Let’s be honest—everyone has that one room in their parents’ house that feels like a time capsule. Think heavy wood furniture and fabrics that make you question everything. While they redecorate, millennials have begun ditching a lot of their parents’ things, for one reason or another. Let’s look at twelve boomer bedroom items that millennials are leaving behind, one item at a time.
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Velvet Jewelry Boxes With Musical Lids
Many boomers had velvet jewelry boxes that came with a wind-up key in the back and played a short song when you opened them. They’d have tiny compartments inside for rings & earrings and people often kept them on top of the dresser. But millennials will either store jewelry in simple trays or use compact organizers inside drawers, as they see the musical part as extra noise, rather than charm.
Matching Bedroom Sets
Walk into a boomer bedroom and you’ll probably find everything matches, with the same wood tone & same drawer handles—same everything. Millennials are over it, and rather than the whole showroom look, they prefer to mix it up with pieces that don’t match but somehow work. A lot of them pick up stuff from secondhand shops or just reuse furniture they’ve had for years because the mix of textures and colors feels more personal.
Telephone Nightstands
These old-school nightstands with the pull-out tray and space for a phone book were rather useful…in 1985. They’ve lost all relevance now that everyone just texts, and millennials will refuse to buy furniture made for a device they don’t even use—they’d rather get one with a charging dock. Most of these old ones are too bulky for small rooms anyway, and a simple shelf or slim table does the job now.
Quilted Bedspreads With Coordinated Shams
Floral quilted bedspreads used to be the gold standard for boomers, while for millennials, simple duvets or even just a comfy blanket that doesn’t come with seven matching pieces is better. They prefer not having to wrestle with the bed every morning, and a lot of them will choose covers that are easy to wash, especially if they have pets. Coordinated sets just take up too much storage space and don’t really fit the more laid-back bedroom style that younger people lean toward.
Decorative Throw Pillows
Boomers are quite used to throwing twelve pillows on the bed, then removing them every single night, and they love a stacked pillow situation. But most millennials think two is pushing it because all those extras just end up on the floor, and who has time to keep stacking them every day? Instead, they’ll keep one or two for naps or reading, and most of the time, they’ll skip the decorative stuff altogether, as it’s one less thing to move.
Lace Doilies On Dressers
Tiny doilies under lamps & framed pictures are a boomer classic—they’re usually crocheted and maybe a little dusty. However, millennials aren’t carrying on the lace tradition because they prefer buying bare dressers or getting a modern tray for stuff instead. It’s a lot less delicate, and cleaning around dressers with doilies takes a lot more time.
Cedar Chests at the Foot of the Bed
Cedar trunks were in almost every boomer bedroom, and they usually packed them with winter sweaters or kept them as hope chests. But millennials don’t seem too hopeful about owning one because most live in apartments where floor space is valuable above all else, and big wooden chests just don’t make the cut. Storage bins under the bed or built-in drawers are much more practical, and while some of these chests look nice, the smell of cedar isn’t everyone’s favorite.
Canopy Beds With Curtains
Boomers might see a canopy bed as romantic or elegant, yet millennials mostly see it as a dust trap and a waste of space. The younger generation believes that the whole drapey-bed thing takes up more space than it’s worth, and they’re also a lot harder to clean around. They aren’t up for all that laundry—a basic platform bed with no fuss is much more common now because it’s easier to set up. It also doesn’t make the room feel smaller than it is.
Plug-In Alarm Clocks With Radios
Each morning, boomers would be awoken by the sound of their plug-in alarm clocks buzzing, and these gadgets took up half the nightstand—but phones do it all nowadays. Most millennials haven’t owned a standalone alarm clock since middle school, and they’d rather have nightstands clear enough for a charger, maybe a glass of water. The radio part is rarely used, and they don’t want another device to worry about.
Framed Wedding Portraits on the Dresser
You know those giant, professionally lit wedding photos in ornate frames? Boomers love them, yet millennials tend to keep things a little more low-key, and their wedding photos usually stay in the cloud. If they do print them, they’ll be in a living room, not center stage in the bedroom, but either way, they won’t have oversized prints in heavy frames. For them, big formal portraits feel a little too serious for a space that’s supposed to feel relaxed.
Wall-To-Wall Carpeting in the Bedroom
Soft beige carpet stretching from wall to wall is normal for many boomers, while millennials are more likely to go for hardwood or laminate—anything that doesn’t trap pet hair & crumbs. If they want softness, they’ll toss down a rug because they prefer washable items to carpeting that can wear out quickly. The stains never really come out of a carpet, but a rug is something you can easily swap out whenever.
Ruffled Bed Skirts
Lots of boomers would cover the space under their bed with a bed skirt, which usually had ruffles or pleats, and they were the finishing touch for the bed. Millennials don’t really use them, and most will just leave the space open or go for a fitted platform or storage bed. Ruffled bed skirts are hard to put on, and once they slide out of place or get bunched up, they’re quite annoying to fix.
Disclaimer: This list is solely the author’s opinion based on research and publicly available information.
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