Eye-tracking Technology Reveals What People Really Look At In Our Homes

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Revealed: What People Really Look At When They Visit Your Home, According To Science

  • Eye-tracking technology has been used to identify the exact areas and decor trends that people’s eyes are drawn to when visiting 

  • The kitchen floor, bathroom mirrors, home office chairs and throws on a bed were included in the top 10 things that people focussed on the most 

  • Boucle furniture is the most eye-catching decor trend of the moment, with rattan furniture and dark kitchen cabinets close behind  

New research from Confused.com has revealed the things that people really notice when they visit our homes. Using eye-tracking technology, the study pinpoints the exact parts of our homes, and the current decor trends, that attract attention the most and hold our gaze for the longest. 

Perhaps unsurprisingly, given the amount of time spent working from home over the past 18 months, office chairs beat all other items in the home as the most viewed, amassing a total of 410 views.  

Kitchen floors, with 323 views and maintaining the gaze of visitors for 2,987 milliseconds, are the second most viewed element, and the cot in a child’s bedroom came in third place. Bed throws came fourth and kitchen cabinets fifth. 

The top 10 things in a home people focussed on the most 
 
To conduct the study, a sample of people were shown a series of images of different rooms in a home. Confused.com’s research team tracked the total number of times people looked at different elements within the room, along with the total amount of time they looked at it for.  

Bathroom mirrors and drawers under a bathroom are both among the top 10 areas of a home that people looked at the most. In the bedroom, a throw on the bed and a chest of drawers also made the top 10, and in the kitchen, it’s the floor and the cabinets that were inspected the most. 
 

The top 10 areas in a home that people looked at the most: 

Rank (based on # of views) 

Element 

Total Views 

Viewing Duration (ms) 

1  

Office Chairs 

410 

3,396 

2  

Kitchen Floors 

323 

2,987 

3  

Children’s Cot/Bed 

255 

2,553 

4  

Bed Throw 

221 

2,440 

5  

Kitchen Cabinets 

204 

2,183 

6  

Bathroom Mirror 

177 

1,867 

7 

Bathroom Sink Drawers 

162 

1,888 

8  

Office Computer Monitor 

150 

1,360 

9  

Children’s Bookcase 

137 

2,169 

10  

Bedroom Chest of Drawers 

135 

1,768 

Room by room analysis 

The kitchen 
 

The kitchen is possibly more integral to family life than any other room, and with the rise of the kitchen-diner, it’s now where so much of family life takes place. In the kitchen, the research shows it’s the floor that people’s eyes are drawn to the most, pulling in over 100 more views than cabinets, which came in second place, and almost seven times as many views as the sink in third place. 

Rank (based on # of views) 

Room element 

Total views 

Viewing duration (ms) 

1 

Floor 

323 

2,987 

2 

Cabinets 

204 

2,183 

3 

Sink 

48 

911 

4 

Countertop 

37 

683 

5 

Window 

33 

629 

6 

Decorative shelves 

23 

736 

7 

Oven 

22 

758 

8 

Lighting 

16 

668 

9 

Pots and pans 

12 

534 

10 

Plant/flowers 

10 

688 

11 

Art 

10 

322 

12 

Extractor fan 

9 

441 

13 

Utensils 

3 

412 

14 

Hob 

1 

193 

The living room 

In the living room, soft décor and key furniture pieces attract the most attention. Coffee tables, rugs and decorative cushions pulled in the most views, each with over 100 glances. Although cushions came third when looking at the number of views, they appeared to hold attention for the longest time out of all other elements in the living room. 

Rank (based on # of views) 

Room element  

Total views  

Viewing duration (ms)  

 

Coffee table  

139  

1,419  

 

Rug  

125  

1,258  

 

Decorative cushions  

106  

1,707  

 

Floor  

82  

1,155  

 

Fireplace  

68  

1,273  

 

Door  

67  

841  

 

TV stand  

47  

600  

 

TV  

42  

948  

 

Curtains  

34  

521  

10  

Mantelpiece  

22  

763  

11  

Wall art  

12  

511 

 

The bathroom

When it comes to the room we use primarily for self-care and grooming, it’s perhaps no surprise that it’s the mirror that attracts the most views. Just behind in second place, it’s the sink drawers and then the sink, toilet and bath ranked in third, fourth and fifth positions. 

Rank (based on # of views)  

Room element  

Total views  

Viewing duration (ms)  

 

Bathroom mirror  

177  

1,867  

 

Sink drawers  

162  

1,888  

 

Sink  

125  

1,507  

 

Toilet  

120  

1,363  

 

Bath  

94  

1,349  

 

Cabinet  

90  

1,044  

 

Tiles  

73  

907  

 

Shower  

49  

802  

 

Window  

46  

890  

10  

Plant  

28  

575  

11  

Towel rail  

17  

473  

12  

Bath taps  

11  

672  

13  

Lighting  

11  

348  

14  

Taps  

11  

305  

15  

Toilet roll holder  

10  

621 

The bThe Bedroom

In the bedroom, it was the throw at the end of the bed that pulled in the most views and was looked at for the longest. Art, the flooring and the curtains were the things that people looked at the least when glancing around the bedroom. 

Rank (based on # of views) 

Room element  

Total views  

Viewing duration (ms)  

 

Bed throw  

221  

2,440  

 

Chest of drawers  

135  

1,768  

 

Window  

105  

1,331  

 

Decorative cushions  

82  

992  

 

Bedspread  

67  

824  

 

Bedside table  

47  

1094  

 

Lamp  

30  

656  

 

Art  

28  

843  

 

Floor  

18  

730  

10  

Curtains  

12  

373 

 
 

The child’s bedroom

In the child’s bedroom, it was the cot or bed that was looked at the most and for the longest. Interestingly, art ranked as one of the least attention-grabbing elements in the kitchen, living room and bedroom too, with artwork gaining the most attention in the home office, ranking in fourth position. 

Rank (based on # of views) 

Room element  

Total views  

Viewing duration (ms)  

 

Cot/bed  

255  

2,553  

 

Bookcase  

137  

2,169  

 

Rug/floor  

127  

1,431  

 

Nursing chair  

116  

1,248  

 

Changing table  

74  

919  

 

Art  

41  

638  

 

Curtains  

22  

680  

 

Wall art/mural  

22  

580  

 

Lighting  

13  

541  

10  

Blinds  

 

350 

 

The Home Office

More of us have worked from home than ever before over the past 18 months, the office chair by far the thing people looked at the most and for the longest amount of timeSurprisingly, the desk itself was one of the elements that was focused on the least, pulling in just 20 views, compared to the chair’s 410. 

Rank (based on # of views) 

Room element  

Total views  

Viewing duration (ms)  

 

Office chair  

410  

3,396  

 

Monitor  

150  

1,360  

 

Shelves  

104  

1,064  

 

Art  

45  

579  

 

Rug  

38  

615  

 

Lamp  

35  

631  

 

Keyboard  

28  

585  

 

Desk  

20  

472  

 

Plant  

10  

297 

 
Jessica Willock, home insurance expert at Confused.com comments:   

“No two homes are the same. Our decoration, style, furniture and ways of living make our homes completely unique, but it has been interesting to see which rooms and furniture attract the attention of the masses.  

“Only you know the things that are the most precious to you, so to keep your home safe, secure and fully protected, make sure you have the right cover. To ensure you’re not underinsured, take into account all of your prized possessions when calculating the overall value of your contents. If you compare home insurance quotes with Confused.com, you could save up to £113*.”   


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