How to Transform Your House into the Grandmillennial Style Home of Your Dreams
- America's Antique Mall
- Mar 23
- 8 min read
Does the idea of grey floor tiles, white walls, and marble countertops bore you? Are you over the minimalist trend that ran rampant in our society over the last few years? If you’re looking for a way to incorporate a bit more personality into your spaces, then it’s high time you discover the cozy, charming, and character-filled style known as grandmillennial.
With our helpful guide, anyone will be able to walk away as an expert in grandmillennial décor! Learn all about the aesthetics’ origins, the most common design elements seen in the style, and ways to bring it into your own home décor today.
What is a Grandmillennial?
Trend-experts define a grandmillennial as someone within the age range of mid-20s to late-30s who has an affinity for certain fashion and interior design trends that mainstream culture followers may deem “stuffy” or “outdated.” Perhaps they take inspiration from their grandparent’s home, or maybe they just prefer a Laura Ashley maxi dress—whatever the reason, grandmillennials are known for their unironic love of antiquated, timeless pieces. Does this sound like anyone you know?
What is Grandmillennial Style?
First termed by Emma Bazilian in a House Beautiful article, grandmillennial style has become an increasingly popular trend over the years. Sometimes called “granny-chic,” grandmillennial décor embraces comfort, nostalgia, and maximalism. This updated take on traditional design is full of personality, mixing textures and featuring eye-catching embellishments, and will always choose beautiful heirloom furniture over a contemporary equivalent.
Because it can vary from person to person, depending on what nostalgic styles they’re remembering fondly as they decorate their home, grandmillennial décor can be hard to put in a box. But once you study the style, you’ll certainly know it when you see it!
Grandmacore vs. Grandmillennial Style
If you’re well-versed in the popular online aesthetics, you may have heard the term “Grandmacore” before. We’re here to tell you that while there’s a fanbase for both, they are not interchangeable.
Grandmacore is more inspired by the cluttered, cramped, yet still cozy vibes of a grandparent’s home. Grandmillennial takes the “best” elements from this type of décor and brings it a little bit more into modern times, with more organization and fewer featured pieces.
Note: grandmillennial décor should also not be conflated with cottagecore! The inventor of the term has described cottagecore as more of a Gen Z approach to a similar concept.
When Did Grandmillennial Décor Become Trendy?
Grandmillennial style has been around in some form for years, but it wasn’t until around 2019 that we had a word to describe it. During the early COVID-19 years, when everyone was trapped inside and looking for ways to bring happiness to their home, it gained traction online, inspiring people around the globe to embrace the comfort-focused alternative to the modern and minimalism trends that dominated in years prior.
Why We Are Loving Grandmillennial Style
Grandmillennial style is not just another fad. This ever-evolving aesthetic offers the perfect balance of modern and vintage and will continue to be a relevant choice for interior design for years to come. Don’t just take our word for it! Here are the three main reasons people are choosing to decorate their homes with grandmillennial décor.
3 Reasons Grandmillennial Style is Popular:
Nostalgia
Customizable
Sustainable
1. Grandmillennial Décor is Driven by Nostalgia
Grandmillennial style was born from one of the most popular human emotions in the world: nostalgia. Whether you dream of putting an orange velvet corner couch in your living room just like the one your grandfather had when he was growing up or inherited a few vintage collectibles, you’d like to build an entire room aesthetic around, grandmillennial décor allows you to showcase your love of the past, rather than hiding it behind contemporary trends. Looking around your grandmillennial living room will help you recall simpler times, even in the busiest moments of your day.
2. Grandmillennial Style is Customizable and Unique
Grandmillennial décor is also not a one-size-fits-all aesthetic! If you were to take a closer look at the details, you’ll find that personalization is what really ties a grandmillennial living room together. Whether that’s showcasing a family heirloom front and center on the mantle or including family portraits in your gallery wall, followers of this aesthetic are encouraged to fill their spaces with sentimental items of their own.
3. Grandmillennial Décor Offers a Sustainable Shopping Alternative
The grandmillennial style goes beyond aesthetics—a good majority of the time, it’s actually an eco-friendlier way to decorate! We know it can be tempting to buy “easy”-to-assemble IKEA furniture or shop big-brand names online, but, when it comes to home décor, the more pieces we buy secondhand, the more we’re helping our planet. Something as simple as choosing to purchase an antique desk instead of a new design keeps items out of the landfills, supports small businesses, and results in more sustainable shopping practices.
Where Can You Shop for Grandmillennial Décor Pieces?
If you didn’t inherit an entire collection of furniture and textiles from a relative with stunning taste, then you’ll have to shop for each piece one by one, like the rest of us. Many people who want to achieve the grandmillennial look in their living room, bedroom, or dining room will frequent local estate sales on the weekends, but depending on where you live, those can be few and far between.
If you’re searching for specific tchotchkes and smaller decorations, you may have luck browsing online auction sites, such as eBay. There, anyone can sell furniture, quilts, wall hangings, and more, which, when put together, can bring the grandmillennial style to life.
Those two options are great, but if you were to ask an experienced thrift shopper, they’d say there’s only one real option to keep going back to when buying home décor—your local Arizona antique mall. With hundreds of vendors selling merchandise all under one roof, your chances of finding the perfect grandmillennial style pieces skyrocket. Nothing beats that kind of selection!
Shop for Grandmillennial Décor at our America’s Antique Mall Locations:
Streetsboro, OH (coming soon!)
Transforming Your Home with Grandmillennial Décor One Element at a Time
Has the idea of lounging in a grandmillennial living room grabbed your attention? Good news! Anyone can put together a grandmillennial-style home—as long as they understand which elements are vital to making that happen.
What are the Common Elements of Grandmillennial Style?
Patterned wallpaper
Antique or vintage-inspired furniture
Rich textiles
Heirloom pieces and mementos
Contemporary accents
Inviting lighting
Decluttered spaces
How to Choose a Grandmillennial Style Pattern for Your Wall
No grandmillennial-style room is complete without boldly patterned wallpaper. We don’t mean neon colors and Americana tiger illustrations (though those would do numbers in an eclectic, vibrant cluttercore home). Instead, opt for floral patterns, toile, Chinoiserie, or stripes covering each wall to create the perfect backdrop for the rest of your grandmillennial décor pieces.
Don’t feel the need to stick to one wallpaper throughout the house. Adding different patterns to each space helps to make every room feel like its own while creating a cohesive style. When you walk out of your grandmillennial living room to your dining room, you’ll be met with a different yet complementary vibe.
Popular Color Palettes for Grandmillennial Style Wallpaper:
Light blue
Sage green
Vintage cream
Blush pink
Soft beige
Discover the Perfect Antique and Vintage Furniture for Each Room
Before you decide which mementos and trinkets go in each space, build a solid foundation with antique and vintage furniture. Once you have the essential pieces of furniture in each room, you can move on to the next steps.
Search your local antique mall for the perfect canopy-style bedframe for your master bedroom. Invest in a beautiful dining table set, complete with matching chairs, for the focal point of your eating area. Bring up the heirloom plush loveseat from storage to create the grandmillennial living room of your dreams! The options are endless.
Pro tip: When you are able to, we recommend always choosing solid wood furniture. Not only does it give you the charming vintage aesthetic you’re looking for, but wood furniture from decades past was designed to be durable enough to last a lifetime. Even if you someday decide to switch up aesthetics, antique wooden furniture is versatile enough to work with just about any look.
Focus on Grandmillennial Style Textiles
The textiles are what really bring the grandmillennial décor to life! From choosing the perfect set of curtains for your dining room to finding a vintage ruffled bedskirt for your guest room, these details are where the “grandma” part of the aesthetic really comes into play. As you’re walking around your favorite antique mall, keep your eyes peeled for pieces that look like they’d fit right into the homes you remember gathering in with family as a kid.
Grandmillennial décor also typically calls for gold or brass. Consider different ways you can add these metals to each room. Maybe it’s the lighting fixtures and mirrors? The antique clock on the bookcase? Specific knick-knacks sprinkled about the space?
Pro tip: When in doubt, remember that in grandmillennial living rooms, mixing-and-matching is your friend. Where other aesthetics recommend sticking to one or two textiles, the rules of grandmillennial décor are a bit different. Layering mismatched fabrics, blankets, curtains, rugs, and bed skirts, even if they all feature slightly different patterns, will result in the perfect, lived-in look.
Best Textiles for Grandmillennial Décor:
Lace
Embroidery
Pleats
Rattan
Wicker
Toile
Ruffles
Make Heirloom Pieces and Family Treasures the Focal Point
The best part of grandmillennial décor is that it begs to be personalized. Instead of hanging up dime-a-dozen prints from a major retailer, you can use heirloom pieces and family mementos to create a space that truly reflects your individual taste and history. With grandmillennial style, you don’t have to let cherished keepsakes go unseen—show them off for all your guests to view.
One of our favorite ways to display personal mementos is hanging or framing them. Take your grandmother’s recipe cards, photo booth strips with your partner, or a letter from someone special and set them against a patterned piece of fabric in a picture frame. If it’s something bigger, like a handcrafted quilt or a passed-down book collection, make sure they’re displayed where everyone can see them.
Family Heirloom Items to Showcase in Your Grandmillennial Décor:
Watches
Jewelry
Journals
Urns with a loved one’s ashes (sounds morbid, but still!)
Family photographs
Hand-carved chests
Tea sets
Christening gowns
Bibles
Feature Contemporary Accent Pieces Around the House
Just because grandmillennial style leans more towards antiques and vintage pieces, it doesn’t mean that’s all there is to it. Incorporating a few key contemporary designs into your grandmillennial living room gives it the perfect amount of balance. This could mean something as small as adding a modern plate set to your dinnerware collection or something bigger, like making the main painting in a gallery wall reference something more 2020s.
Discover the Perfect Lighting
No well-decorated room is complete without lighting to match! To keep with the grandmillennial style, consider investing in a few vintage light fixtures to hang around the house. A pleated table lamp in the grandmillennial living room, a hanging brass Edison bulb pendant in the study, a Tiffany lamp in the dining room—as long as the light is warm, it’s up to you.
Make Sure Your Space is Clutter Free
For grandmillennial décor, nothing is more off-putting than feeling claustrophobic in your own home. To keep your grandmillennial living room tidy, invest in a few storage options that blend into the rest of the room. Maybe that’s a hollowed-out book on your coffee table to corral the TV remote or a footrest that doubles as a place to hold blankets and spare throw pillows? Keep an eye out for these handy designs the next time you go to a Kentucky antique mall.
Well, don’t just sit there! Get up and head to your nearest America’s Antique Mall location to put your newfound knowledge of grandmillennial décor to the test. We can’t wait to see what amazing pieces you discover.
