Home is where the tension is? Examining the cultural complexity of creating the space of home through consumption

Renovating a home is a time-intensive, expensive and sometimes stressful consumption experience. And yet, consumers choose to engage in home renovations anyway. In my research, I examine the consumptive process of home renovations. I will present the many forces that consumers face in creating the space of home, including what a home means in North American society, as well as the contemporary interests from media and industry that shape the meaning of home. Grounded in cultural theories of how we understand place or spaces (Lefebvre 1979), I use data from interviews with consumers, contractors and a purposeful media sample. How do consumers negotiate the tensions that arise through home renovations? How do they negotiate the tensions between the idea of home as a place for self and family, and the home as a site for market value? And, ultimately, how do we and our families arrive at a home for ourselves?https://digitalcommons.bucknell.edu/fac_coll/1034/thumbnail.jp