- Homeowners in their 20s and 30s are backing the once-scorned color.
- More than a quarter of 25-24 year olds say they want an avocado bath
- Five years ago, a report said avocados could reduce the value of a home by £5,000.
You might think they had been relegated to the memory box of style history along with bell-bottoms, footballers’ perms and other horrors of the 1970s.
But avocado-colored bathrooms are making an unexpected comeback, because millennials actually think they’re cool.
A report has found that British homeowners aged between 20 and 30 believe the much-maligned avocado green has made a comeback as a must-have colour.
The Great Bathroom Report from homewares retailer Wickes reveals that more than a quarter of 25-34 year-olds (27 per cent) say avocado is the colour they would most like to use in a bathroom renovation.
This is in contrast to the generations living through the 1970s, when fewer than one in twenty older Britons were happy to see the return of colour.
Green with envy: Avocado-coloured bathrooms are making an unexpected comeback – because millennials actually think they’re cool
More than a quarter of 25- to 34-year-olds (27 percent) say avocado is the color they would most like to use in a bathroom renovation.
Fortunately, according to the report, the new trend does not necessarily mean a return to garish bathrooms.
Today’s more understated avocado-inspired suites are likely to employ the retro green look with a lighter twist, complemented by subtle mosaics and paint schemes.
Tim Richards, head of bathrooms at Wickes, describes it as “a green that reflects peace and nature, as well as the calm of Japanese design.”
Meanwhile, a report from social media app Pinterest also found a 350 percent increase in internet searches for “dark green bathroom” and a whopping 2,670 percent increase in queries about “eco-friendly home decor” in general.
Professor Deborah Sugg Ryan, a British design historian and TV presenter, said: ‘Like disco, sparklers and prawn cocktail, nothing says the 1970s quite like avocado green bathrooms.
‘For anyone who lived through that decade, it’s perhaps understandable that they might not particularly want to revisit it.
‘Luckily, this new avocado bath trend that has been a hit among twenty-somethings and thirty-somethings is much more subtle.’
Wickes surveyed 2,115 homeowners and spoke to its 700 design consultants to produce the Wickes Great Bathroom Report.
The results are in stark contrast to just five years ago, when experts estimated that having an avocado bathroom could shave nearly £5,000 off the value of a home.
It is estimated that more than 300,000 British households still have avocado in their bathrooms, but three in four people said in a 2017 survey that if they bought a house that had one, it would be the first thing they would remove.
Wood panelling and built-in bars were also identified as other fixtures likely to deter home buyers, closely followed by loudly patterned carpets and uneven flooring.
Research by Bathrooms.com set out to find the ten most dated decorating trends that are likely to put off potential buyers.
Artex ceilings and textured wallpaper made the list, as did brick fireplaces.
Not all of the 1970s trends are making a comeback, including boldly patterned carpets and wood-paneled walls.
Artex ceilings are another relic of the 1970s that are, thankfully, a thing of the past.
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