The numbers clearly show the trend: the wall unit, once a must in every living room, is losing its charm. Does this have to do with changing consumer behavior due to the changing zeitgeist or are there quite plausible reasons why more and more people are assembling their entire living room furniture from individual pieces of furniture? You can find answers to these questions and tips for decorating with individual furniture in this article:
1. The wall cabinet – the all-rounder among furniture
The furniture in our home reflects personal taste on the one hand, and the current zeitgeist on the other. Then as today, the living room represents the family center of the house or apartment. The living room is the central place where the family meets and spends most of their time together. And for decades the wall cabinet adorned German living rooms and was an indispensable element of the “beautiful room”.
It all began in the early 1920s, when the first series of wall units was launched on the market in Germany. After the war and with the start of the economic miracle, the number of furniture manufacturers who successfully launched equipped wall systems on the market increased. The floor-to-ceiling, large and massive wall unit made of rustic oak has become a symbol of German cosiness. Development continued, and the last century was already characterized by a wide variety of trends. But this did not affect the popularity of the wall cabinet. In 1997, more than 4 million cabinets were sold.
But what made the wall unit a must for every living room interior? The advantage of a wall cabinet is that it offers a lot of space with a small footprint. Thanks to the different design of the individual compartments, the wall unit can accommodate all the objects that are usually found in a living room. Books can be stored on open shelves, everyday items can be stored in closed compartments, and decorative and ornamental items can be presented behind glass doors. Special compartments such as the home bar contain the drinks, others the television and the hi-fi system – often with practical details such as the integrated power supply or provision for easy cable routing.
Next, a classic wall cabinet seems too massive for many people and is sometimes even derided as stuffy. Customers prefer a modern and “essential” version of the wall unit or wall unit. Here the desire for customization becomes evident, which is characterized by a flexible combination of individual parts such as cabinets, shelves and display cases The installation height of the individual elements often varies; Variable door stops allow you to attach parts of the wall unit to the left or right, while the back walls of the open units are designed in different colors or left out. The result: the wall unit appears more airy and therefore less oppressive or dominates the living room.
Today the elements of a wall unit are casually hung and placed next to each other on the wall. The individual pieces of furniture can be composed according to the customer’s needs, giving everyone «their» individual wall unit. The high-gloss fronts give the living area a fresh, modern look, while the colorful LED lighting concepts create the desired atmosphere at the touch of a button on the remote control.
2. Decrease in demand for wall units
Although the classic wall cabinet has adapted to the current spirit of the times, more or less comparable to fashion trends, sales figures have been declining, especially in recent years. More and more people are giving up the last described modern wall unit type with its flexible and individual design and application possibilities.
This is evidenced not only by the decline in sales in stationary retail; Online retailers and neutral Internet service providers are also seeing fewer and fewer clicks on corresponding offers on the Internet, which reflects a general decline in interest in wall units.
Naturally, the reaction was not long in coming: first of all, the furniture industry adapted its production to the changing wishes of customers with new furniture programs for living room furnishings. At the international furniture and furnishings fair in Cologne at the beginning of the year, retailers were able to get a good overview of where the journey is going in terms of living area furniture: away from the wall unit and towards the needs-based combination of individual pieces of furniture.
3. Because individual furniture is trendy
Lifestyle habits have changed considerably in recent years. Regardless of age, more and more people are living alone. The percentage of single households has increased significantly, especially in cities. At the same time, people have become more mobile. Whether young people for training or later for a new job, moving to another city or region is now normal. Even longer stays abroad are no longer rare. Ultimately, our furniture also has to keep up with all these changes, which means that modern furniture today has completely new demands.
Living room furniture must also accommodate this flexibility. Instead of heavy wall cabinets, modern living programs with compact and modular individual furniture such as TV cabinets, sideboards and display cabinets offer numerous advantages. They are easier to transport individually and defective parts can be replaced more cheaply. Furthermore, in single-family homes, an unfavorable floor plan or smaller rooms often prevent the installation of a wall unit. Also in this case, modular furnishing solutions that can be individually organized and combined to adapt to the current and future living situation represent an advantage.
New technologies in consumer electronics are also fueling the desire for “less.” While a huge cabinet depth was previously required for the tube TV in the center of the living room wall, modern newspaper-sized TVs can be mounted on any wall in any living room; Then there is a compact low cabinet underneath: done! And the smartphone, networked with a Bluetooth speaker the size of a pint glass, today replaces the all-in-one stereo system including a record/CD collection.
Especially the younger and more mobile increasingly see their furnishings as temporary goods which, as in the world of fashion, are constantly oriented towards temporary trends. For this group of people, the low price is more important as a purchase argument than the long-lasting quality of the furniture. Because many living room furniture will be replaced at the next move and simply replaced with comparable and economical living room furniture in the new place of residence.
4. This is what you should keep in mind when setting up your living room with custom furniture
As already mentioned, manufacturers and retailers have reacted to the fact that more and more people are saying goodbye to the classic wall unit. Numerous furnishing programs are now available with coordinated and freely combinable living room furniture such as sideboards, sideboards, free-standing or hanging sideboards for televisions, sideboards, display cabinets and much more. The customer is spoiled for choice. You can do the following Suggestions be useful:
- Ability to move/adapt: The quality of the living room furniture must be such as to withstand multiple movements (transport, disassembly, assembly) and to be suitable for alternative living situations (sloped living room, windows, niches, etc.).
- Colors and surfaces: Furniture in more discreet and simple colors – ideally white – is easier to replace/combine individually if this becomes necessary later and the furniture program has been interrupted; Experience has shown that matte surfaces resist movement better because they are less sensitive to scratches.
- Program duration: No furniture program lasts forever, but the longer the better for the customer. The furniture retailer can tell you from personal experience which manufacturers tend to have a shorter or longer lifespan for their furniture programs (important for later replacement/expansion purchases, supply of spare parts).
- Optional use: You are absolutely on the safe side if you can continue to use individual living room furniture such as sideboards, chests of drawers or display cabinets later – for whatever reason – in other living areas (dining room, kitchen, hallway).
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