Bye-Bye Millennial Gray: Welcome These Color Trends

For years, millennial gray ruled the interior decorating scene. However, people are ready for a change. They’re ready to bring exciting palettes back dripping with color, adding vibrancy back into the world. Whether it was pandemic shutdowns that made neutral interiors go the way of the dodo or a simple shift in fashion, it’s time to get in on the trend and update your pad. Here’s how to wave bye-bye to millennial gray and welcome these emerging color trends to your decor.

The Hows and Whys of Millennial Gray 

Is millennial gray so bad? Objectively, no. It took over as the neutral shade of choice when interior designers for model homes moved away from wood’s natural brown shades to something more modern. 

Gray can be a lovely shade. It’s neutral to the core, which could explain its waning popularity. While neutrality allows for seeing all sides of an issue, it can also foster indecisiveness. Turning away from millennial gray may represent a need for more collective action in the cultural zeitgeist. It’s strong, steady and mature, beneficial qualities when managing a crisis — like a pandemic. However, it can also seem unyielding and somber, the color of industry.

The shift away from millennial gray may represent a collective need to have a little fun again, let loose and throw caution to the wind — at least a bit. Here’s how you can capture the mood of the moment on your walls and in your decor. 

Emerging Color Trends: Alternatives to Millennial Gray When Redecorating Your Pad

If it’s time to take your pad from merely meh to absolutely fabulous, bid bye-bye to millennial gray and welcome these color trends. 

1. Retro 70s Chic

The seventies had a unique color palette all their own. Interior designers went wild during this decade, using shades not often seen in modern households — bold mustard yellow, lime green and tangerine orange. They also said adios to harsh, angular lines and brought in softness, with circular and abstract designs and flowing patterns that all blend together like a tie-dye T-shirt to create a collective whole. 

Go wild with these paint colors on your wall. Draw inspiration from the Mystery Machine on “Scooby Doo.” Complete the look by seeking out mid-century modern furniture like velvet accent chairs to set off your tufted orange couch. Include plenty of vibrant throw pillows and consider groovy accents, like that retro kitty cat wall clock you found at Habitat for Humanity for $10. 

2. Soft Pastels 

This color scheme can work if you aren’t quite ready to let go of millennial gray — or don’t feel up to a ton of painting. It’s also ideal for small spaces, as light-colored pastels visually enlarge a tiny room. 

Soft pastels can enhance millennial gray. For example, you might have gray kitchen cabinets — contrast them with light yellow, pink or green walls for a hint of hue that doesn’t overpower. Include plenty of plush fabrics to complete the look. For example, look for small, shag, Ikea-style area rugs to contrast gray flooring. 

3. Bold Black and White 

Maybe you love the gray in your pad because it consists of metal. If you dig an industrial style, bold black and white accents can create the look you like. 

However, this look is also versatile, so don’t worry if you don’t live in an urban apartment complete with a heavy steel door and pipes lining the ceiling. Stark black and white can also look fabulous in other styles. For example, a black-and-white farmhouse kitchen might feature a bright white or solid black island and floor and wall tiles in these contrasting shades. 

4. Clean, White Lines

When it comes to enlarging small spaces, there’s simply no substitute for white. White walls need not be boring — look at them as an artist sees their easel. They are a blank slate, providing space for plant shelves, hanging baskets and anything you can adhere to the surface with a Command strip. White is also ideal for renters, as white is also the easiest color to cover with a fresh coat of paint if they later decide to renovate. 

Get creative! You don’t have to use paint to transform white walls. Your blank slate can display homemade tapestries or art, a family photo collection or even a nifty design you make with peel-and-stick stickers or post-it notes. You aren’t left out of the redecorating fun just because you don’t own your home, so go a little wild. 

5. Honor Your Cultural Heritage 

America is a nation of many migrants, many of whom came from homes decorated nothing like your average tract apartment. Instead of sticking with the millennial gray included in the original unit, you can honor your cultural heritage through your decor. 

For example, you might embrace bold reds, purples and golds, indicative of wealth and status in some cultures. Perhaps you’ll go with a tribal theme or incorporate symbols with deep meaning to you. 

Is it okay to stray outside the lines and embrace a decorating style you love, even if you aren’t from that culture? Of course. Ikea became famous by spreading Scandinavian style around the world, and no home center is complete without a few bamboo paintings and vases with Chinese characters. Just ensure you do so in the spirit of cultural appreciation, not appropriation. Learn the deeper meaning behind certain symbols to avoid distorting them. 

6. The Accent’s the Thing 

Finally, you can escape the clutches of millennial gray by embracing the striking accent wall. This technique can contrast against lighter grays on opposing walls. If you already have a darker shade, you may need to repaint everything. 

Accent walls don’t necessarily need to take the form of a darker paint shade. You can cover your wall with faux brick or stone — this option is particularly striking when you include a fireplace. You could also experiment with wainscoting with a darker top hue, perhaps to highlight a singular, striking work of art or a backlighted mirror. 

Embracing Color and Bidding Adieu to Millennial Gray

Millennial gray updated the brown neutral palettes of yesteryear. However, as much as they can seem stately, they can also seem grim and imposing. It’s time to invite the spirit of fun back into your pad with these groovy decorating ideas that embrace color and set new trends.