Millennial Gray: Unpacking the Monochromatic Color Palette That Gen Z Loves to Hate

After moving into his current apartment four and a half years ago, Howarth realized that gray decor would effortlessly match the existing white walls, dark gray bathroom tiles, and gray stone door sills. Plus, as he points out, painting his bedroom dark gray accentuated the small space’s “cave-like quality” to make it feel cozier. Howarth doesn’t feel committed to gray for life—his partner introduced some colorful touches when he moved in—but for now, in the circumstances that many millennials find themselves in, it’s a sensible choice that still looks sophisticated. “It may not be the most exciting choice, but it’s the perfect backdrop for life to happen in, on, and around it,” he adds.

To decorate with millennial gray effectively, one must learn how to unlock its full potential. “In many of the TikToks I’ve seen, the grays highlighted are dreary and cold. There isn’t a lot of personality to these spaces, and we can’t blame it all on one color,” says interior designer Diana Byrne, who encountered millennial gray TikToks through her teenage daughters. “If you are trying to use solely gray, I would be sure to mix light, medium, and dark grays to give your room some depth, but make sure the undertones all coordinate.”

Jenny Kaplan’s bedroom is painted in Backdrop’s Not So Delicate, contrasting the custom red Maschi rug by Pieces and other colorful accents. “I generally build a color story off a special piece of furniture or rug that I want to style in the room and choose a neutral color such as grey secondary,” Kaplan tells AD.

Deepak Adhikary, a millennial film loader in Los Angeles, has found himself defending the “millennial gray” trend in conversation on more than one occasion. Adhikary takes pleasure in playing with contrast and texture, thoughtfully employing gray throughout his home. In the bathroom he renovated himself, he chose concrete floor and painted the walls gray, pairing those gray tones with a wood vanity and clay-tone shower tiles. This is perfectly in line with how Leigh Kirby of Weatherleigh Interiors likes to utilize gray. “Since gray mimics nature, such as a moody midnight sky or river rocks, it allows for other raw natural materials such as wood, concrete, and metals to be paired with it so easily,” explains the AD PRO Directory designer.