Gen Z Is Bringing Back One Of The Most Colorful Trends In Home Decor

For a few years now, minimalism has been has been loosening its grip on home decor everywhere, as trends pivot towards interiors that look and feel personal, cozy, and lived-in. This movement, which has been largely ushered in by Gen Z rebelling against the excessively clean monochromatism of Millennial gray, has received a multitude of labels. Comfortably slotted under the maximalist umbrella, it's commonly known as the cluttercore design trend, but some also call it curated chaos.

Speaking to House Beautiful, mixed media artist and designer Anya Karolyn described the aesthetic as a new form of luxury. "We're mixing metals, clashing prints, and layering unexpected materials, but with intention," she explained, adding that curated chaos is all about rejecting uniformity and impersonality. "Beige fatigue is real," Karolyn quipped. 

Indeed, curated chaos is a much more appealing and evocative way to coin this desire to bring personality, color, and fun back to interior design. Unlike what the name cluttercore might suggest, this new form of maximalism is not interested in accumulating for accumulating's sake. Rather, it suggests an approached based on selection, curation, and layering. The goal is to make homes feel less like showrooms and more like the people who inhabit them, by bringing cherished keepsakes and collections out from the box under the bed and into open shelves around the home.

The rise of maximalism in Gen Z homes is the result of a combination of factors. The trend offers a framework for how to decorate, but what you choose to populate that framework with is entirely exclusive to your experiences and tastes. For a truly authentic cluttercore home, the art on your wall, ceramics on your shelves, and linens throughout should tell your story and evoke memories from the time you bought them. 

That relationship with memory and the past is another major factor drawing young homeowners to this aesthetic. Gen Z is famously nostalgic. Most of its fashion and design crazes borrow from history, whether that's Y2K's analogic, bubblegum dreamscape or the 80s' soft-edged, saturated Memphis design style, both of which have a curated chaos aura to them. According to Pinterest's 2025 trends prediction report, searches for vintage maximalism increased 260% in recent years. Eclectic, pattern-filled decor is inherently vintage, and therefore yet another coveted aesthetic to emulate for the most nostalgic of generations.

But buying vintage isn't just ideal for a unique, layered, and lived-in interior, it also upholds the environmental consciousness that has come to define Gen Z. Curated chaos rejects standardized furniture from box stores in favor of customization, which, for most Zoomers, is only realistically achieved through buying second-hand anyway. Finally and importantly, cluttercore is curiously reflective of the digital environment and its bright, frenzied, miscellaneous feeds, providing the sensorial stimulation that this generation so constantly craves.

In curated chaos, the curated half carries just as much weight as its counterpart. When you're bringing in the different elements that make up your own personal chaos, select and organize them according to the same criteria that informs interior design at large. Decorate according to the specificities of your space, prioritizing flow and comfort for your day-to-day needs. Maximalism can be comforting when it pertains to layering rugs or multiplying the pillows on your sofa, but functionality should not be compromised. Besides, keeping select areas less busy can help balance the space and, through contrast, bring even more attention to the bold, extravagant vignettes in the room.

When mixing colors, patterns, and textures in your furniture, textiles, and ornaments, variety and contrast are crucial. This applies to each room overall, but also to more contained decor moments such as a fireplace mantel or a bookshelf. Create layers by pairing larger and smaller objects, busy prints and solid colors, softer and harsher materials, different levels of lighting, angular and curvy, and new and vintage.  

Designer Olga Naiman suggests starting with a focal point and decorating around it (per Livingetc). This will "establish a clear visual hierarchy with a dominant element," so that "everything else in the room can play a supporting role," she explains. Sticking to a cohesive color scheme will also bring some order to the chaos. Choose "three to four colors that will appear throughout the room in different intensities and textures," Naiman recommends. Most of all, though, curated chaos is about externalizing your personality. Display quirky collections, keepsakes from your travels, vinyl records from your favorite musicians, or prints from your favorite painters.