The days of colourful and vibrant feature walls in the home are out. White walls? Boring! We need a little bit of colour, right? But grey? Grey!

Is it the 50 Shades of Grey empire that’s causing millennials to love ‘grey’? Or is it just another TikTok fad that some bored 30-year-old started on a rainy Sunday that has taken the world by storm? Either way … Millennial grey is causing headaches and triumphs for house painters and real estate agents!

What is Millennial Grey?

If you’ve been anywhere near TikTok in the past year or two, you’ll know Millennial grey has taken the platform by storm in terms of interior design (for one generation at least). Maybe it’s because grey paint is cheaper and we’re all struggling to pay the bills. Or perhaps millennials are getting older and leaning into a more subdued stage of their lives. Either way, it’s more than a colour choice now. It’s a generational mood.

According to the Urban Dictionary, Millennial grey is defined as, “The sad depressive hue of the colour grey which many millennials coat their life in. The colour reflects how millennials went from nonsense happiness, looking at Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon in the '90s, to inflation and depression in the early 2020s.”

Harsh but… not entirely inaccurate.

Impact of Millennial Grey on Painting and Selling

Millennials may be copping flak for their soulless grey living spaces, and professional painters may be bored to tears painting one grey wall after another – but when it comes time to sell a home, grey often wins the day.

In fact, choosing a grey colour scheme may be ideal for painting ROI. According to Perth painter Stephen Cochrane, it’s a solid choice and offers the understated neutrality that real estate agents prefer when marketing a home for sale.

“A neutral grey wall has a timeless appeal,” he says. “It’s also excellent when selling a home because it creates a kind of blank canvas for buyers to imagine putting their own stamp on.”

You want your home to appeal to the maximum amount of buyers - and according to Commonwealth Bank data, 46% of new property investors in 2023 were millennials. So painting your home in a colour your buyers deeply resonate with just makes good sense!

Your individual home style and flair may be fabulously colourful – but when it comes time to sell, it may also be under-appreciated. It’s a travesty! It’s an insult! But it’s also a potential roadblock to the best sale price. So grab your paintbrush, or better yet - call in the pros - and embrace Millennial grey!