Report · 46-page PDF + 7 CSVs

9,046 readers judged 20,424 real rooms. The most common complaint was not “dated” or “busy”. It was cold. 172 design elements ranked from cosiest to coldest.

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Every figure reproducible from the data

95,993reader signals

20,424rooms judged

9,046readers

46pages

Asked why they rejected a room, readers named “too cold” more than any other complaint. This report measures it: every design element scored on a Temperature Index from cosiest to coldest, with the light, colour, wood, style and fireplace variables that explain most of the cold, and a warm-room checklist ranked by the size of the swing.

Key findings

100% of temperature verdicts on cool-lit rooms said “cold”. None said “cosy”.
79.6% Temperature Index for a modern linear fireplace. A room with no fireplace scores 37.3%.
0 “too cold” verdicts for rooms that read 1990s, against 40 “cosy”.
1.1% of readers pick chrome hardware when asked outright: 8 votes out of 709.

What’s inside

46-page PDF report, 17 sections
The Temperature Index: 172 design elements ranked, each with a 95% interval
Light, colour and wood interaction grids; style ranked from warmest to coldest
The fireplace finding and the “dated paradox”
A nine-point warm-room checklist ranked by effect size
Dataset: 7 CSV files (temperature index, reasons by attribute, reason census, polls, regional cuts, interactions, image examples)

Sample and method

Panel	Readers of homestratosphere.com, a US home-design publication
Field window	Feb 19 to Sep 22, 2026
Signals	95,993 reactions, verdicts, saves, head-to-head picks and poll answers; 465 rooms called “too cold”
Format	PDF + CSV, instant download

Cold is not the same as disliked: the report shows where the two diverge, and why the state-by-state cuts mostly mislead. The panel skews US and over 40.

Who uses this

Furniture, lighting, flooring and paint brands; interior designers and home stagers; builders choosing spec finishes; home journalists.