe 2025)
• In EU cities, 72% of the population lives in a flat and 27% in a house. (Source: Eurostat, Housing in Europe 2024)
• The highest national shares of flat living are Spain at 66%, Latvia at 65%, Malta at 63% and Germany at 61%. (Source: Eurostat, Housing in Europe 2024)

A shorter wall changes what fits and how it should be hung — see how to make a room feel bigger with wall art for small apartments.

How much living space does one person have?

Households are small and getting smaller, which usually means fewer and shorter walls.

• The EU average was 1.7 rooms per person in 2024, from 2.2 in Malta down to 1.1 in Slovakia and Romania. (Source: Eurostat, Housing in Europe 2025)
• EU households averaged 2.3 people in 2024, falling to 2.0 in Germany and 1.9 in Lithuania. (Source: Eurostat, Housing in Europe 2025)
• In England, 40% of households were under-occupied and 3% overcrowded in 2024–25, measured against the bedroom standard. (Source: English Housing Survey 2024–25)

In a single-person home the bedroom is often the room that gets decorated first — our neutral tone wall art is the easiest starting point for a calm room.