These Are the Items Visitors See First In Your Home

As the holidays roll in, it’s the time of year when many of us start to have more guests over. From Halloween parties to Thanksgiving get-togethers, there are plenty of festivities throughout the last quarter of the year. More guests mean more preparations, from the hunt for new furniture and more seating to giving your space a last-minute seasonal spruce up.

While you shouldn’t stress too much about getting guest-ready, Confused.com’s experts have analyzed unique data that uses eye-tracking technology to identify the exact areas and pieces of decor in each room that people’s eyes are drawn to the most. So, if you’re wanting to impress, you’ll know exactly which areas to focus on, and which parts of your house can take a backseat.

To conduct the research, study participants were shown a series of images of different rooms in a home. By using eye-tracking software, the total number of times people looked at different elements in the room, like the flooring, the windows, or the artwork, was recorded.

In the kitchen, the research shows it’s the floor that people’s eyes are drawn to the most, receiving 323 views. Cabinetry was viewed a total of 204 times, while the countertops were viewed 37 times. If you’re having guests over, it’s certainly a good idea to give your kitchen floor a quick clean—and this five-star rated $30 spray mop will do just the job.

In the living room, soft decor and key furniture pieces attract the most attention. Coffee tables, rugs, and decorative cushions pulled in the most views, each with over 100 glances. While 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. Surprisingly, the TV comes all the way down in the eighth position when looking at total views, and wall art was the thing that people looked at the least.

It’s likely that guests will head to the bathroom at least once during their visit, and bathroom mirrors will garner the most attention, receiving a total of 177 views in the study. Sink drawers came in at second, with 162 views, while the sink itself received 125 views.

If you’re having overnight guests, it’s worth noting that the item that was viewed the most in the study was bed throws, getting 221 views and being looked at for the longest duration of time. Following closely behind was the chest of drawers (135 views), windows (105 views), and decorative cushions (82 views).

You can read more information and view the full study here.