Catering to Millennials

Millennials, armed with the latest data on decor and a passion for personalization of their ideas, are swarming into the home marketplace. It’s turned designers from contractors into collaborators as the latest generation rolls up its sleeves to play a larger part in defining its world, from chair fabrics to carbon footprints.

The booming generation’s interest in creating, remixing and customizing dovetails naturally with interior design, said Julie Smith Vincenti of Nine Muses Media and a speaker at the Winter 2015 Las Vegas Market last month. Raised on dystopian novels and rapidly increasing technology, millennials tend toward a do-it-yourself style of decorating and conscientious homeownership more than any other generation in the past 100 years.

“Customization matters to millennials,” Smith Vincenti told a room of designers, buyers and media. The advent of 3-D printers also has made the idea of bringing their decor vision to life under their own direction an enticing and affordable possibility. “Designing it yourself is important to this generation.”

According to a recent report from the Boston Consulting Group, by 2030, millennials will outnumber baby boomers by 20 million. As the most populous generation in the United States, millennials will continue to change the home marketplace as they mature, Smith Vincenti said.

The millennial generation, those in the 18-to-34 age range, have been slow to enter the homebuying market because of high unemployment, student loan debts and tight credit. A recent report by the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University found that, with the economic recovery, “the number of households in their 30s should increase by 2.7 million over the coming decade, which should boost the demand for new housing.”

Millennials’ effect on the home-and-design marketplace will be significant, according to a 2013 survey by Better Homes and Gardens, which surveyed 3,200 prospective homebuyers on the attitude and spending trends of the millennial generation.

The survey found that homeownership is important to millennials, with more than 75 percent thinking real estate is a good investment. Almost 20 percent expect to be the first owner of their first home, while almost 25 percent hope to buy a fixer-upper. More than a quarter of those millennials surveyed said they were planning to have a home office, work space or family computing center in their home, and 41 percent wanted a combined office-hobby-crafts-art room.

The survey also revealed that 35 percent wanted an outdoor entertainment area and 40 percent prefer an energy-efficient home and will make improvements to any older homes they purchase to make them as environmentally friendly as possible.

One thing millennials, aka the “maker generation,” have spent their dollars on, aside from the latest technology, is crafts and DIY projects. In the past decade, they have spent billions.

Social media sites such as Pinterest have flourished under the direction of millennials, who use such sites to swap swatches for wallpaper designs or share decorating ideas for swanky outdoor retreats that reflect their individual style. This is something decorators are keen to cash in on.

“Today’s designer only needs to ask their younger clients to send them their Pinterest or Houzz favorites and, in one quick email, we know all about their style,” said Peggy Scinta, owner of P. Scinta Designs. “Millennials are more socially connected than ever thanks to modern-day media such as Facebook and sharing sites like Pinterest and Houzz. The advantage of tapping into social media, blogs and design community sites creates immediate access to what’s hot in the design world.”

From homebuilders to designers, millennials expect the marketplace to work with them, not alongside them as contractors.

“Retailers and merchandisers have capitalized on their cyberability to steer their millennial audiences to the design trends they are promoting,” Scinta said. “Our younger clients’ design aesthetic is influenced by styles developed by retailers such as Restoration Hardware and West Elm. Interestingly enough, much of what we create for clients is derived from yesteryear trends initiated by these retailers.”

Kimberly Joi McDonald, owner of Designing Joi LLC, said millennials prefer bold, simple, yet distinctive furnishings, lighting and color palettes to create individual identities.

Scinta and her team have been creating bold and colorful spaces for younger clients. One such space was a sunshine yellow bedroom mixing bold geometric patterns with classic bedding and timeless mirrored nightstands.

“A playful deer head sits above the bed identifying this room as a happy space with a touch of whimsy,” Scinta said.

She recently designed a feminine bathroom with hand-painted chevron walls, blingy, silver mosaic deco tile and whimsical LED lighting.

“Bright, colorful design is born from a youthful place and speaks to happier times,” Scinta said. “It’s difficult not to smile when you walk into a colorful and imaginative room.”

Millennials may be sparking some new trends, but the rules are loose, McDonald said.

“Preconceived notions about what is correct have been shaken, and the boundary between formal versus informal seems less important to them,” the longtime local designer said. “In general, (millennials) like flexible, small, sustainable, open spaces, mobile and high-tech, urban, simple yet comfortable personalized spaces, multifunctional interiors, less maintenance.”

They may require less space outdoors, but their appetite for natural light and elements is robust.

“(They) still crave light and air for big windows, skylights and glass walls that open,” McDonald said. “They like color spaces as well as those with industrial pizzazz showcasing grays and bold accents, weathered or reclaimed furniture and metal.

“They are very value-minded and may splurge on a favorite furnishing or appliance, as they know trends keep changing, and that as they age, their tastes and style will evolve,” she said.

This is an ambitious, tech-savvy and creative generation that is driven by the concepts of collaboration, high-tech mobility, sustainability and simplicity. They are also very active.

“They are more productive in cafe or lounge settings and prefer a business casual aesthetic,” she said. “They often have cutting-edge offices — if young entrepreneurs who founded companies — and they had no rules so they created their own rules. Hierarchy and seniority are no longer key factors in design. Flexible work zones are.”

Work is more of an activity, more than a place to put your devices down.

“Technology is claiming a central role as the profession moves from a document-driven model to a data-driven model,” McDonald said.

In addition,“sustainability is not just a priority to millennials, but a standard of practice and, in the larger sense, infrastructure and building needs around the globe will demand an integrated approach.”

Millennials have affected and are expected to have an even greater effect on future architecture, decor and design, as well as the use and efficiency of the spaces, McDonald said.

“We are in the midst of their revolution during this time of profound cultural and global change,” she said. “Design leaders have seen that this rising generation of millennials, in conjunction with rapid changes in technology and global business, are having a revolutionary effect on architecture and design.”

What influences their design choices? Millennials are more educated and ethnically diverse than any other generation, she said.

“Because they are young and thirsty for knowledge, they want to learn and they like interesting and multifunctional simple design elements,” McDonald said, “whether they be furnishings, case goods, lighting, accessories and art.”

When working with millennials, McDonald has found they tend to look for sophisticated but fun, turning typical into a surprise, such as using a wall tapestry as a bed canopy for a bold display.

“Other youthful touches are items with a bohemian flair, modern rustic and industrial aesthetics, raw wood and stone, cowhides, high-quality finishes and metals,” she said. “All of these elements make for a compelling juxtaposition of function and efficiency and simplicity at their purest state, coupled with sustainability and great bold, yet unique design.”