What Your Living Space Says About Your Personality, According to Psychologists

Step into someone’s home, and you’ll likely notice more than just their taste in furniture. The way we arrange, decorate and maintain our living spaces can offer subtle clues about our personalities—sometimes more than we realize. While a single room can’t capture the full complexity of a person, psychologists say that certain choices in our environments often reflect our underlying  personality traits. 

To explore the connection between your living space and your personality, we asked two experts how the Big Five traits might shape the way you live.

How You Live Might Reveal More Than You Think

Just like what you wear might reflect your personality, how you decorate your living space can also offer a window into your thought patterns and daily habits. “Your living space is related to your personality traits in terms of how you organize your thinking and your life,” says Dr. Melody Bacon, psychologist and professor at The Chicago School of Professional Psychology. 

Bacon explains that, in therapy, subtle cues like body language and clothing can hint at the client’s personality: “Are they kind of buttoned down and tailored type, or are they kind of loosey? There is a reflection on personality type in that. And I think that would be the same with living how you live.”

While the relationship between living spaces and personality is still being explored, research points to some intriguing connections. For example, Dr. Joseph Ferrari, a psychology professor at DePaul University, found that clutter often leaves people feeling overwhelmed and may signal a tendency toward procrastination—a trait linked to lower Conscientiousness in the Big Five system. Other studies suggest that wall colors can influence specific moods in people, and may reveal something about your preferences or intentions. A 2020 study across multiple countries found that people associated black with sadness, yellow and orange with joy, and red and pink with love. Some colors, like those used in kitchens or bedrooms, are even chosen for their effects on appetite or relaxation.

So what specific features in your home might reveal clues about your Big Five personality traits?

Your Living Space and The Big Five

One expert leading the charge in understanding how our personalities show up in our living spaces is Dr. Samuel D. Gosling, personality and social psychologist, professor of psychology at the University of Texas at Austin, and author of “Snoop: What Your Stuff Says About You.” He has spent years examining how our everyday environments, such as our bedroom or office, reflect who we are.   

In one of his most well-known studies, “A Room With a Cue,” Gosling and his colleagues set out to discover whether strangers could accurately assess a person’s Big Five traits just by observing their space. Researchers examined 83 personal living spaces of college students and recent graduates, along with 94 office spaces, analyzing a variety of room cues. Observers then rated the occupants’ personalities, which were compared to self-assessments and reports from close friends.

“Essentially, we had volunteers volunteer their spaces and then cover up any identifying information (i.e., personal photos, etc.) so people weren't just making pictures based on what people looked like,” Gosling explains. “They were essentially going into these strangers’ places, and then they formed impressions without any instructions. And then we got measures of what the person was really like [...]  they completed self-report versions of the Big Five, and then also two people who knew them well gave us informant report versions of the occupant.”

Gosling says these “FBI-like teams” documented items they saw, such as books, images, clutter levels and other cues, though there was no set criteria for what they were looking for. The researchers then analyzed whether observers’ personality judgments matched the occupants’ self-reports and informant reports, and which room cues were most telling.

The results were striking: observers could often gauge a person’s Big Five traits with notable accuracy, just by scanning a room’s layout, decor and level of organization. It turns out our living spaces act as canvases for our personalities, leaving “psychological footprints” through our possessions, habits and even the messes we leave behind.

Openness Comes Through in Creative Details

While many people assume Conscientiousness is the easiest personality trait to spot in someone’s home, Dr. Gosling’s research found that Openness is actually the most accurately judged trait. In his study of offices, cues for high Openness included a distinctive space, thoughtful decoration, and a wide variety of books, magazines and compact discs. The same patterns appeared in the bedroom study, where unique décor and a diverse collection of reading material were strong indicators of Openness.

Bacon is not surprised by this finding. “People who are high in Openness are often very creative, and you need an outlet for your creativity,” she says. “You don't have to literally be an artist to be creative, to be thinking of new ideas.” New ideas, she says, often show up in the variety and breadth of media and objects high Open people choose for their spaces.

Distinctive décor is another signal. “If you're really high on Openness, then you might be trying different things to see if they work as opposed to trying to follow some kind of rules of decorating,” Bacon explains. “Your space might be a little bit more eclectic.” Someone high in Openness might also experiment with unconventional paint colors, though this wasn’t a clear indicator in Gosling’s research.

On the flip side, Bacon notes that people high in Openness might hesitate to make permanent decisions about their space. This could explain why bold wall colors or statement décor weren’t prominent in Gosling’s findings.

Conscientiousness Shows Up as Deep-running Order

“If you're high on Conscientiousness, you might be much more organized in your workspace or your home,” says Bacon. “You’re going to have more specific organization than somebody who's got some other kind of characteristics.”

People high in Conscientiousness are typically orderly, responsible, dutiful and self-disciplined. In a study of 1,300 participants, those with high Conscientiousness reported more frequent cleaning of bedrooms, desks and apartments, as well as habits like making their beds and tidying up after visitors left. They also tended to use systematic organization for work files, important papers and bookshelves.

Unsurprisingly, Gosling’s research found that neatness and organization were the clearest indicators of high Conscientiousness—but he notes it goes beyond just a tidy desk. “There's a difference between a temporarily chaotic and messy desk and a deeply messy desk,” he says, explaining that it is normal for even a highly Conscientious person to have a temporarily chaotic work environment when they’re busy. Even if someone tidied up before observers arrived, it's more specific cues that can convey a highly Conscientious person, such as a “little drawer for paper clips”  or “color coordinated pens.” 

“You can't just suddenly make those things appear in an afternoon of tidying,” Gosling explains. “That's actually one of the reasons why people's living spaces are so informative. It's because they essentially are the crystallization of many, many acts over weeks and weeks, months and years. It's the accumulation of those books and the way they're organized and the various other knick-knacks you have, and those sorts of things.”

Extraversion Shows in Welcoming Spaces

While Openness and Conscientiousness tend to stand out most clearly in someone’s living space, Bacon notes that Extraversion can also be revealed by the “social functioning” of a home. She describes a friend high in Extraversion who, when remodeling, paid “a lot of attention to where people would come and sit, how it would open up to the patio for entertaining.”

Dr. Gosling’s research supports this idea, identifying an inviting, shared space as the top indicator of Extraversion. “The invitingness was the most important thing [for Extraverts], and we especially found that to be true in offices. So Extraverts’ places were inviting, they would have seats to sit on, they'd have a jar of candy on the desk to try to tempt you,” Gosling explains. “The door would be more open if they had one, whereas the Introverts would have their doors more closed.”

He also points out that the arrangement of chairs often distinguishes an Extravert’s space from an Introvert’s. Extraverts typically arrange seating to encourage conversation and gatherings, while Introverts might opt for a single comfortable reading chair.

Agreeableness Hints at Comfort and Warmth

Determining someone’s level of Agreeableness from their living space or office is a bit more challenging. In Gosling’s bedroom study, only a few cues—like a more colorful room or newer items—showed a slight connection to higher Agreeableness. However, most results pointed to a low correlation between someone’s space and accurately assessing this trait. Researchers expected that people high in Agreeableness would have cheerful, inviting spaces, but the findings didn’t support this assumption.

While Gosling’s study suggests that Agreeableness isn’t easily read from décor alone, Bacon believes there are subtle clues. She suggests that high Agreeableness might show up in “welcoming lighting and soft textures” or features that make a space comfortable for guests. Details like a cozy room temperature or an open layout—such as a kitchen flowing into a living room—could be signs of a personality that values comfort and connection.

Neuroticism Surfaces in Subtle Self-Soothing Touches

“People are quite good at judging Neuroticism,” says Gosling, “but we don't know how they do that.”

In office spaces, some cues suggested that people high in Neuroticism tended to be less organized and less clean, though the correlation wasn’t as strong as with other Big Five traits. One interesting finding was that those high in Neuroticism often had less diverse music tastes. In the bedroom study, well-lit, clean and organized spaces—without clothing strewn about—were also moderately accurate cues for low Neuroticism. However, despite these patterns, Gosling cautions against reading too much into any single cue. 

He does highlight one particularly “provocative” finding: spaces with inspirational quotes. “Those people tended to be higher [in Neuroticism]. So it's almost like people are, in a way, psychologically trying to regulate,” he explains. “I would say they're trying to use the environment almost to regulate their anxieties and their worries. A worrier will resonate more with some kind of inspirational quote or saying than a person who doesn't worry. And so maybe that's why they put it up.”

Bacon adds that people high in Neuroticism may choose calming, neutral colors to help regulate their emotions, though she agrees these cues can be hard to pinpoint. Reflecting on her high Neuroticism clients, Bacon notes, “They’re very emotionally engaged in life, which is lovely. But then, at the same time, they have to keep your environment [more neutral] so that they’re not overstimulating themselves unnecessarily because they already run in that direction.”

The Limits of Reading Personality in Space

Identifying someone’s Big Five personality traits by analyzing their living space has its limits. As Bacon points out, a space might not reflect someone’s personality if they’re experiencing a particularly chaotic period in life. Conflicting traits can also create internal tension, making it harder to see a clear personality pattern in the way someone decorates or lives in their space. This complexity may help explain why researchers in Gosling’s study struggled to accurately identify traits like Agreeableness. 

In some cases, gender stereotypes influenced the trait assessments. “We found people were going in, saying, ‘Oh, this belongs to a female, alright, I'm going to boost my Agreeableness and my Neuroticism rating a little bit. And that turned out to be a valid thing to do in the case of Neuroticism, but an invalid thing to do in the case of Agreeableness.” The room judges in the study also tended to associate cues for high Conscientiousness with high Agreeableness, even though the data didn’t support a strong link between the two.

Shared spaces add another layer of complexity. Bacon notes that in partnerships or marriages, “The one with the more prominent opinions doesn't get the veto. So if I'm really high on Openness and I like the really bright and bold, but my spouse prefers more classic colors, then what?” The result is often a compromise—like classic walls with a bold piece of art—which can make it harder to discern an individual’s traits in a shared environment.

Gosling suggests that personality cues in a space can be grouped into three psychological channels:

• Identity Claims: Deliberate items people display, like band posters or bumper stickers, to express values, beliefs or aspects of identity. According to self-verification theory—the idea that people want others to see them as they see themselves—these are usually authentic, reflecting how people want to be seen.
• Feeling Regulators: Adjustments to the environment made to influence mood or mental state, such as calming lighting, cozy blankets or energizing music.
• Behavioral Residue: Unintentional traces left behind by hobbies or habits—think clutter, sports gear or art supplies. They reveal how someone lives day to day.

These channels go beyond simply guessing someone’s Big Five traits. Gosling emphasizes that the Big Five offers only a “very superficial” glimpse into a person’s story. While it might provide a “first read,” it barely scratches the surface of their personality. Truly knowing someone, he says, involves understanding their goals, values and the narrative they build about who they are and how they got there. These stories can be found in living spaces—but reading them requires careful observation and an eye for the deeper clues. The Big Five, in the end, is just the starting point.