Welcome to the dark side of millennial home renovations: Enterprising young homeowners splash white or gray paint over cabinets and walls, stick on vinyl flooring, and mercilessly chuck out anything eccentric they might have inherited. Scary, right?
Some compare it to the design crazes of the 70s, when suburbanites covered their gorgeous hardwood floors with high pile carpeting like their lives depended on it. In equal measure, though, are videos of people (usually members of Gen Z) roasting and decrying these imitation HGTV nightmares. So why is a new generation of homeowners so bent on transforming their vintage homes into the lobby of a Hampton Inn, and more importantly, why does Gen Z care so much?
One explanation is that these renovations are simply budget-friendly ways to make your home look a little more updated. Vinyl flooring is easily purchased on Amazon, and white and gray tend to match everything. Another theory is that it’s an emulation of “billionaire style,” which favors big, empty houses with cement floors and sprawling white countertops that resemble a supervillain's lair. For a generation blighted by the recession, an attempt to emulate the uber-wealthy makes sense. Another possible motivation for the whitewashed minimalism is that it’s a reaction to the cluttered, Tuscan-inspired “rooster kitchens” many millennials grew up with. The homes of the 90s and 2000s were kitschy and crafty, all speckled marble and faux-aged wood. So, it follows that the children of those kitchens would swing the opposite way stylistically.
If that’s true, then it would follow that Gen Z design sense would favor maximalism, colors, patterns, and knick-knacks, which by the looks of it holds true. A quick Google search for Gen Z interior decorating yields squiggly furniture in primary colors, checkerboard prints, and lots of plants. Are we doomed to repeat this boom and bust cycle of minimalism and maximalism until we perish? Of course, #NotAllMillennilas, and #NotAllGenZ. Everyone has different personal styles, and that will never change, but it’s hard to deny seemingly generation-wide design trends.
But the question remains, why are Zoomers so upset about the design choices of their predecessors? It’s not their home, so why do they care? To answer this is to tap into a certain thread of Gen Z generational angst that has come to define their generation.
Some reactions to these home renovation videos are oddly emotional, like this one where the stitcher weeps, or at least feigns weeping, as she says, “If you want a modern farmhouse don’t buy a vintage home.” This reaction, and ones like it, seem to come from a certain emotional place that has become a hallmark of Gen Z: An attitude of “You’re destroying our world, and now we have to live in it.” It’s the unifying rallying cry of Zoomers in their fight against their elders. “You’ve polluted our oceans and now we have to drink microplastics,” they claim. “You’ve ruined our economy so now we have to struggle,” they complain. “You’ve ruined the beautiful Victorian homes we pictured ourselves living in one day.” It’s a gut reaction. It’s a plea for sustainability. It’s righteous anger, Gen Z’s favorite kind of anger. Like Zoomer activist Greta Thunberg famously said, “You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words. [...] How dare you!” Sure, renovating a home you own isn’t quite the same thing as cultivating a dependence on fossil fuels, but the reaction to it comes from the same emotional place. Older generations are leaving the world worse than they found it.
But what’s novel about is the fact that this angst is turned onto millennials. Sure, Zoomers have long roasted them for being “Cringe Disney Adults,” but the “You’ve ruined our world” screed is usually reserved for Boomers and Gen X. This is because for a long time, millennials held very little relative power. It’s a long-held joke that millennials can’t afford houses because of their avocado toast and whatnot. But time marches on, and over 50% of millennials own homes (still not a lot compared to Gen X’s 72%), but it’s more than at least this writer was expecting. The tides of power are turning, and it’s the millennial’s turn to be in the hot seat. It starts with their interior design choices, but it won’t end there.
It’s always the job of the younger generations to throw stones at the previous. It’s been true since the dawn of… Well, generations. And by that logic, these criticisms only hold until Gen Z themselves step into power, and then they’ll fall prey to the very same pitfalls they decry. However, incremental change is possible over time, and shame is a powerful motivator. If just one overeager home renovator is shamed out of spray painting their antique fireplace white, then it might all be worth it.
Designs change, and those who live in glass houses love to throw stones, but it’s a step toward caring a little more about the legacy we’re leaving behind. But in due time, Gen Alpha will come to resent Zoomers for their showy self-righteousness and return to the vinyl flooring. But then again they won’t even need houses because they will be too busy existing in the Metaverse. In the meantime, though, if you’re thinking about demolishing a spiral staircase in the 1920s home you just purchased, think twice. You might make a stranger on the internet cry.