I Went to ‘The Inspired Home Show’ As a New Homeowner, and It Forever Changed How I’ll Shop
Your home has a style, but that style was decided for you long before you walked into a store. These decisions were made by buyers who attend shows like The Inspired Home Show, where popular brands from around the world showcase their latest homewares to retailers, who then stock those products in the stores where we shop. As a new homeowner myself, I wanted to see what was coming to stores, so I planned to attend the Inspired Home Show in Chicago March 10-12. Needless to say, there is a lot to see.
What is the Home Inspired Living Room?
The Inspired Home Show is organized by the International Housewares Association, a nonprofit trade organization committed to “maximizing the success of the home and housewares industry.” They hold the show every March, with over 2,000 brands in attendance to showcase their products, network with buyers and tastemakers, and share the latest trends and innovations in homewares. The show is divided into four categories: “Clean + Contain”, “Dine + Decor”, “Wired + Well” and International Sourcing.
How Attending a Homewares Show Changed the Way I Shop
When I bought my first home in November, I started to realize how much discoverability played a role in what I installed in my home. Much like the tables at my local bookstore or the first page of search results that determine what I read, the inventory of retailers like Walmart, Home Depot, or Target often shapes the possibilities of how my kitchen functions, the organization of my linen closet, and the appliances on my counter long before the idea crosses my mind. Of course, I don’t do it often. care about these things—I rarely find big-box store shelves lacking in options, let alone online shopping as a whole—but I chose to approach the exhibit with the imagination of a fantasy draft night. Stores make choices, but what if I don’t like their choices? Knowing the brands and their products better allows me to create my own.
Knowing brands, products and sales is generally part of my job, but as a technology-focused brand, my focus is much more on Apple, Google and Microsoft than Dreo, Carote and Vacane. The prevalence of online tech shopping makes sense of my options for the best digital tablets, fitness trackers, and laptops. But since becoming a homeowner, I’ve realized that the prevalence of household items and home technology is just as wide, except that their options are much less known. The more I learn to think of housewares, tools and home technology as a spectrum of countless brands, the more I want to be able to separate the wheat from the chaff.
The housewares market is full of cheap, low-quality crap, and for most of my life I’ve furnished my apartments with kitchenware, appliances, and cleaning tools at the lowest possible price. Much of this was due to financial constraints, which I understand all too well. I rolled my eyes when I was told that “there’s nothing more expensive than cheap shoes”, when cheap shoes were all I could afford. But my habit of buying cheap housewares persisted for two reasons: a resistance to consumer manipulation (I still remember the first infomercial I bought as a teenager that turned out to be junk) and a belief that housewares brands were all the same.
What do you think of it so far?
The first of these reasons remains. I use ad blockers religiously online, repeat algorithmic suggestions on social media, and block brands on Instagram. To date, I have blocked almost 10,000 accounts on Instagram alone, where I manually block any accounts that try to sell me a product I don’t need.
Credit: Jordan Calhoun
But the belief that all housewares brands are the same has crumbled, and walking the showroom at a convention dedicated to the industry’s evolution reminds me how thoughtful an industry I once easily ignored was.
Discover the winners of the Global Innovation Awards 2026
Of course, not everyone can attend trade shows, especially those closed to the public. And while your own opinions about your brand may come from personal trial and error, word of mouth, YouTubers, or online forums, I hope to include more home-related expos and conventions into the mix. Only when we know what’s available can we make our own more informed choices, directly from the companies we trust, rather than limiting ourselves to store shelves. To that end, take a look at the winners of the International Housewares Association’s 2026 Global Innovation Awards. You can also check out my experience at Inventors Corner, where 32 small brands share their niche housewares innovations they hope to make known. Finally, you can stay tuned to the coolest brands I saw at the Home Innovation Show by subscribing to our Home & Garden newsletter, Smarter Home & Living.
