Gen Z vs Millennial vs Gen X vs Boomer | Interior Design Trends

Start speaking a new language in 3 weeks with Babbel 🎉. Get up to 60% OFF your subscription ➡Here:
go.babbel.com/t?bsc=usa-influ...
I hope you enjoyed this video talking about some of the defining trends for Gen Z, Millennials, Gen X, and Boomers! Let me know any trends you think I missed in the comments below!
💌 Sign up for my newsletter, The Interior Scoop: interiorscoop.nicklewis.ca/su...
📚 My course: www.nicklewis.ca/the-course
🛍 Shop My Favourite Items On Amazon!
www.amazon.com/shop/nicklewis
➤ As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases
📥 Brand Advertising Partnerships
[e-mail]
🎉 Check out my Patreon!
/ creators
⏱ Timestamps:
00:00 - Intro
00:40 - Babbel
01:46 - Displaying Records as Decor
04:14 - Colorblock Bookshelves
05:36 - CD and DVD Racks
06:50 - Giant TV Cabinets
08:28 - Colorful & 3D Art
09:37 - Society 6 Coordinated Prints
10:43 - Band Posters & Anne Geddes
12:39 - Thomas Kinkade Painting
13:30 - Togo Sofa Knockoff
14:38 - Emerald Green MCM Couch
15:56 - Microfiber Futon & Pleather Couch
17:03 - Rolled Arm Floral Couch
🛋 Shop My Living Room Background
➤ West Elm - Bar Cabinet
bit.ly/3cssX6T
➤ West Elm - Media Console
bit.ly/3PMKZOY
➤ Sundays - Dining Room Table
get.aspr.app/SHfiD
➤ Sundays - Sofa
get.aspr.app/SHfiC
➤ Sundays - Amalfi Rug
get.aspr.app/SHZfo
➤ Sundays - Field Stool
get.aspr.app/SHZfp
➤ Eternity Modern - Viola Coffee Table
🇺🇸: shrsl.com/41uw7
🇨🇦: shrsl.com/41wgz
➤ Eternity Modern - Sherpa Clam Chair
🇺🇸: shrsl.com/41uwb
🇨🇦: shrsl.com/41wh1
➤CB2 - Cashmere Pillow (Brown Pillows are Out of Stock)
bit.ly/3NY8LdH
➤ Amazon - Frame Television
amzn.to/3wzEBnk
➤ Amazon - Travertine Coasters
amzn.to/42OJMOx
➤ Amazon - Coffee Table Books
amzn.to/3BDWkfz
➤ Fable - All Dishware and Flatware (code: nicktalksdesign10off gets you 10% off through my link)
get.aspr.app/SHGHC
🛏 Shop My Bedroom
➤ Sundays - Cloud Bed With Storage
get.aspr.app/SHZfm
➤ Sundays - West Coast Rug
get.aspr.app/SHfiE
➤ Sundays - West Coast Stool
get.aspr.app/SHZfn
👉 All My Socials
campsite.to/nicklewis
👋 Heads up!
My videos, descriptions, and comments may contain affiliate links! If you buy something through one of the links, you won't pay a penny more, but I'll get a small commission, which helps me keep the lights on! Thanks!

[@Nick_Lewis]

Start speaking a new language in 3 weeks with Babbel 🎉. Get up to 60% OFF your subscription ➡Here: go.babbel.com/t?bsc=usa-influ-eg-dt-1m&btp=default&KZbin&Influencer..Mar-2024..USA-TATAM..1200m60-yt-nicklewis-mar-2024

[@llamasugar5478]

The Gen-Xers had Marushka prints, Anne Geddes, and This End Up furniture.

[@gardenjoy5223]

This was a very fun video! Thanks for making it :)

[@FairbrookWingates]

I for sure would watch more such comparison vids. They're great for understanding the evolution of style, trends and even generational thinking.

[@GenXHeart]

Ha! Every bullet you threw missed me! Wait, that means... yes, yes I have always been weird and done my own thing.😅 And yes! More please!

[@acanarynamedrobyn4543]

you missed my generation! generation Jones. we’re very small and land between boomers and X. 1955-1965. ish. 😊

[@kristinnelson-patel442]

As a GenXer, I was so excited just to have my existence acknowledged here, instead of being the forgotten generation skipped over between talking about Boomers and Millennials.

[@stephaniesaffoldwoolridge9987]

Lol - same here.

[@JasmineBrownOttawa]

Same!

[@genealotech]

Amen. ❤️

[@MyFocusVaries]

And so accurate. Luckily I no longer have any of those trends, but I definitely did at one time.

Same. Finally the roast we deserved.

[@propagandaangie]

I feel like Gen X was the last generation that was expected to move out at age 18 and that had a lot to do with decor and furniture choices. Futons, posters, milk crates as shelving were amazing and necessary. Also, music taste said a LOT about you back then so displaying your music choices was the equivalent to bird displaying their plumage.

[@yvonneschermerhorn866]

Love your take on this! Great insight!

[@pieterkok7486]

Futons, absolutely!

[@sluggo206]

It was the boomer hippies who popularized cinder-block shelves and futons. We just followed because we were nobodies with no trends of our own, and it was convenient as you said.

[@ajrockne307]

That stuff was bulky! You had to have shelving.

[@jrochest4642]

THIS. I spent so much time going through friends' music collections and bookshelves -- it told you a huge amount about the people who lived in the house.

[@dellacalfee]

“It’s helpful if you also USE those things you are displaying” OK then you really need to take that broken clock off the wall. 😂

[@Balutak]

I'm a solid GenXer. Shabby Chic was us making the best of our grandparent's hand me downs, with a bit of Pier One and the cheery clash of a lava lamp from Spencer's for a nightlight in the bathroom. I saw no problem with stacks of Goth cds and Victorian novels next to my crappy armchair covered in ticking and a pillow with embroidered spiderwebs covering the holes.. The cottagecore/dark academia looks were easy to pull off with what we already had. I think my generation is superb at making junk glorious.

[@Ninnybroth]

Gen X here, and my house STILL looks exactly this way.

[@trianglesfalling]

@@NinnybrothSAME 😂

[@codyjoco]

As an elder millennial, records as decor has always been a thing because the covers ARE art.

[@calicomm1481]

Yes thank you, I always thought it was kind of timeless as long as you pair it well with the room.

[@blah914]

agreed

[@MeriDoug]

I thought it looked neat, too.

[@jvd9202]

"Elder Millenial"?.......what a rediculous term

[@calicomm1481]

@@jvd9202it means you are closer to gen X, born in the early 80’s. How else would you describe/say it? Early millennial?

[@elizabethbatson7540]

The backwards books is the worst! You can’t even pretend that you read those books when you can’t even find the one you’re looking for.

[@niqua95000]

I know, I haaaaaate it

[@trinaroe5132]

Unless you only turn backwards the ones you’ve already read and won’t read again, but then why do you still have them? 😂

[@sluggo206]

You know the books so well you don't need to see the titles; you remember you put it in that corner. It's like a computer keyboard with blank key tops. (Yes, those exist.) Just joking; I've never seen anybody who turns their books baclwards. I have two backwards textbooks holding up my monitor, but that's because I don't want to see the distracting titles.

[@LULC0759]

Designer Rebecca Robeson loves turning her books backwards. 😝

[@carolinechow1702]

Agree! Whoever thought of that idiotic idea?! It's ridiculous.

[@CamilleNorth]

GenX here. I think our generation identifies and feels defined by music and movies of that era. We had punk rockers, metal heads,preppies,jocks,stoners. We defined who we were I think much more by what we listened to and wore vs, our home decor. I think while Genz is trying to be different, genx comes by it naturally.

[@sherry1974]

This has to be the best comment I've read.

[@PurpleMonkeyDishwasher88]

When I watch that series "Stranger Things" it really brings out what you said. There was a lot of conformity with Boomers, and later boomers started breaking through the mold of that, but it wasn't a huge subset of them. Gen-X was the one generation that really went out seeking their own identity.

[@emmyt9304]

I totally agree!

[@cinerina]

YESSSSSSSS

[@vir9002]

True, X had it's well defined "clicks" in highschool then later, what ever style of music a person was full into in highschool age, usually still stuck with them as far as what decor they chose when they could afford their own space.

[@hepcatliz]

11:27 oh, just had a thought! as a Gen-X, we also were sent out with all our parents old furniture. So that orange floral stuff went with us, while the parents upgraded, they could afford it right? Hard to define a design style when all you've got is your parent's hand me downs 😅❤

[@Ninnybroth]

Yup. I am literally looking around me at all my parents' furniture hand-me-downs (and aunts and NEIGHBORS, ffs).

[@sumthingood-jb2wn]

I'm still using hand me downs...I don't think I've ever not had anything second hand lol

[@lenorepaladino8632]

Gen X here....almost every house in the 70s had the brown floral velvet couch, with the wood on the arms. Who else remembers this?

[@jennifergraham3752]

We didn’t have that couch but I can think of at least four neighbours who did 😂

[@Lulusvideos1]

My aunt and uncle had one, and they had a matching chair. I used to like going to their house because it was all warm toned, and my parents decorated in cool tones.

[@ARTSIEBECCA]

My shin bruises felt that comment 😂

[@dawnlivingston6111]

Gen X here. And parents had the solid rust velvet couch with wood arms. I took it when I moved out...I still have it in my basement. It still looks great, and comfortable. Lol

[@alanawolf1556]

Core memory unlocked; thanks!

[@LynneMcNamee]

I remember as a grad student one of my classmates asking our professor how he organizes his books. “By death date of author, of course!” Of course.😮

[@MonstarChan3]

Makes more sense than by color perhaps 😹

[@derwood206]

😂

[@AngelaMastrodonato]

My Mom, an avid reader, always organized by author first and then for books written by the same author she ordered them my copy write date, because she wanted to read them as close as possible to the order they were written or published.

[@kathieb6443]

That was just the right amount of "dark", I love it. I bet he was sitting on that line, just waiting to use it. I have several that are just waiting to be used, just need the opportunity.

[@karenk2409]

Your prof had a great sense of humor! I'm a history Phd and I organize by time frame.

[@GenderPunkJezebelle999]

You know that we didn't have streaming back when everyone was displaying CD racks right? What else were we supposed to do with our music? It only came in physical media. Some of us still have them because we're not going to just throw them out.

[@Animallovercomedian]

Opaque box. Storage =/= display

[@GenderPunkJezebelle999]

storage cases that were meant as much for display as anything else. I've collected music since I was 13

[@GenderPunkJezebelle999]

@@Animallovercomedian Yeah, there were plenty of clear, open facing, or otherwise attractive cases that were meant as much for display as they were for storage. I've collected music since I was 13. 48 now.

[@1streylight]

I still have a thousand cd’s and no cd player

[@GenderPunkJezebelle999]

@@1streylight lol yup

[@robinhartzell2380]

I'm a GenXer. We were the first Internet generation, so we liked to showcase our computer in our living areas. We'd either leave it on a really cool screensaver or, to showcase our collection of pirates songs, Napster. Futons were fantastic because it gave your drunk friend a place to crash! 😄

[@mckenna8663]

Napster was the best.... I had hundreds of perfectly chosen songs and performances saved. Then woke up one very dark morning to find it had all disappeared. I still remember the horror and depression!

[@macpduff2119]

Yes my Gen X son and engineer dad had tons of Napster stuff

[@rheron3312]

Okay, I feel like you missed some MAJOR GenX touchstones: Circle of friends candle holder Black wrought iron everything - dining sets, coffee / side tables with lots of swirly scrollwork Sun moon stars with faces on everything from knick knacks, plates, candle holders, mirrors, sheets / bedding Koko pelle (the dancing flute guy) also in every freaking thing - wall paper, the side of your house!

[@rachaelbean1439]

Sun moon stars definitely gen x I agree

[@greenfaerie2039]

Koko pelle!!!!! omg yes that was EVERYWHERE.

[@Silensy]

The way this just gave me high school flashbacks, (it's spelled kokopelli, by the way. It's Southwest Native American culture.)

[@motherofbeagles8532]

How about the country items for the kitchen: 🍉 🐝 🐓 🐦‍⬛ 🐄 (watermelon, bee, chicken/rooster, crows, cows)

[@nadinemerilyn5629]

I am glad someone mentioned sun, moon and stars, that design was everywhere. Also, not so much for this video, which was more about accessories, but feature walls in a dark plum or jewel colour were also really popular.

[@pattimurtha4667]

Gen X here. Can we take a moment and remember the popularity of the magic eye poster? There were literally entire stores dedicated to those things in malls in the 90s when I was in high school.

[@Geronimo2Fly]

As a fellow Gen Xer, so many memories are being brought back from this video! I had forgotten all about those magic eye posters, but yes they were everywhere.

[@jmsl_910]

i never could see the hidden pictures

[@LythaWausW]

I love magic eye images! I look at them online to relax.

[@sumerlilangel]

I love anything magic eye. I use it as wallpaper on my social media profiles.

[@sumerlilangel]

@@jmsl_910 You have to allow your vision to blur like you're drunk.

[@Thanos88888]

I was born in the 80's and I still proudly display my 2 (over) full bookshelves of DVDs and Blurays. I have no desire to "tuck them away" as if I should be ashamed that I love movies or something. I'm proud of my collection.

[@miar659]

Why would anyone want to do that, hide them? That would be rather impractical and well, the covers are art especially the collectors editions in metal cases...

[@kameoosama]

Millennial here and yeah like when you have several HUNDRED of anything and you actually use them regularly then it needs to be organized on a giant shelf system unless you wanna constantly be digging through cartoonishly big drawers and boxes. This was doubly true in the 90s when people sat around and watched movies and listened to albums all the time

[@seigeengine]

The comment makes sense from someone who doesn't like that thing a ton. Someone who just watches movies might hide them away somewhere, whereas a movie buff makes far more sense to keep them all openly on display.

[@jenn541]

A typical Gen X apartment, because a vast majority of us moved out at 17-18 years old: Milk crates or cinder blocks w/ wood planks for shelves. Futon couch for sure bc this was often the bed too. Milk crates stacked to hold things. Perhaps a dresser. If the futon wasn't used as a bed, then a mattress/box spring combo on the floor, or a waterbed (there is no in between). And yeah, band posters on the wall. Pink Floyd posters for sure. Abstract art - Picasso, Andy Warhol, MC Escher. That about covers it.

[@mrssilencedogood4825]

Sooo many milk crates!!!! 😂

[@Version0111]

I'm a Gen Xer who recently bought an old Boomer house. A lot needs to be fixed and updated. One day my wife asked what is my plan for the basement. I basically said what you said. Milk crates, wood planks, cinder blocks, Christmas lights, and all our old apartment furniture that I love too much to throw away.

[@miar659]

I have got an early FF game poster on display as a picture, those with the game concept art.

[@anthonypecorara]

I think of Monica and Rachel’s apartment from Friends as very Gen X. We love a mismatched chair and chunky wood coffee table. Blue wine glasses and that celestial sun and moon print.

[@AmandaBabyyyyy]

Oh my god yes. It’s such a distinct style, you can spot it from a mile away 😂

[@teresacarle294]

😊Yes, still love the artsy, moody, vintage vibe of her eclectic 🍎NYC apt. It was very theatrical & elegantly feminine while still remaining cosy & inviting. It always struck me as French bohemian circa 1880s〰️even w/the touches of mcm wall art. 🤔Not even someone who is BIG on color, but the turquoise open plan kitchen actually rocked w/the purple main area. ✨️The pops of gold were perfection too✨️. 💚Bridget from Cali☘️ (using my pal's YT acct)

[@vaderladyl]

To me , they are a fine representation of a certain Gen X style.

[@watsonm8182]

Celestial themed decor was plentiful in the 90s, the way that woodland animals and mushrooms are now.

[@kjmallyon4745]

Oh the navy and yellow sun and moon print, and sunflowers on everything!

[@sumerlilangel]

I'm a Gen X'er who grew up in small town America. As teenagers through young adulthood, I think our style was defined by the pieces of furniture our parents no longer wanted. Those Boomer floral couches were given slip covers and thrown into bedrooms/basements/garages for us and our friends to sit on when hanging out. Mix that with mixed media shelfing, band posters, and torn pages from magazines and you have that 90's alternative rock, grunge vibe. Our walls were our Pinterest boards. Everything smelled like weed and Bath and Body Works. Those were some good times.

[@gocuisine]

lol @bath and body works

[@jenniferbryant2700]

I used to decorate the walls with cool pages from magazines.

[@user-mq2kt1kx1c]

Good times, for sure. 👍

[@HolisticWitchofMd]

Yes ! I’m 86 so considered millennial but my sister was 83 & my experience falls between the two.

[@AlleineDragonfyre]

omg my house is FULL of handmedowns to this day. i love getting something new. its an event!

[@lisab9541]

I'm a very end boomer born 1964, WWII parents who had a olive green velvet sofa in the late 60s/70s and kept it until 2007. It was fabulous. Mom had emerald green pile cut design carpet and emerald green silk drapes/later a gorgeous candlelight beige? color and slightly darker smooth short pile carpeting. Honestly, if there hadn't been a slight discoloration at the bottom on one end, I'd still have that sofa. I love olive and emerald green.

[@maryjomccallister9102]

Displaying records as art has been around as long as records have existed. I like it in a comfortable corner where you can sit and listen to music no matter whether it's from a turntable or a bluetooth speaker streamed from your phone. Boomer/Gen X cusp kid here. BTW, I love Thomas Kincaid, and I can't wait until floral sofas make their comeback. I am sick of all the solid colored furniture. I could take a floral sofa and pull a color for the walls, a different color for curtains, throw pillows, or any other accessories in the room and make it work beautifully.

[@cassietherainbowsend722]

Gen X here also liking 18:24 that floral couch. Also really loved the “Gen Z” bold colors and album art. Especially the one with guitar mixed in. Did the album art at home as a teen 80s and then again in my own place in the 90s. May give it a go again while waiting on the floral couch to come back around.

[@psychedelikat]

Oh, please no. No more floral sofas!

[@janicecaravan1]

As a gen- xer, I’m okay that our faux pas were CD and band posters. We love music!!!

[@drummerlovesbookworm9738]

Superseded in passion for music only by your parents, The BOOMers! 😂🤎 (Also the last generation that knew music from bygone eras. Gen-xers are the smart cookie generation. )

[@AlleineDragonfyre]

it really wasn't though. not for a lot of us.

[@anna_d5150]

We WERE the MTV Gen before we got repackaged as GenX

[@janicecaravan1]

@@anna_d5150 I’m Canadian, so I guess I was the muchmusic gen. MTV is American - not Canadian.

[@elliedaniel5900]

Music absolutely raised (reared) us. 🖤

[@SandiDreer]

Gen X here. We needed somewhere to house all the CDs we bought via Columbia House. 😂

[@ahe79]

Right?! Haha! I never did finish buying the obligatory CD’s, but let’s face it: it was definitely predatory towards naive teenagers who didn’t have a grasp on the real world yet, despite watching the MTV show of the same name.

[@PatinaEdochie]

Omg yes the 10 cassettes or CDs for 1 cent! 😂

[@lynnhettrick7588]

YES! 😂

[@Violet-qf8dr]

My mom would never let me get the Columbia house deal, but my best friend did and I got copies from her on cassette. It turns out that since she was a minor the contract was non-binding and she never had to buy any more albums.

[@mckenna8663]

Born on the cusp of Late Boomer/Early Gen X.... Columbia House victim! 🙋‍♀️

[@marthahawkinson-michau9611]

I’m an old millennial, and mid century modern furniture hits really nostalgic vibes for me. My grandparents nicest furniture was mid century modern. It gives me warm cozy vibes like I’m visiting grandma and grandpa. My grandparents were also newlyweds when World War Two started, and they had all four of their children by the time the war ended. Mid century modern was definitely a vibe for them.

[@monicacollins8289]

🤣 Boomer here. About the entertainment centers, they were usually three units that grouped together to look like one. Hope that helped 😘

[@stuckinmopro8533]

I have a friend that told me a fantastic story. On his wall he had eight album covers framed and displayed. He had invited a couple over for drinks and the woman made continual comments about his decorating (or apparently lack of!) and when she got to the albums on the wall she said pretty much what you said. The friend paused, looked at her and said, “Actually those are the first covers that I designed in my graphic design career so they have a lot of meaning to me.” She just turned red and shut up for the rest of the night.

[@yoni-in-BHAM]

I really hate it when the people who are invited into your abode just criticize how you do your spaces! They don't know your story yet they feel that they have a right to do this. They're not really judging your decor, they're judging you!

[@themadgranola]

Geez… no apology? I would have kicked her out.

[@jennifergraham3752]

Love this!!!!

[@sadie513]

I had friends over last year to see my new place. One friend was critiquing my place: my pink tiles in the bathroom, my dark cushions, etc. She's your usual beige queen so she didn't like mixtures of colours. Good thing another friend came to my rescue and was like haven't you heard of contrast? It's better than everything blending together. 🥲😂

[@jennifergraham3752]

@@sadie513 who does that at someone’s house?!!! How incredibly rude.

[@LeighMerrydayPorch]

It's kind of fun having a Gen-Zer in your home as a Gen-Xer. My 16 yo daughter has found those record stores and dragged me to them. I will say that while she decorates her room with them - she DOES listen to them! So, despite the inevitability of having to spackle 90% of her walls one day, I'm here for it. :)

[@user-bn4jk8gn1k]

what Nick has failed to understand is that GenZ grew up with GenX parents, so we somehow influenced them. Not sure how he missed the led lights in the rooms, the (fake) ivy (they can't afford to keep replacing the plants they kill) and the vinyls on the walls.

[@original.intent.bitcoin]

They raid my clothes closet for the originals that go for 100s online at vintage shops and I'm buying 90s skate8r jeans that Gap now sells for $70, new!!!, lol. Everything old is new again, Everything new is old again. 🧑‍🦰? 🧑‍🦳! WE'RE on repeat!!

[@Lisa-kf4iu]

Yeah, I was thinking I noticed a lot of similarities between the two. Makes sense.

[@adajanetta1]

"Contact" hooks. They really work. My biggest item is a poster 4'x3.5' in a wood from with a plastic 'glass'. Save the spackle.

[@ThinWhiteAxe]

My gen x dad bought me records (I'm a zoomer). As much as I love the covers, though, I play them; I don't put them on the walls.

[@violinviolin]

As an older Gen X, we were totally obsessed with stripped pine Victorian furniture in the 80s

[@seamonkeyl9061]

Omg, I still am.

[@littlejohnamy]

Where I came from and I was a first year GenX it was wicker lots and lots of wicker in the 80's

[@sherry1974]

@@littlejohnamy absolutely lots of wicker

[@tach9663]

My husband built us a golden oak Mission style TV cabinet that was 72" tall with recessed rope lights in 2000. We ended up using it as a chicken brooder a few years ago. At one point, it literally rolled down our deck steps and survived completely intact. We sold it on Facebook marketplace. That was a great day!

[@user-xh9oy8nf6d]

Being a GenX obstetrician, I want to thank you for calling out Anne Geddes photography. That brought a huge nostalgic smile to my face.

[@burstangel]

Yes, genX ovaries were screaming for baby pictures😂

[@Pinkpoetry14]

I remember they were popular as calendars too 😂

[@paulas_lens]

Remember all the cherub angels?

[@Martha-cc3uc]

Me, too! I’m a Gen X Neonatologist, so I initially loved Anne Geddes, then could not escape from her for YEARS after I tired of the babies, babies, babies, because everyone kept giving me more prints because I’m a baby doctor.

[@L.Spencer]

I had a clipboard covered in Anne Geddes stickers. It made me so happy! I still have cds but no racks.

[@whiteserpent6753]

GenX went for cheap, but in a different way than modern cheap- ikea arrived here in the late ‘90s with no delivery. Like we were going to buy that; we didn’t have SUVs. And truck rental? Omg, no. Could we carry it, or recruit our parents to transport it for us? Then we could buy it. We picked up a lot of ‘60s and ‘70s stuff at garage sales and thrift stores, bought antiques if we could afford them, had futons, halogen lamps (black or white, but usually black), papasan chairs, our defining music collection, and lots of jewel tones. And then we got older and bought some new furniture (usually Tuscan) to put with the red, sapphire blue, and forest green. Most of us still have a decent chunk of our old cheap furniture because we can’t easily replace it and it burns to replace solid wood with stylish particle board or cardboard. Weird; it deleted my fabric edits. We liked leather and chenille, not velvet. The pleather was if you couldn’t afford leather. The futons were the earlier purchases because you could fit them in your car (and, again, nobody delivered- or, if they did, you couldn’t afford it.)

[@wdwexploreandchill]

@@MeanOldLady you brought back wonderful memories of my first apartments!

[@whiteserpent6753]

Oh, yeah. The ultimate GenX thing is the home theater. Huge screen, as many speakers as you can fit into the room. Shove some in the ceiling. Giant towers. Why not four subwoofers? Why limit yourself to one or two such setups when you can have more (what if you have three family members and they all want to watch something different at the same time? What then? We can’t deny anyone surround sound.). And now everyone wants to hide the TV or put it somewhere that you have to crane your neck to watch it. The seating group shouldn’t center on it? Are you insane? Do you know how much we spent on that thing? It should be proudly placed where everyone can admire it. Put on The Matrix and experience the lobby shooting spree in all its glory.

[@lael5327]

Having lunch with some fellow Gen-Xers recently, and we had an impromptu contest of who had the most hand-me-down furniture. Honorable mentions were given to those who had the same furniture they got handed down in their 20s. 😂

[@vaderladyl]

We were naturally or by necessity, very Bohemian Eclectic in our choices.

[@sluggo206]

Good insight. I never experienced Ikea or knew what it had until I went with a friend in the mid 2000s. I've bought a few things from there but not much. I've never been to the other furniture stores Nick mentions. I can't see spending $500 or $1000 for a sofa, and I don't use sofas much anyway.

[@LoreleiBeatrix]

Gen-Xer here. First off, the CD collection (I also have a huge collection of books and movies)... my CD/album collection is vast and cannot just be "hidden." While I like Spotify as a way to discover new music I would like to purchase, it's not an alternative to owning music. Once you have purchased it, that physical copy is yours and cannot be taken away (unless it gets destroyed by an ex, your kids, or your pets or is stolen), unlike Apple Music, Amazon, or Spotify, where one day it's there one day and then the license gets pulled and you no longer have access to it. And I've had some of these for three decades (maybe more)--albums and CD that are no longer in print. And to a music lover, there is nothing comparable to having your music as a physical copy. Handling of the shells, the booklets inside the CDs (or even some albums), or the fabulous artwork not just contained on the outside, but within--things that are not accessible when you only stream your music. Second, the posters... yes, I have music posters adorned to my walls. Not only do they showcase my eclectic and eccentric taste in music; they are artistic displays of bands and artists I hold dear to me and remembrances of past shows and music festivals I have attended. And finally, the couch. Yes, futons are cheap alternatives and are great places to set up friends or loved ones when they come to visit and stay a while. While sleeper couches are okay; they can be extremely heavy to move and would take more than two people to do the job. I've had the pleather puffy couch as well. Not only are they easier to keep clean, but it reminds me of my art school days and the "comfy couch" we all shared in between classes in the art building. I was quite surprised as you have my home style pegged down.

[@psychedelikat]

I still have all of my vinyl from the 80s...and that's 40 years ago. Damn, we're gettin' old.

[@jtixtlan]

As a boomer (63), I liked the Tuscan look when it first came out. Fortunately, could not afford a house yet, so just some little accent items. Oh, and my Mikasa Garden Harvest dishes - every piece they made X 12! I’m proud to say my dishes and serving pieces are now a simple white, I have stripped my home of everything “country,” and I have an updated, clutter-free look throughout the house. The one hold-out: a beautiful full collection of Lenox china and Waterford crystal I bought 28 years ago. I still set the dining room up with it for every big holiday. My 23 and 26 year old son and daughter both love it because of the great memories connected to it.

[@333Becca]

Gen Xer here. Our vibe was anti beige, anti havest gold, brown or avocado. We loved a fresh white wall, mini blinds, black lacquered accent pieces-either in furniture or accessories or tableware. Pops of red, a Nagel print, huge audio components. Later, burgundy, hunter Green and navy were popular.

[@melissab8500]

You just described my first house

[@333Becca]

@@melissab8500 Then you must have been super cool!

[@melissab8500]

@@333Becca lol not so much! I guess I was young 20s so late 80s/early 90s. This was absolutely my house down to the Nagel. It's a happy flashback :) thank you!

[@n.b.3521]

Yes! If nothing else, Gen X began the trend of "If in doubt, paint everything white to start." Even if we ended up with other colours later, many of us opted to take things back the "blank slate" stage first.

[@karineanderson1670]

Gen Xer here. OMG, to this day still hate the harvest gold and avocado! My grandmother raised me and she had everything in the kitchen avocado green and everything in the living room gold and brown. I like the Skandia style with creams, whites and metals.

[@WhatashameMaryJane]

Please continue making these videos!!! They are so freaking entertaining but make you reflect about history and society too

[@titililalita25]

Yes! Voting for more of these

[@carlag147]

These reviews are trippy. We forget so quickly these days that we ever did anything differently!

[@michelleusa384]

Gen Z looks similar to my GenX college dorm. Milk crate with records, my Harmon Kardon turntable, speakers were used as night stands or end tables, cd tower, suitcases of cassette tapes and a boom box to play them. Eggshell colored walls and your favorite bands merch or posters of Lamborghini, Ferrari, James Dean, Robert Redford as your wall art. First apartment used Filing cabinets with a door across them for a desk, a Sauder ( IKEA style) microwave cart, and a crappy futon, then threw in some plants and a 10 dollar ficus tree to fill in space. That was living large!

[@crossdy9582]

Gen X here ('74). Thanks for including us. Growing up with large, bulky, or oddly shaped furniture (the hutch, lots of florals a la Jessica McClintock) and now my Boomer parents insisting on having furniture that is the equivalent to reclining leather theater chairs with cup holders, my decor definitely falls in line with the transitional style. I never had "faux" (😂) leather, pillow-backed furniture, chrome, glass, or anything like that. I didn't do the Anne Geddes prints (although I did think they were cute). I was not a posters on the wall or CD tower person because all of that busyness would have caused sensory overload for me. Gen X decorating style may be hard to pinpoint because older Gen X may borrow some style elements from Boomers, and younger Gen X may do the same from Millennials. I believe we warrant our own video 😉.

[@MyFocusVaries]

Nick! You are such a ray of sarcastic sunshine! ☀️ ❤

[@yvonneschermerhorn866]

Agreed!❤😅

[@lesliegooch7565]

Absolutely!! 💜

[@dottieland7061]

He never shuts up!

[@MyFocusVaries]

@@dottieland7061 That is a puzzling comment. If any KZbinr sat silently on camera, that would be an odd channel. Hard to express an opinion without talking.

[@dottieland7061]

@@MyFocusVaries not really sweet pea it’s called ASMR look it up some time. I’m not taking some odd blokes opinion on interior design and neither should you. It seems like you don’t have a creative brain in your head. I display my records and play them. So he doesn’t know what he is talking about sadly

[@Advokat_]

Gen X - storage was milk crates. Bookcases were wood planks on cinder blocks. I had a futon set on nothing but milk crates. Those were the days.

[@MB-tj7xh]

gen-z' equivalent of those plastic, foldable pastell plastic crates haha

[@distaff2935]

YES!

[@Ecclectic_citcelccE]

Was? Many of My storage totes are the crate style 🫣

[@RememberedReads]

Haha, I don't have any proof of this, but I think the wood planks on cinder blocks is more a "people who move frequently" thing and less a generation one. My parents had wood planks on painted cinder blocks for ages and they're Silent Generation - too old to even make this list! Now that I think of it, my 80-year-old mother still has a set of them in her basement.🤣

[@BarbaraM-lv7pe]

Elementary school aged me hated the cinder block shelves in my room. I decided at age 10 to eradicate the world of ugly decor especially Early American when I grew up 🤩

[@user-wx2gl2tr6l]

Loved this video. Spot on. As a Gen X-er, a little shout out to shabby chic, which I thought was so very cool in the late 90s - early oughts. Gotta say, I also had a deep and abiding love for 60s-70s influence and still have a collection of Indian sheets that I adore.

[@debidehm9129]

I’ve always decorated with things I like and never followed trends. Thank God!

[@peachyb.4521]

How did you not do shabby chic/boho for Gen X? Everyone knows we found all our furniture on the side of the road and slapped on some Ralph Lauren crackle paint.

[@gcooper642]

And ragroller paint effect or sponged onto the walls

[@lisar3944]

I picked up an old school desk and chair at a yard sale (hardwood top/seat with iron base/legs - from the 1890's according to the stamp on it) for $3. 40 years ago. I moved it from NY to CA to Boston to Germany. Ultimate shabby chic. I still have quite a few other pieces like that, that I managed to hang on to. This stuff is 100% unique and can't be replicated. I have plenty of money to buy whatever I want. but I still shop for unique, "cast off" things like that, though sadly they are much harder to come by now :(

[@juliereynolds3488]

As a Gen Xer, I'm really vibing with the Gen Z decor (maybe because the bright colors appeal to me as a teenager of the '80s).

[@Okra_winfrey]

This makes so much since because Gen z is obsessed with the 90s and a lot of their decor style is from a very specific early 90s aesthetic. I’m a millennial and I loved almost all of the art category photos for Gen z. Maybe because it reminds me of childhood? Idk

[@jamyDodger]

Same

[@jamyDodger]

I was into hip hop in the 80s 90s and graffiti and neon colours etc and pop art I've just bought a neon sign for my sitting room but my home is not ordinary as I don't want to fit in

[@nisrifa]

Samsies - I usually describe Gen X style as a wild mix of Memphis Milano, Daisies and Checkerboard Patterns, MTV and thrifted - or hand me down - furniture. Very similar to Gen Z's esthetic but fewer pastell shades. I recently landed on Urban Outfitters furniture page and all the stuff there looks sooo much like my 90's college room.😂

[@ashleyder9164]

Same 😂 I actually love the idea of displaying records on the walls.

[@KLauraJohnston]

GenX here. The sofas in particular were spot on. The pleather couches were cheap, yes we did find them on the side on the road, and they were comfortable with 6 people on it (some sitting on the arms and the backs of them) 16:53 We knew they were ugly - we showed how cool we were by not caring about that 😂

[@hunnyb29]

Nailed Gen X with the media towers and futons. Its like you have seen into my soul!

[@amymancini2146]

We Gen Xers had giant media cabinets to store our Towers of Tech: the big black box 5-CD changer, the big black box 2-cassette tape player, the VCR for our old tapes, the DVD player for our Blockbuster DVDs, maybe an old turntable, and maybe a laser disc player if you were that kind of person. We lived through so much technological evolution in such a short time. And we all bought and re-bought and re-re-bought our music in all the new formats, and now we buy all of it again via streaming services.

[@BarnaliD]

😂😄😂 "re-re-bought" yup, that sounds just about right.

[@relicwitch1325]

Absolutely, every 2 years something changed, then along came the PlayStation and all its friends; and behind the cupboard was a thousand wires and cables. I actually really appreciate wireless stuff nowadays!

[@chiarac3833]

I had a 24 discussion changer and almost bought the 100 disc model...

[@wolfsbane1991]

As a millennial, displaying vinyl and records etc makes TOTAL sense to me! It’s one of the few trends I think gen z has done well lol. Music is SUCH a huge part of being a teenager, and I totally recognise the want to display what music you like. When I was a teen in the 00s, we showed off our music taste by hanging up artist posters we got from Kerrang and Metal Hammer etc. That’s how you expressed yourself. Since magazines are a dying breed, I feel like it makes sense for gen z to just hang up their favourite records instead. They often have beautiful covers so works great for “teenage-style” rooms. I totally get it. Sure, records are also functional, but they are definitely also works of art. I’m with gen z in that one, clever thinking guys. I totally love it. Reminds me of my own poster-filled walls back in the day.

[@PurpleMonkeyDishwasher88]

Gen-Z got lucky in this trend with the resurgence of vinyl records. I know as a millennial it was basically just CD's or MP3's. I know my nephew (Gen-Z) displays his favorite records. Though not sure where he picked up the trend from. All I know is that he had them displayed since the early 2010s

[@nicoleglazer7148]

I’m with you on this. I love this trend for Gen Z. They seem to be into thrifting and “retro” styles and this was something I saw as cool when I was a kid in the 90’s.

[@shelbybutler9714]

As a Gen Xer, we did not have online streaming; so, we displayed our music, movies, and books out of necessity. And, if you are a music lover, who likes to read, that translates to a living room full of physical multi-media. With the advent of the internet, and tracking, I am happy to still have a lot of my old physical music and books, because Big Brother can't track my tastes. And, I like a boho, maximalist house, full of vibrant colors and vintage art. I did grow up with a beanbag and an ultrasuede, L-shaped couch. Maybe my parents were just ahead of their time, because we never had a Thomas Kincaid style piece of art. My parents went for abstract and folk art, and I still love that style.

[@sallycormier1383]

My mom had Thomas Kinkade prints everywhere. I remember my sister being shocked that I didn’t want one of them after she passed. I’ll pass on those every time, even if I was born in the late 50’s.

[@Diane_McDon]

My boomer sister still displays her best Bob Ross paintings a la Kinkaid

[@chaoticutopia]

GenX here. The band posters were a pre-teen/teenage thing, but later we were doing cool stuff in the shadows. The tapestry in one pic is a good hint. We developed alternative styles, sometimes boho and global, sometimes kind of goth, sometimes cold, industrial punk. It was often very dark to contrast all the overwhelming faux boomer glow. We liked late night independent coffee shops with old books, beatnik poets from another era. The Geddes prints were definitely a boomer thing... although we looked at them at the mall and thought they were cute. Edit to add: yeah, the futons and the faux leather are spot on. I have real leather now.

[@AlleineDragonfyre]

genX is not defineable. that's why were were called by genX by boomer media.

[@ericmaher4756]

@@AlleineDragonfyreI guess we were the gen z of the day. We didn’t want anything to do with it, but then again, what kid does?

[@hippiechick73]

Looking at art at the mall made me remember those weird “3d” pictures where you had to cross your eyes and stare at it awhile to see the image appear. I would always stop and stare at them, and then feel like my eyes couldn’t focus for awhile. I never wanted to hang them up in my own house, though!

[@chaoticutopia]

@hippiechick73 oh yeah! I loved that store, but never bought a poster. I did get a book once. Oh, and I recently saw a stereoscopic gif. That was really cool!

[@lauramaria8880]

lol woud u say the baby prints were them trying to subliminally make you wanna have babies since birth rate was decreasing after boomers:)))

[@elizabethlangheim7214]

Boomer here. Since no one wants the big entertainment centers, we use them for storage in the basement.

[@annbrookens945]

That seems like the perfect use!

[@vaderladyl]

I had seen awesome transformations of those cabinets, turned into coffee bars, cabinets for other things, and so much more.

[@elizabethlangheim7214]

@@vaderladyl One of the nice things about them are they are made of side units and a middle unit put together. At one time I had put the side units together to make a china cabinet in the dining room while I had the middle unit as a tv stand in the living room and just didn’t use the piece that went over the top of the middle unit.

[@LynsAlteredArts]

Mine wasn’t that huge and it wasn’t oak. It was the espresso color. I listed it on Facebook and couldn’t sell it so listed it for free and found one person finally to take it. If they hadn’t, it was going to go out the door with a sledgehammer because there’s no way I could’ve moved that thing by myself. I would have to take apart everything I could and then sledgehammer it and I was going to do it to get that thing out of my house. 🔨

[@rosseryankeegirl]

😂😂😂😂 that made me laugh out LOUD!!! Brilliant!

[@zimnizzle]

Gen Xer - we did grow up and stopped using the free and crappy furniture that we found on the side of the road, so I think we can leave out the transitional futons and pleather that no one really wanted. It wasn’t really a choice. Let me help out. In the 90s for those of us that were finally making money at our first real job, we got those big velvet sofas and edgy wall prints - in frames, thank you very much. Shiny or iridescent vases and or textured glass. Basically anything from Z Gallerie. (Is that place even still around?) Later, as we started getting married etc., it was Williams Sonoma, Pottery Barn, and Crate N’ Barrel. And the Elusive Restoration Hardware for those of us with a bigger budget. You’re welcome.

[@beanallene]

This was such a walk down memory lane! I completely forgot about those flower babies. I think you're right about them being Gen X. I remember the episode of Friends that had that in it 😂

[@joiedevivre2005]

Gen Xer here - I see a lot of our trends showing up in Gen Z trends - in a revamped & updated way. We saw our vinyl collection turn into a cassette collection which became a cd collection, but were too nostalgic to get rid of our albums (especially those that had awesome cover art) so we often displayed our albums on the wall. Creative artsy types like me even did something similar with cassettes (I made footstools & wall art pieces with a lot of mine once I had switched to cds). You definitely got our love of "music as home decor" right.

[@rinnegf]

hi Gen Zer here!! I think my gen has taken a lot from yalls trends, because a lot of us were raised by yall (at least for older/middle gen Zers like me, I was born in 2003 and my parents were born in '73 and '74). And I know I take a lot of my favorite styles from what my parents have shown me what was popular when yall were my age. Kind of that thing of "We grew up exposed to this kind of thing so now that we're older, we're making it into our own versions". Especially music, I always noticed music is the one thing that I rlly bond w my Gen X parents over.

[@AlleineDragonfyre]

genX and genZ are quite alike. esp the eyerolls. love them! -genx

[@blackbutterfly8338]

Yes! Speaking of nostalgia, am I the only one who still owns and stores her 80s cassettes in shoeboxes in the basement? Please say I’m not….

[@jaymarx8927]

Yes! And millennials totally copied us on rediscovering MCM

[@jaymarx8927]

@@rinnegf yes, I totally relate to gen Z more than millennials. Millennials are a more modern take on the boomers. (that said my mother was a boomer too, but on the cusp).

[@selah5792]

Gen x forgotten style mention: punk rock thrift vibes of the grunge sphere

[@evelynsaungikar3553]

Milk crates! All furniture was created out of milk crates!

[@kirstenweyter4431]

I think one of the major reasons why all the materialistic generations like to skip over GenX is that we were anti-fashion, anti-social minimalists. That’s why it’s hard for other generations to define us, because we don’t give a f#%k about any of that pretentious bullsh;t!! Thanks for not caring

[@AlleineDragonfyre]

Maybe in college

[@relicwitch1325]

DIY ethic everywhere - we had a bit of tech, but were (and still are) pretty inventive, resourceful and creative. All my friends recorded music on completely weird set-ups with 4 tracks and tape players. Furniture was up-vamped, cool decor was discovered by chance or luck, clothes were butchered and sewn back together..

[@AlleineDragonfyre]

everything was "forgotten"

[@DanceMotherSuperior]

‘65 Xer here I have always been grateful that boomers overshadowed us. That allowed us to just be who we wanted to be and decorate how we wanted to decorate- mostly function before form. FYI band poster function was to establish identity

[@loen2629]

As an "old gen z" (2000) I have to say, I don't see myself or my friends in this representation of gen z interior design! I feel like a lot of the women in my age group still love a good neutral toned interior. Some beiges, pinks, muted purples, whites, mixed with some metal accents like gold or silver. Art prints of women painted a little more loosely or something a little similar to the "millenial prints". Kind of chic yet girly. I myself love mid century modern a lot, maybe because I'm a designer haha cause a lot of my designer friends either love industrial interiors or mid century, both with a few pops of color throughout.

[@heatherknopp3723]

As a GenXer, THANK YOU for including us! Regarding our "design" choices... I don't think we considered media storage as "decor", but if you could store it in a cool way, bully for you. I know some people don't like so "see" media, but your media (music, DVDs etc) were a point of pride - your friends came over and gave your collection an eye to see what cool stuff you had. And besides, if it was hidden away, how could you access it to play it? If you're going to let books be books, then let media be media. I'm an older GenX, raised by Silent Gen parents, so our home was very traditional and I've carried my love of traditional furnishings into my home. I do have a large entertainment center in our den (but it's dark wood), but I love it. I don't go for trends very much because it's expensive and we've had to be frugal when raising kids. If it isn't classic enough to last for at least MY entire life, I'm not going to waste my money on it.

[@lisaguillory7601]

We are the same!! And I completely agree with your assessment of the media storage situation back then; it was a necessity. My home is now a stylistic amalgamation of things I’ve collected over the years, because good furnishings are sooo expensive…

[@debbiepalmer1094]

I agree, the CD tower was for access and storage not décor and mine definitely wasn't to be cool, it was just basic storage.

[@angelagenx6629]

I agree with everything you said!

[@aymirabye6533]

Yes 😊

[@amylaw3416]

Ya. GenX dumped those. Ok actually they were all stolen out of our cars so we started streaming. GenX is RenFest / Fairy Core. Since the beginning. Very eclectic, colorful & Scandinavian light and airy. With antiques.

[@hopscotchtop]

One of the things to remember about the Gen X'ers is that there are 2 groups, the first part of Gen X came to adulthood in the '80's and the second part in the 90's and each group has their own specific tastes, etc. Remember all the neon in the '80s.

[@GabbyPaynter]

This is true. I'm gen x but relate more to the millennial decor choices in this video

[@lynnhettrick7588]

I was born in ‘70 and graduated in ‘88. There weren’t that many Gen Xers who became adults in the ‘80s, mostly became adults in the ‘90s.

[@susantownsend8397]

My mother (born 1928) had an emerald green velvet couch going back to around the late 1970s. But then she was the kind of Southern lady who set the table for every meal and served coffee on a tray.

[@Zeverinsen]

12:40 I can't believe you just _roasted_ my grandparents and all their siblings in one go! 🤣

[@susiebolt4021]

GenX here. Thanks for including us. I was too poor to put real money into my decor until recently, but I definitely favored arts and crafts or shaker style furniture, black and white landscape photography, and brown microfiber sofas. I also liked wrought iron for some reason and still have a wrought iron curtain rod in my living room, but have long since replaced the tab top curtains with something better. I couldn't afford most of the furniture I liked, and my house was decorated with whatever I could find at yard sales or even on the curb. We started with a second-hand pleather sofa and inflatable arm chairs, upgraded eventually to brown microfiber until I realized that my true love is MCM. Don't forget the IKEA Poang chairs. I still have mine. If I remember correctly, Native American motifs were popular with my peers: think Kokopelli, dream catchers, suns and moons, lizards, turtles.

[@didomilan1725]

I miss my IKEA raspberry colored cd tower. I wish I still had it. It looked great with a plant on top.

[@christinegengaro8931]

Omg yes the Poang. I recently got rid of mine because it’s not comfortable for me. But my sister still has hers!

[@evannerson3498]

Definitely the arts and crafts style! But I refuse to take any blame for Anne Geddes, the only people I knew who liked her stuff was my parents age, and possibly the Boomers in my family.

[@lauraschmidt4197]

You Nailed it! GenX are survivors, so cheap, found and functional furniture was the way to go. We didn’t have parents buying our furniture. We moved out when we were 18. I find it interesting how each generation truly has a look an you have perfectly defined it.

[@rawilliams5881]

Petit point pictures, for me, because needlepoint is for children. I don't know if it's a trend this last century or so; I'm Gen X but I was born an adult.

[@kirstenweyter4431]

I think one of the major reasons why all the materialistic generations like to skip over GenX is that we were anti-fashion, anti-social minimalists. That’s why it’s hard for other generations to define us, because we don’t give a f#%k about any of that pretentious bullsh;t!! Thanks for not caring

[@StrawberryShortcake12335]

I don’t think GenX had access to cheap (IKEA) type furniture. We were not a big enough demographic to be catered to by businesses. We had our parents (or grandparents) hand-me-downs.

[@BarbaraM-lv7pe]

Early Gen X here. I had a late millennial colleague ask me why, in 1980’s movies such as 16 Candles et al were teenage girls’ bedrooms depicted being‘decorated like grandma did it?’ 😆 I told her it was because advertising back then, unless it was childrens breakfast cereal, was aimed at adults since they made the money, and had the ‘buying power’. I told her that no advertising was aimed at us b/c we were thought to have no money, thus no decision making. No one catered to us the way they do now, where “children wag the dog and are raised to be much more vocal and have agency to their mom and dad’s wallet! 😧

[@lauraschmidt4197]

@@BarbaraM-lv7pe I agree wholeheartedly. I never really realized the “grandmother bedroom thing” until you said it, and it all makes sense now. GenX had no money therefore we had no opinion and no reason to be catered to. We’re lucky we survived at all, our parents left us out in the wilderness. Now I see toddlers and tweens bossing their parents around in the store, little kids carrying cell phones and Starbucks lattes. It’s horrible. How did the pendulum swing so far in the opposite direction?! Love your children don’t worship your children. It’s all too much

[@markpfeffer7487]

This has been my favorite series of yours :) keep doing more! You have a knack for finding those intergenerational parallels. They track so hard it kills me lol

[@catswatchingbirds818]

Gen X also had records and record players. CDs didn’t really hit the scene until the 90s and it took some time for them to be the preferred format, because a)they were expensive and b) the players were even more so. Personally, I did not have enough CDs for a “tower”; I stored them on the same rack as my movies on VHS.

[@seigeengine]

I feel like the real specifically Gen X music format was the cassette tape, though CDs would be common. Gen X was 1965-1980. By 1980 (Gen X: 0-15) cassettes were taking off, and they'd surpassed records by the start of the mid-80s (4-19). By the latter mid-80s (6-21), CDs were taking off, and they had surpassed cassettes by 1990 (10-25). In contrast, Millennials were 1981-1996, so CDs took over when they were -6 to 9, reached their heyday in 2000 (4-19), and really declined around 2008 (12-27) with downloads high and streaming on the horizon. So while CDs got big with Gen Xers, CDs were still the dominant music format for most Millennials.

[@ChachiBonacci]

Thank you for giving us Gen X'ers some airtime! We are the OG thrifters and relied on putting random things together. The big box stores or Ikea weren't selling stylsh home decor yet. So we found cool stuff at Goodwill or took hand-me-downs from our fam. We made tables/desks/shelves out of milk crates or other boxy pieces. We covered gross furniture or walls with tapestries or printed sheets (from the local/college headshop or urban outfitters). We def put up movie/music posters (also.....the music was some of the best). And, LOTS of framed pics of us and our friends. We still had cameras!!! Keep going, Nick! We love it!

[@absolute3112]

Yeah we tend to be very 'anti' big box store, very much DIY thrifters

[@garlicgirl3149]

YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@Marsydotes]

Until about 7-6 almost all my furniture and decor was thrifted and DIY.

[@kassandramcpherson2839]

Yes! Definitely not enough mention of our beloved tapestries!!

[@Dr.Nagyonfaj]

Younger side of the Boomer generation here. NEVER had a Kincade or WOULD ever have one. Epitome of kitsch.

[@LythaWausW]

We call them the paintings with the houses on fire. Cuz most of them look like the interior is burning up.

[@raf1717]

I’m a millennial when growing up loved everything gen-x, now loves everything gen-z

[@kellibeckwith4267]

I almost spewed out my coffee when you showed the Thomas Kinkade paintings. I remember looking at those lovingly. Thank God I was too poor to buy one.

[@sjblack9135]

As an English teacher and a librarian, thank you for standing up on the side of the books! Let books be books! Also the picture of the huge stack of books where they’re on top of each other makes me want to scream. That’s awful for the longevity of those books! And how do you get the ones at the bottom??? Clearly people who don’t read 😫

[@murielbaith5445]

😢

[@user-qp6lj6gu7s]

Now I feel guilty about the stack of books next to me, is it really that bad? They won't stay that way for more than a few weeks or months though, I'm analysing the first few chapters in each and then putting them back in the shelf. I also do this for books I haven't read yet, they're stacked in the order I want to read them and are a sort of "active pile" because if I put them away I forget.

[@rachelk4805]

I don't know how else to make all the books fit on my bookshelf though

[@sjblack9135]

@@user-qp6lj6gu7s If it’s just a few books and they aren’t particularly heavy, don’t worry about it! Especially if you’re moving them around often and eventually placing them standing up. The issue is the spines will eventually collapse with the weight of what’s on top of them and warp them. Sounds like what you’re doing is just fine!

[@kjmallyon4745]

These are usually horizontal bookshelves. They were designed in the 50s by Bruno Rainaldi. "The Original Ptolomeo bookshelf is a truly inventive design. Both playful and practical, it is described as a mix between “magic, art and function” and has been awarded the world’s highest accolade for design - the Compasso d’Oro. "Third century BC Pharaoh Ptolomeo I Soter gave the order to build the Royal Library of Alexandria in Egypt, the largest and richest library in the ancient world. Bruno loved books (designer Bruno Rainaldi) he believed that books were real nourishment for the soul, the best companions on this journey called life. This is why he wanted his bookcase, the only one that made books the absolute protagonists, to be a tribute to the one who was the first to take care of books (as far as history can remember)."

[@aprilkeroack5283]

Gen X born in 74 - I’m watching this in my living room…across the room is my Misfits poster I’ve had on a wall in my home since I was 15 😆

[@drummercam1]

Gen X here. We have just taken our high school bedroom and expanded it to take over the whole house. We definitely feel defined by the music we love so that is the dominant theme.

[@gjbondhowe139]

Gen X here. When I was pre-teen/teen, I had one wall of my bedroom painted like a huge Union Jack (yeah, yeah, Union flag, I know) and I had my favourite singles up on pins along the St. George's cross part. I always played them.

[@jimfoster7986]

Gen X is the MTV generation. Popular culture was dominant, hence the posters.

[@Sonnie0325]

Totally! Don't forget the Nagel Prints, pastel Miami Vice colors, lol! Also, do you remember Max Headroom?

[@karenholmes6565]

@@Sonnie0325 The Nagel prints were EVERYWHERE and they weren't for the Boomers.

[@andreabradley5837]

I still have many of mine.

[@L.Spencer]

I was thinking how there aren't poster stores anymore...

[@jimfoster7986]

@@L.Spencer they’re all online now. When I was a kid a big part of going to the mall was visiting Spencer gifts and checking out the posters and 18 and over section.

[@ryannatividad3137]

I think the tuscan kitchen and Thomas Kinkaid scenery paintings speak to the seemingly common boomer ideal of bucolic living in the country, lol. You might live in a stucco/brick/vinyl tract home 10 feet away from your neighbors in the suburbs...but you can imagine you're living out your ideal in a cabin in the woods, a beach house, or your under the Tuscan sun existence.

[@Lili-xq9sn]

Yes, you nailed it.

[@Violet-qf8dr]

Gen X here. My friend Alice had a totally girly bedroom with all white furniture and pink trim. She even had a pink ruffled canopy bed. As a teen she got really into heavy metal. It was so jarring and amazing to see all the black, satanic posters juxtaposed with all the pink ruffles.

[@mckenna8663]

😂🤣😂🤣

[@oneweirdcookies]

😂 I was dying at "creamy pie.. ew" 😂😂😂 also lol at pleather couch "was it because you found it on the side of the road?"

[@amykirsch8019]

“Let books be books,” YES, exactly! My philosophy is that the *only* genre of books that it makes any sense to arrange by color would be cookbooks, and placing books backwards on shelves is 100% unhinged. 😵‍💫😂

[@theresuga]

I was surprised he just tacked on the comment about turned around books - I would have thought that was far more infuriating than the colour blocking!

[@338holly]

Also journals or notebooks can be ordered by color

[@cbpd89]

"They were all yellow oak, there was a shortage of everything else" got me wheezing. You just described my childhood home (raised by boomers).

[@silvergeist]

Zilennial here! I displayed records on my wall in my early 20s. The point was to show off our current music taste, favorite album art, and sentimental bands. My household did listen to our records about twice a week during dinner. The album covers could be easily swapped out for a new set of designs, so it was a more affordable way to change up the vibe than switching out paintings. Identity expression is a part of being young, for sure. Now that I'm a bit older, I no longer do this and have more permanent art pieces displayed instead.

[@RetroGamingLite]

As a xennial, I'm very grateful to you for reminding me to go search for a CD rack, because it keeps slipping my mind. Currently my CD albums (don't have any singles anymore), are scattered everywhere, including on top of my books in the bookcase. Thanks dude!

[@elfin2786]

Gen X here. I remember most of our fashion and decor being hand-me-downs or thrifted. I did have a futon in high school/college for the random friend who needed a place to crash. There were band posters, but Nirvana was too popular to publically display in your place. It seemed as though most of us had art posters on the wall. A lot of people had Salvador Dali, but I liked Kandinski. When I got my first salaried job, I bought a whole set of mission style furniture from Rooms to Go. Now I just have stuff I've collected through the years. I don’t think companies marketed to us, so it all feels undefined.

[@devi_-]

Yes I had a Matisse and a van gogh that I bought at university market days 😂 then later a bunch of vintage travel posters from eBay. They looked good!

[@AlleineDragonfyre]

that's what i did in nyc!

[@eskimberly7424]

Absolutely! I used peach crates rather than milk crates. Art Posters? Definitely! Futons for bed and couch. Thrifted lamps and other furniture. Not much else. We didn’t have IKEA ( did anyone in the 90s?) but if we had, my place would probably have had more furniture. Thanks for including our often forgotten generation!

[@lynnhettrick7588]

For years, our “style” was whatever we could find for cheap. Milk crates, futons, homemade shelves, posters on the walls.

[@meredithdavis5167]

GenX here. This was so much fun! Please, do more. This is a unique insight into the psyches of the various generations. Fascinating!

[@defoe7750]

Love this kind of video so much! Subscribed just because of this! Please make this a weekly thing.

[@sunnymeadow575]

I so appreciate all of the visuals you use in your videos! Easy to follow along in your thought process

[@JasmineBrownOttawa]

Millennial colour scheme: "That little orangey, beigy, creamy pie" 😆Nick, you missed my Gen X decor go-to - the 1990's colour scheme of dark green and cranberry red. In all seriousness, YES on Babbel as a sponsor, YES on being Canadian, YES on working on French skills! Feeling weirdly patriotic right now.

[@jenmatt1923]

Hunter green. The color of like 1995!

[@anthonypecorara]

Omg! Hunter green, burgundy, and navy blue. Mix that with a celestial print and its peak Gen X.

[@ajrockne307]

And I still love it!

[@Xandycane]

Add royal purple and yes! The only reason I avoided cranberry red is because hunter/emeral green was (and still is) and adding the red made every day look like Christmas. 😂

[@terriellis3697]

We still have an old comforter from a 1997 bed in a bag set. Navy, Hunter green, and beige. SOOO dark.

[@loistverberg900]

A futon converts from a moderately uncomfortable counch into a moderately uncomfortable bed. Win!

[@jennifershaw4756]

Ha ha ha! Love this!

[@dottieland7061]

We still have them they are very big in Japan. Perfect for small spaces.

[@marciabyram6003]

Throw it on the floor and its great! 😀

[@auggiedoggiesmommy1734]

That English garden look was SO popular. I miss my floral couch.

[@macpduff2119]

The Laura Ashley faded tea roses

[@TanjaHermann]

Gen Xer here: I think we were also the only generation growing up with the full wall photo wallpaper of nature scenes or beaches. Sometimes only on the interior doors. What a fun series! Love it!

[@life_lived_well_8]

Hello! Gen X here. Just some random thoughts from my perspective. 1) DVD/CD towers were awful, but necessary. 2) I think black and white photography was our thing. Think Ansel Adams, Robert Mapplethorpe, and although not black and white, I think Annie Leibovitz could even be grouped into that “trend.” Which, by the way, I think you will still see as part of the Ikea photography posters. So, I’m gonna claim that one for Gen X. 3) Mission style. In the Late 80’s early 90s mission style furniture , American Craftsman, arts and crafts, Shaker and , and I would even put the U.S. southwest style in there. I think those were hallmarks of GenX “grown up” style. 3.5) Forest Green and Burgundy. I think these colors were quintessential GenX growing up and moving out and getting their first apartments. Part of the mission or American Craftsman style. Unless you were doing Southwest and then it was all about the coral , terra cotta and desert tones. 4) Anne Geddes was ABSOLUTELY not a Gen X thing. That screams Boomer. (Disclaimer: in the mid-90’s I was hanging out with a lot of dot comers in Austin, TX, so they tended to have more money than your average Gen Xer. I think their taste was very typical for what Gen X would WANT to buy if they had the money.)

[@bobbert1945]

Everything you said is spot on. I'm also Gen X, and lived in central Austin for most of my life. Mission, Craftsman, etc styles were (are) practically built into the houses. Granted, those bungalows were built a few decades before we were born, so I guess we were trying our best to furnish them. Remember when Restoration Hardware sold quarter-sawn solid wood furniture with dovetail joints, and period hardware? Too bad RH now sells mausoleum bean bags.

[@ChachiBonacci]

Forest green and burgundy! Definitely.

[@wallhagens2001]

Gen X with black and white posters of photos on walls!

[@CathyBruce]

GenX here. Totally agree with mission/craftsman style trend. My first real furniture purchase was a matching burgundy/hunter mission design couch and loveseat. My second was a cherry wood shaker-style table with ladder back chairs. We loved the hand-crafted look. I laughed out loud at the wavy CD rack. I had that in my dorm room.

[@bobbert1945]

@@ChachiBonacci for me it was teal and mauve when I was younger, pink and green "preppie" a little older, then forest green and cranberry when I had a choice.

[@amyquinn9494]

When you were showing the CD towers, I laughed because you showed the exact same CD tower that I own (and still use) today. Also, my husband and I were watching this video together, and when all the Gen Z art came up, he said "So they just want to live in a TGI Friday's from 2003?" 😂

[@reinhard8053]

Same here. I got rid of the CD wall as I ripped everything to MP3 (I still have the CDs and I still buy music on CD. It's nice to have a physical device which can't be simply deleted.). But at that time that was not so much design but just an easy way to choose the music you wanted to hear. There were no MP3s or streaming.

[@acadian76]

Gen Xer here, born in 7. I had a waterbed that I got when I was 14 as my Mom decided it was time for me to get an upgrade from a twin bed. She splurged on me and purchased the black laquer bedroom set with the waterbed with the velvet headboard and side rails and footboard. I had that bed and furniture from 1985 until 2005 and I finally let it go. I loved that bed in the wintertime, it was so warm and cozy. When I moved, I would drain it about 80% and drag it outside or into the bathtub and slash it so the rest of the water would drainer quickly and replace the mattress which cost about $60.00. As Nick had said we bought things that were cheap. I used to have a dining room set with the cane/oak/brass chairs with the hexagon glass table. I paid $150 for it brand new in the 90's when I got my 1st apartment. I saw similar chairs for sale on Wayfair for $400.00 for 2. Everything always comes back - except waterbeds and hopefully those torchere lamps. lol

[@burnttoastspacegirlfriend8769]

OMG the CD tower racks! 😂😂😂 I came from the recent generation video and still have the celestial decor on my mind, I feel so seen! 😂😂😂 these videos are fun, thank you for putting these together!

[@haagatha]

I love generation comparisons. As a boomer, I fell into the country craze of the late 80s, early 90s. Blues and peach, green and mauve

[@marykaysmaldone952]

Also, the "Santa Fe" look. Big in Colorado during the 90's.

[@cchaffincc]

😂 I had mauve carpet in several rooms.

[@AnnNunnally]

I had blue curtains that were puffed.

[@g_willow]

Also the closely related "colonial Williamsburg" look. Defined b lots of "colonial blue", dusty mauve and cream lace, cherry wood furnishings and brass or copper accessories like bed warmers and what not

[@Sonnie0325]

@@AnnNunnally Oh and remember the valances?

[@461Jacque]

It is so funny that I look at those band posters and vinyl on the wall and I see my room back in the 60's and 70's. I LOVE it!!!!

[@Rkk415]

MMMMOOOORRRRREEEE!!!! Your examples were completely on point, and I love your sense of humor. Is just the perfect amount of dryness to it! I only recently discovered your channel, and you've found yourself a huge fan, here. Keep it up!

[@_papad8434]

I don't own any Thomas Kincade prints, but I like them bc looking at them is like going on a trip to grandma's house where everything is warm, cozy, quiet, and safe. 😊

[@adriennedandy4119]

GenX seating = papasan chair from Pier 1

[@robinbobbin75155]

Foam fake leather furniture and bean bag chairs with frames. Plus, the futon was a staple for any new apartment that needed an extra bed.

[@kassandramcpherson2839]

I miss my papasan chair so much. Thanks for reminding me. -GenX’er

[@Neenerella333]

Had a hand me down one. Till it fell apart.

[@modgirl3292]

If u could afford one!!!

[@lisakeane4386]

Omg yes- and I loved and dearly miss my papasan!!

[@gennyolson2257]

Boomer here..our decor was floral. And dont forget the color scheme Hunter Green with Mauve😅

[@scofieldvictoria]

And brown. Lots and lots of brown

[@hippiechick73]

Do you remember those weird cages with dripping oil that was supposed to be like constant rain or something? I’m Gen x, but I remember always seeing those at the furniture store when I went there with my mom. It seems to be one of those very limited late 70’s- early 80’s decor.

[@mckenna8663]

​@@hippiechick73YES! With the dead cockroaches at the bottom that drowned after being attracted to the oil. I remember, as a kid, seeing this in the furniture stores and thinking, "I can't possibly be the only one to see this. Why is anybody decorating with oil??????"

[@genevieverogers8435]

Born in 1981 and I absolutely had the emerald green velvet mid-century replica lounge furniture. I confess, I still like it too!