Sustainable Living: Young Adults Prolonging the Material Life Cycle of Objects Through the Appreciation of Used Furniture, Interiors, and Building Design.
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A1 Alkuperäisartikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä
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2024-12
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Language
en
Pages
20
Series
Circular Economy and Sustainability, Volume 4, issue 4, pp. 2559-2578
Abstract
Young adults acquire furniture from retail stores, second-hand shops, flea markets, and online marketplaces; they also inherit items from family members. While scholars have focused on consumers who acquire second-hand objects and appreciate inherited furniture, limited attention has been paid to the meanings of second-hand and inherited objects as elements of sustainable home interior decoration. Based on qualitative data, we analyze how young adults living in three northern European cities value used interior-decoration objects and how this enhances sustainable ways of using goods. Our study shows that young people appreciate architectural structures and interior-design aesthetics as well as inherited and recycled items in their homemaking. The building and home-decor style of the era shape the way consumers acquire used interior-design materials and objects. Moreover, young adults engage with inherited and purchased second-hand furniture by incorporating narratives about social ties during their acquisition. The durability of materials is valued in both inherited and second-hand furniture. Thus, young adults prolong the life spans of home-decor items, and they contribute to a sustainable, low-speed circular economy linked to homemaking.Description
Keywords
Inherited furniture, Interior decoration, Recycled furniture, Sustainability, Young adults, circular economy
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Citation
Varpa, J, Autio, M & Autio, J 2024, ' Sustainable Living: Young Adults Prolonging the Material Life Cycle of Objects Through the Appreciation of Used Furniture, Interiors, and Building Design. ', Circular Economy and Sustainability, vol. 4, no. 4, pp. 2559-2578 . https://doi.org/10.1007/s43615-024-00378-2