If you're wondering what's driving trends in home decor these days, look no further than millennials.
These young people, whom the Pew Research Center defined as those who were 18-34 in 2015, have in fact overtaken baby boomers as America's largest living age demographic, according to population estimates released in 2016 by the U.S. Census Bureau. Just like the baby boomers two generations ahead of them, millennials are shaping American culture. And when it comes to decorating their living spaces, they have thrown out their parents' rules.
Affected heavily by the "Great Recession of 2008," student debt and -- according to data from the Federal Reserve -- making 20 percent less than boomers did at the same stage of life, they're not into opulence or cookie-cutterism. Instead, they're into quick, inexpensive individualism. They hunt for low-cost items found online, at thrift and consignment stores and flea markets, and they make items. They favor reclaimed materials and re-purpose traditional pieces handed down to them. And social media drives much of this: They get their ideas from Pinterest and proudly show off their decor projects on Instagram.
"Because it's the next big generation coming, they want to be different," says Danielle Barron, an instructor in interior design at the University of Central Arkansas in Conway and herself a millennial at age 31. "That's a big thing ... being different and unique.
"And one interesting thing is that 'unique' is becoming the new norm, so it's no longer unique. So now, [it's all about] finding new ways to be unique."
They do it their way
Melanie Siegel, 55, an interior design student at UCA and the mother of two millennial-age children, says millennials remind her of boomers when they were young.
"They have a lot of confidence and they want to do things their own way," she says. Because they came of age during the Great Recession, and because of college expenses, "they had to make do. The whole renew-reuse-recycle came into play in their decor. ... They're really proud of taking something and reusing it and sharing it."
Millennials also tend to go for the "shock factor," says Little Rock interior decorator Ashley Engstrom, who does commercial and residential work. "They like a lot of texture, the metal and the wood and the antlers and things like that," she says. "They're bringing a lot of that in, and that's interesting to me."
Millennials have not turned their backs on their parents' more traditional decor pieces ... they've just re-purposed them, or combined them with newer things for a more eclectic look. Barron, for instance, has an antique piece she updated. It was a two-piece buffet. Now it's a repurposed one-piece.
Engstrom, who's Generation X (children born from 1965 to 1984), has adopted many of the millennials' decorating practices. In her living space, for instance, is a large, neoclassical desk she found the worse for wear at an antique mall. She cleaned it, fixed it up and painted it lavender.
Ikea idea
As for newer pieces, millennials agree that Ikea -- the chain stores and the website -- is the source for them. (The closest Ikea to Little Rock is in Memphis.) Pieces from Etsy.com are also favored.
"I have a lot of Ikea pieces ... my cabinets are Ikea in my home," Barron says.
She describes Ikea pieces as "cheap" and "expendable."
"They don't last quite as long. And we know that."
That goes for cheap furnishings from anywhere, she says. "If it's what you need right then, then it works great. And you can get that design style that you want for the lower price. I have a $7 chair that is one of my favorite chairs."
Industrial home decor is also popular with millennials ... exposed pipes, pieces made of or accented by pipes, bare light bulbs, steel beams, metal accents with exposed bolts and all.
Siegel is working with her son on renovating his condo. "He has very clear ideas about what he wanted," she says. Like many millennials, he's going for "the Steampunk, industrial" look -- which she describes as "Let's go to the hardware store and find some stuff and put it together and make a lamp, or a table base, or shelving unit."
In addition, the millennials go for color in their decor pieces, but opt for a neutral background, preferably gray. "I would say, universally, they hate taupe," Siegel says. "The taupe they say ... looks like Grandma's house."
"I think it's important to have a neutral background," Barron says. "And then you can play with everything on top of that as far as your furniture and your art."
The art of the deal
Art is what often provides color, she adds. "Art is huge for that. It can make a big difference in a space." Millennials go for art that is big and colorful -- "pieces from friends, anything homemade that they just see online that they like.
"My favorite artist does very bright colors in his paintings. And it's beautiful."
Even though millennials have forged their own style, it still bears out that everything old is new again. Color, for instance, also comes into play with wallpaper, which millennials use for accent walls. When they were babies in the early '80s, "wallpaper was huge," Engstrom notes.
In addition to teaching, Barron works for her father, a contractor. "I made a statement about the trim in my home being modern," she recalls. "And he laughed and he said, 'Well that's really traditional, because that's from way back' -- like '20s and '30s. Simple, clean trim."
To get their creative juices flowing, millennials turn to the very place they choose to share ideas ... Instagram.
"I had students talking about Instagram and how they follow celebrities and their favorite designers and get inspiration from them," Barron says. "You know you have to pull inspiration from those things to make it your own."
Millennials have done a notable job of doing just that, the women agree.
"I'm just really proud of millennials and their resourcefulness," Siegel says. "Whatever they choose they're very confident in."
HomeStyle on 03/11/2017