‘Mid-century millennial’ – the ubiquitous look that took over a generation’s homes

Got the look? A mid-century millennial lounge. Illustration: Eleanor Bannister/The Guardian

For two years from 2017, I was subletting a flat in Stockholm, and the deal was that it would contain everything except the owner’s clothes and some of her books. This suited me as I hadn’t taken anything with me except clothes and some books.

My new abode scored almost full marks on the Millennial Apartment bingo card, created in 2018 by Laura Schocker for the Apartment Therapy website. It featured 24 mainstays of home decor to tick off, and went viral online. In my flat’s sitting room, a neon “love” sign was fixed over the brass bar cart. There was a faux cowhide rug here and a Berber-style rug there. It also had an Eames knock-off chair, a marble table with rose-gold legs, kooky contrasts between round, soft things and hard, angular things, and plants everywhere. Edison light bulbs in rose-gold cages, brass pineapple bookends either end of a shelf peppered with mini cactuses … it had the lot.