Interior design is steeped in nostalgia. Most of us can recall how familiar places once looked, like the layout of our grandma’s living room or the arrangement of posters in our childhood bedroom. In doing so, we can feel connected to who we once were. In fact, this collective penchant for the past can sometimes lead us to cling to aesthetics we never experienced firsthand, like the pattern play of the Victorian era or the bright colors of the Bauhaus. Everything old can be new again, especially in the home.
As tastes evolve, it’s no surprise that certain design choices eventually become emblematic of a time and place. “There are big generational shifts in music, culture, and politics,” says designer Melissa Oholendt of Oho Interiors. “It’s only natural that interior trends would follow the same trajectory, with generational identifiers.”
While a generational gap may be inevitable, at least one thing is certain: we are all attached to certain design choices. There was no shame in loving those styles back then, and there’s certainly no shame in remembering them fondly now. After all, trends come and go, but good memories last. We spoke to three designers about how they would describe the most popular styles across four generations. You might be able to relate to their memories. Take a moment to read through some throwback memories.
Baby Boomers
Baby Boomers is the collective term for people born between 1946 and 1964, the era when the concept of mass production transitioned from World War II to civilian life, so it’s no surprise that when O’Hollent thinks about the style that best represents her parents’ generation, she thinks of matching furniture sets.
“My parents still have the original bedroom set they bought the year they got married, in 1980,” she says. Typically made from dark stained wood with heavy metal fittings and ornate millwork, these sets were sturdy enough to withstand their children’s childhoods. And as Residency Bureau owner and designer Amy Bloom recalls, these spacious sets were the perfect place to display lots of stuff. “Knick-knacks and Thomas Kinkade paintings were all the rage at the time,” she says.
Department stores with flashy showrooms made these furniture sets desirable, but that may not be all this generation is known for. Designer Kelly Vasquez recalls that Baby Boomers loved to decorate their homes in a “shabby chic” style that incorporated a lot of distressed wood and farmhouse influences. “This ‘rustic elegance’ was part of the ’90s ethos of decorating your home in a relaxed, yet expensive way,” she adds. “It was probably also a backlash against the high midcentury modern design of their parents’ generation.”
Generation X
While Baby Boomers were listening to The Beatles, Gen X (those born between 1965 and 1980) were listening to Nirvana on their Walkmans. But their distinctly different musical tastes don’t mean the two generations don’t appreciate 1970s design. “When I think about my Gen X friends, they’re emanating a ’70s vibe,” O’Holland says. “Think lava lamps, shaggy rugs, and record-based décor.”
Vazquez defines this generation’s style as an affinity for industrialism matched by a fashion cred for wearing punk rock plaid. “They were into the city and not so much the suburbs, which is the opposite of the Baby Boomers,” she says. “So instead of faded white ‘shabby chic,’ they went for raw steel and all black.” Vroom agrees, noting that this generation embraced eclectic style in the name of rebellion. “They didn’t want everything to be the same as everyone else, so they leaned into an eclectic vibe,” she says. “Mixing and matching was key.”
Millennials
The last generation to remember life without smartphones were born between 1981 and 1996, and Vroom credits them with bringing sustainable living into the mainstream. “They have a ‘less is more’ mentality,” she says. But if this generation could be defined by one particular look, it might come down to a color: you know the color: millennial pink.
“As a teenager, Melissa desperately wanted a pink inflatable piece of furniture that looked straight out of a Delia’s catalog,” O’Holland says. “I think the popularity of that piece of furniture translated into all of us as adults developing a deep love of pink in all its shades, rooted in the idea that a pink inflatable sofa would be key to our high school social lives.”
Vazquez agrees, but adds that the rise of the internet has made millennial style harder to define. In addition to the muted pink hues that defined the #Girlboss era, Vazquez notes that the generation also ushered in style experimentation. “Millennials are hard to categorize,” she says, “but if I had to pigeonhole them, I’d say they’d fall into the category of ‘casual elegance,’ epitomized by the ‘California coastal’ style that’s been so popular for so long.”
Generation Z
The generation born between 1997 and the early 2010s is known for their laid-back attitude towards social norms and ease on the internet, which defines the Gen Z demographic. Though their tastes are still emerging, Vasquez says they’re making sure that if they have a style, it’s not at all similar to what came before. “They want to define themselves and their aesthetic as something completely new and different,” she says. “I think the trend for neon and candy-colored bubble furniture is this.” Vroom notes that Gen Z has taken millennial sustainability and layered it with maximalism. “Think vintage and second-hand items,” she says.
Interestingly, O’Holland sees a more traditional approach in her observations. “Generation Z likes a ‘moody academic world’ with dark paint colors, bookish spaces and cozy lamplight,” she says. “They hate overhead lighting, and that’s not wrong!”
It’s only natural that the millions of people who make up a generation will develop multiple recurring themes in their sense of style that are remembered and forgotten over time. That’s design. Design is always changing and perhaps rooted in something else. “The popularity of cottage core is definitely born out of the tastes of the Silent Generation,” O’Holland says. “While design can certainly bridge the generational gap, I solemnly vow to never buy matching furniture sets. I love you, Baby Boomers.”
