Last updated: April 2026
The interiors sector covers everything inside the building envelope. Flooring, tiles, stone, joinery, kitchens, bathrooms, wall linings, plasterboard, ceilings, partitions, decorative surfaces, commercial furniture and window furnishings. It is a broad market with a lot of moving parts.
If you sell interiors products in Australia or hire the people who do, here is what the market looks like right now.
Market Overview
The interiors market is growing, but the shape of it has changed. New residential construction per capita has fallen to its lowest level since the late 1980s. At the same time, renovation spending has climbed to around 40% of total residential construction expenditure, up from roughly 34% five years ago. Renovation spending hit approximately USD 25.5 billion in 2024 and is forecast to exceed USD 38 billion by 2032.
The interior fitout market was valued at around USD 3.22 billion in 2023 and is forecast to grow at about 10.5% annually to nearly USD 5.9 billion by 2029. Commercial real estate trends and sustainability-focused fitouts are doing the heavy lifting there.
Flooring alone reached about USD 8.95 billion in 2024 and is projected to nearly double to USD 17.28 billion by 2033. Ceramic tiles hit around USD 1.87 billion in 2025. Office furniture sits at approximately USD 1.8 to 1.9 billion.
So where is the growth actually coming from?
Commercial fitout work is steady. Hybrid workplace redesigns, acoustic upgrades and biophilic design trends are keeping that pipeline full. Residential renovation is structural, not cyclical. It is not going away. Healthcare, aged care and education projects are creating sustained demand for hygienic linings, acoustic ceilings, resilient flooring and specialised furniture. And sustainability requirements, particularly Green Star Fitouts and EPD-backed products, are changing what gets specified.
Key Players
Wall Linings, Plasterboard and Ceilings
The plasterboard market is highly concentrated. CSR Gyprock (now owned by Saint-Gobain), Knauf Gypsum and Etex (Siniat) hold the top three positions. Etex acquired BGC's plasterboard and fibre-cement businesses in March 2024, expanding to 24 sites nationally. CSR's Himmel Interior Systems brand, together with partners like Ecophon and Troldtekt, provides acoustic and aesthetic ceilings and wall panels for commercial buildings. Armstrong Ceiling Solutions supplies mineral fibre tiles and specialty ceilings.
Flooring
The flooring market is a mix of domestic and international players across carpet, vinyl, laminate, timber and resilient surfaces. Construction activity, renovation and demand for sustainable, design-led products are all driving growth. Specialist brands targeting the A&D channel tend to run dedicated specification teams to drive project-based sales.
Tiles, Stone and Hard Surfaces
Leading tile specialists include Beaumont Tiles and National Tiles, alongside other national and regional players. Bunnings acquired Beaumont Tiles, which brought big-box retail into the tile space. They still operate the brand as a distinct, trade-oriented network.
Joinery, Kitchens and Decorative Surfaces
Laminex and Polytec supply cabinet doors, panels, benchtops, laminates and decorative surfaces into kitchen, joinery and commercial interiors markets. They work closely with cabinetmakers, builders and the A&D community. Products increasingly come with sustainability credentials and low-emission formulations for Green Star compliance.
Bathrooms
GWA Group owns and distributes Caroma, Methven, Dorf and Clark, making it a major supplier of bathroom fixtures and tapware. Caroma operates brand experience centres with distribution partners like Reece. These brands are heavily specified by architects and designers for commercial, multi-residential and institutional bathrooms.
Commercial Furniture
Local manufacturers like Schiavello, Zenith Interiors and Jardan operate showrooms and manufacturing facilities in major cities. Global brands like Steelcase, Haworth and Herman Miller are present through dealer networks. The market is growing, driven by hybrid work, ergonomic requirements and sustainability initiatives.
Window Furnishings
Luxaflex is one of the largest manufacturers of blinds, awnings, shutters and curtains in Australia, operating a national showroom and dealer network. Verosol offers metallised blinds focused on glare control and thermal performance. Motorisation and smart-home integration are driving higher-value product segments.
How Products Get Sold
Interiors products reach the market through two main channels, and most suppliers need both.
The specification-driven channel is where the margin lives. Suppliers engage architects, interior designers and other specifiers to get their products named in project documentation. That means face-to-face relationship building, CPD presentations, showroom visits, sample libraries and technical support through design development. Once a product is specified, head contractors and subcontractors procure from the nominated supplier. Sales cycles on commercial projects can run for months.
The transactional channel runs through trade merchants, showrooms, home improvement chains and online platforms. This is where the more commoditised products and DIY buyers sit, particularly in tiles, flooring and window furnishings. Shorter cycles, more price-sensitive, less loyalty.
Showrooms matter in interiors more than in most other building products sectors. They are where brands tell their story and let customers actually experience materials and finishes in a curated environment. Sample libraries and swatch books are central tools for the A&D community. If you are not investing in that experience, someone else is.
For sales professionals, this means the job splits into two distinct modes. Specification reps spend most of their week on the road visiting architecture practices, delivering presentations and managing project pipelines. Territory and account management reps service builders, fabricators, merchants and showrooms with regular call cycles, quoting and stock support.
Sales Roles in This Sector
Field sales roles in interiors companies typically carry titles like BDM, Specification Manager, A&D Representative, Account Manager, Territory Manager, State Manager or National Sales Manager.
A specification-focused rep's week might include visiting architecture and design practices, presenting new ranges or CPD content, following up on project specifications in the pipeline, coordinating samples and technical information, and attending industry events. They are measured on specification volume, pipeline value and conversion to sales.
A territory-focused rep is more likely running an area of trade customers, showrooms or merchant accounts. Regular call cycles, managing displays, quoting projects, forecasting and CRM updates.
The skills employers value most in interiors are relationship-building and presentation skills, experience with the specification process, the ability to manage pipelines and CRM systems, and comfort delivering product training to professional audiences.
Design sensibility matters here more than in most building products sectors. If you are selling premium interior finishes, decorative surfaces or commercial furniture into the A&D channel, you need to understand design trends, colour palettes and project aesthetics. This is not a nice-to-have. It is a core competency for specification roles.
The talent market is tight. Experienced interiors sales people with genuine A&D specification experience are hard to find. The pool is small, most good people are employed, and the growing emphasis on sustainable and EPD-backed products adds another layer of knowledge that candidates need. Mid-level rep churn is a related and growing problem, and once your offer lands inside the same salary band as everyone else's, pay alone rarely closes the candidate. I covered the dynamics in why your best A&D reps are leaving.
Growth Areas
A few sub-categories are seeing strong momentum right now.
Acoustic products are in demand across commercial, healthcare and education projects. Acoustic ceilings, wall panels and partitions are becoming standard in fitout specifications as workplace design prioritises noise control and occupant comfort.
Sustainable and EPD-backed products are gaining specification preference. The Green Building Council increased the value of product-specific EPDs in December 2025, which made certified interior materials more attractive in Green Star projects. Low-VOC formulations are now baseline rather than premium.
Healthcare and aged care interiors are growing as a distinct segment. A new Aged Care Act and strengthened quality standards coming into effect in late 2025 are driving capital upgrades. That means hygienic wall linings, resilient flooring, acoustic ceilings and specialised furniture.
Modular partitions and operable walls are benefiting from the shift toward flexible workspaces. Employers want spaces that can be reconfigured without ripping everything out.
Large format tiles and engineered surfaces continue to gain share in both residential and commercial applications. Design-led products that combine aesthetics with durability are winning specifications.
Smart window furnishings with motorisation and home automation integration are driving higher-value sales in both residential and commercial projects.
Challenges
Import competition is a real factor. Australia's construction sector is one of the country's largest importers, with extremely high import shares in ceramic products and other interior categories. That creates margin pressure for local manufacturers and added complexity for suppliers managing international supply chains.
Specification leakage is an ongoing problem. A product gets specified by the architect but swapped out by the contractor at procurement stage for a cheaper alternative. Sales teams need to defend specifications and maintain relationships with both the design team and the builder to protect their position. It is one of the most common frustrations I hear from candidates and clients in this space.
The A&D specification process is both the opportunity and the risk. It creates sticky, high-margin relationships when it works. But it requires sustained investment in face-to-face relationships, showrooms, samples and technical support. Companies that underinvest in their A&D presence lose specifications to competitors who simply show up more often.
Skills shortages affect interiors sales teams just as they do across broader building products. Finding people who combine sales ability with design sensibility, specification process knowledge and technical product understanding is genuinely difficult.
Regulatory complexity around fire ratings, acoustic performance, VOC limits and accessibility is increasing. Sales teams need to be across compliance requirements to hold credibility with architects and building certifiers.
Looking for sales talent in interiors?
I recruit BDMs, Specification Managers, A&D Representatives and Account Managers for flooring, tiles, joinery, plasterboard, ceilings, furniture and bathroom companies across Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. More about how I work.