A Study of Attitudes and Preferences of Korean Women Toward Built-in Closets and Storage

붙박이 수납공간에 대한 주부의 태도 및 선호연구

Apartment houses are repidly being assimialated into the Korean lifestyle. Little study of space utilization and specificially built-in storage needs has been implemented into design of these apartment units. The purposes of this study were, first, to ascertain attitudes of a select group of Korean housewives(N=250) living in apartments in Seoul toward closets and built-in storage units, and second, to determine the acceptability of proposed alternative plans which include built-in storage facilities by Korean women(N=31) living in the United States. Overall results reflect that built-in closets and storage are highly prized and additional units required in Korean apartment plans. Of the respondents, about 86% thought portable storage bought at marirage would be phased out if more storage was built into Korean apartmemts. Most Korean housewives would perceive the advantages of built-in storage units, and would prefer differentiated built-in storage units to undifferentiat d ones. Yet attitudes were equally split on the aesthetic value of the elimination of the portable storage. Five Korean apartment plans were drawn to scale then altered through the incorporation of additional built-in storage. These altered plans all received greater then 83% preferences to the existing Korean apartment plans. Additional study needs to be undertaken to address the implementation of additional storage in existing units as well as impact the current space planning concepts related to more built-in storage. Consideration needs to be given to the concerns related to aesthetic value of portable units as part of the study process.