The Resurgence of Maximalism: Design and Beyond

Gone are the days of white walls and gray furniture–gallery walls and velvet couches are back in a big way.

From rockstar Lenny Kravitz to actor/singer duo David Harbour and Lily Allen, maximalist design continues to make a comeback. And not just in celebrity homes.

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To better understand maximalism's resurgence, we must first confront the recent minimalist movement. While the obsession with minimalism may have started as an attempt to organize or “declutter” not just our lives but the spaces in which we live, many argue it’s had a much deeper and potentially negative impact. 

I’d like to acknowledge that while the minimalist style has certainly popped up prior to this century, I am referring to a specific moment when every office space, restaurant, school, and home opted for a “less is more” approach. Here’s what’s changed since then.

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Color is Back

Journey back with me to, I don’t know, ten years ago. Every living room is white with somehow an even whiter couch. The kitchen has marble counters, the rugs are cream, the floors are gray laminate, and the art is…also grey. If you walked into any newly built home or establishment throughout most of the 2000s, you were met with an extremely limited palette of grays, darker grays, and whites. This was the height of minimalism’s latest wave and its lingering effects have come under attack in recent years.

In case you need visual evidence, look no further than this 2016 living room.

While there’s certainly something to be said for de-cluttering, since when was organized the opposite of color and character? We’re seeing color’s comeback in a big way, especially since social media users became horrified over the results of a study suggesting grey is the dominant color in today’s world. As it turns out, an aversion towards neutral colors might be due to their more hidden negative effects. 

A post on Architectural Digest’s blog, Clever, featured an interview with color psychologist Tash Bradley who finds gray to be a negative presence in the homes of many. Bradley points out that while some colors like red and blue produce positive responses, gray is soulless, “it honestly drains you.” In my mind gray has always been relatively neutral, but as Bradley points out, there’s a reason a cloudy sky compels us to draw the curtains and stay in bed. 

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Nostalgia over Novel

We’ve seen the trend towards bygone–rather than contemporary–styles in many spaces. From the resurgence of old cameras and record players to the recent success of the vintage clothing market, it seems more people are prone to embrace less convenient or less modern methods in favor of nostalgia.

I mean, in 2022 43% of all albums sold in the US were vinyl LPs. Just this month a New York Times article about the rise of vintage shopping reported, “Last year, apparel resale in the United States grew seven times the rate of the broader retail industry.” 

Social media has been buzzing with content condemning the modern move away from color, character, and detail. A video from vintage artist Raw’a Tartour (@rawaa_artist on IG) garnered almost 60 million views and 3.5 million likes by claiming humans have turned into “soulless robots,” its caption reads “The death of details and the danger of minimalism…” 

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History Repeats Itself

In the same vein, maximalism’s comeback might be due in part to a kind of historic reoccurrence. If we look at basically any century before this one, maximalist design took precedence. Homes during the Renaissance, Victorian Era, and even the 1980s share different variations of the same maximalist values; color, character, patterns, and art. We recommend checking out @the_80s_interior on Instagram for some shamelessly bold throwbacks, and @themaximalistdreamer for more modern inspiration.

Humans will go back to what we know time and time again, and as of now, history has seen a lot more flowered curtains and ornate rugs than it has the inverse. 

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A Case Study

I’ll let this next example speak for itself.  

An Instagram reel posted by Architectural Digest featured Canadian hockey player Connor McDavid’s ultra-modern/minimalist house designed by his girlfriend.

Here are some images:

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Most of the comments on the video look something like this: 

Maximalism Outside the Home

It’s increasingly clear to me that maximalism will continue to resurface in many industries; not just in opposition to negative sentiments toward minimalist design, but because people value self-expression and creativity. 

Recent award-winners like Everything Everywhere All at Once and Spiderman: Into the Spider-verse bode well for the future of maximalist cinema. Some of the biggest pop stars today exude maximalist energy on stage and in editorial shoots. I mean, Charli XCX’s Brat green just might be the most maximalist color in existence.

Particularly concerned with striking looks is singer Chappell Roan, her signature white face paint and heavy blue eyeshadow look began trending at the start of her tour and a lady liberty look shook up the concert space when she rose out of a smoking apple dressed as the statue. 

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In virtually all fashion spaces, maximalist clothing is back. Runway moments from high-end designers boast color, pattern, and experimental silhouettes like we haven't seen in decades. Designer Kim Shui’s recent work is all about jewel-toned garments reminiscent of lavish wallpaper while streetwear brand Sundae School embraces loud-patterned fleeces for their 2024 collection. 

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And maximalist fashion doesn’t have to be brand new, vintage retailers like Rogue are bringing back bold colors and prints. 

Reconsider

On a personal note, I grew up in a home where our school art projects lined the hallways in hand-me-down frames, my mother displayed her grandmother’s intricate perfume bottles in a glass cabinet, and patterned blankets covered our speckled couch. While design wasn't at the forefront of my parents’ minds the house never felt cold or unfeeling. The bounty of wood washes and mismatched dishes characterized my childhood and continues to color my adult life. 

If it’s not obvious, I’m a fan of the move towards bold design. However, if by the end of this you still favor minimalism, I invite you to try adding a few elements of maximalism to your life. Maybe start with some patterned curtains or an opulent picture frame. I think, eventually, you’ll feel so welcomed by the color in your home you’ll forget you ever wanted to cover the wood floors with gray laminate.