When Swiss medical student Johannes Hofer coined the term “nostalgia” in 1688, he used it to describe mercenaries who felt a deep, debilitating longing for their native lands. He theorized that it could lead to a flood of physical symptoms, like heart palpitations and insomnia, and combined the Greek words nostos (homecoming) and algos (pain) to name it. Realizing you can’t go home again, it hurts.
But perhaps you can recreate it. Lizzy Muñoz, 31, did just that two years ago when her parents gave her a collection of boxes that had been gathering dust in their basement. Inside: a near complete collection of her childhood. There were DVDs, toys, magazines, and more. “I was looking through these boxes, and they held so much comfort and joy,” she says. Instead of putting everything back in storage, she had an idea: Why not actually use the items? And so began the design of what she calls her “nostalgia room.” There’s a pink and purple Disney princess TV and a matching computer monitor on her desk. Tinker Bell, Mary Poppins, and Bambi figurines grace a shelf. A wall of records displays modern pressings of the early 2000s greats: The Cheetah Girls, Hannah Montana, Demi Lovato, and more. “It’s a little time machine,” Muñoz says.
She is not alone. The trend of decorating for your inner child is more than just nostalgia—it’s nestalgia. And it’s particularly popular among millennials and Gen Z. “In just a few years, it’s gone from one or two creators, to my Instagram feed to now being flooded with people who have rooms full of dolls and other toys…and everybody has a different reason for it,” says Destinee Ristau, a 34-year-old from Orlando, Florida. People use them as filming studios, media rooms, even their own bedrooms. Ristau herself has a dedicated nostalgia room full of ’90s and 2000s toys, memorabilia, and media in her apartment.
According to GWI, a consumer research company, Gen Z and millennials are the most nostalgic generations. It’s a statistic that makes sense to Krystine Batcho, PhD, a psychologist who studies nostalgia, and says the feeling peaks twice in a person’s lifespan. “The first is in the transition to adulthood, and the second, which is slightly less, is usually around retirement.” Younger millennials and Gen Z would be right in the middle of this first bump.
Most of these nestalgic spaces are used to display or engage with items inspired by, longed for, or from one’s childhood. “I have mine arranged like pockets for different eras,” explains Muñoz. Like her Disney Channel corner, which includes High School Musical and Hilary Duff posters and a CRT TV surrounded by CDs and DVDs. “In that area, I really tried to replicate the way I used to display my things when I was a kid,” she explains.
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IKEA Billy bookshelves in Ristau’s room display a massive collection of VHS tapes and DVDs, their neon, Y2K spines like a fresh box of highlighters. Across the room, toys and memorabilia are arranged in thematic groupings with cubbies holding items such as Littlest Pet Shop figurines, ’90s-era McDonald’s Happy Meal boxes and prizes, and Lizzie McGuire merch. “I try to make the space very functional, because I actually use it,” she adds. “I’ll have movie nights or eat dinner in that room.”
Ristau points to 27-year-old Nicole Randone, known as Miss 2005 online, as one of the first creators she saw with a decade-specific living space. “I’ve been collecting for at least 10 years,” Randone says. As her online username suggests, she has a Y2K bedroom that would rival any actually from the time. “It’s more about giving myself the chance to live in an era that I’ve been drawn to my whole life.” She still pines for Chad Michael Murray—evident from the many posters of him as a teenage heartthrob dotted across her bedroom—and describes 2004’s A Cinderella Story as “pure magic.” Though she was alive in the early aughts, most of her favorite things—like flip phones and Juicy Couture track suits—had fallen out of trend by the time she was old enough to fully engage with them. “It’s really to pay homage to what I wanted as a kid. I’m doing this for my younger self,” she says.
Nestalgia’s popularity coincides with a broader yearning for throwback culture. Just think of everything that’s been rebooted or (unexpectedly sequelized) in the past few years: Gossip Girl, Top Gun, Freaky Friday, iCarly, Night Court...the list goes on. Hilary Duff just released her first album in over a decade; Miley Cyrus recently confirmed a Hannah Montana anniversary special is on the horizon. Brands have further leaned into this nostalgia farming, capitalizing on consumer’s hunger for the past. Bucket Listers, an event discovery platform, created a nostalgic video store-inspired pop up bar, which has traveled to Philadelphia, Austin, Boston, San Diego, and NYC, among others. Airbnb made life-sized Polly Pocket and Smurf houses. “Nostalgic experiences were something we were seeing other brands do,” says Rebecca Payne, the senior director of experiences for Favour, the in-house activations arm of Allied Sport. Last year, Payne worked on recreating the Green Room from Goodnight Moon for the Sheraton Boston.
To Dr. Batcho, a Y2K bedroom, or any nostalgic space, is overall a positive practice. “Generally, nostalgia is good for you, and there is a long list of benefits,” she says. These include improved mood, increased self-esteem, and promotion of social connection. “The research shows that people who are more nostalgic tend to be more optimistic, hopeful, have better coping skills, and are more likely to be able to battle against depression.”
Ristau started collecting items for her room in 2022 following a series of difficult events in her personal life. Through therapy, she began confronting her childhood, which was unstable due to a contentious divorce between her biological parents. “My therapist encouraged me to explore things I didn’t get to as a kid. Now, I’m giving little me and adult me everything that I dreamt of having.”
This is another benefit of nostalgia, Dr. Batcho points out. “It can help us reframe or fix our past,” she says. “When you recreate an ambiance you never had, a couple of things can happen.” The first is resolution. “You’re closing the book and tucking away feelings of failure, jealousy, shame, or whatever it may be,” she explains. The other is a forward-looking perspective, as it can help people take stock of achievements. “It makes the victory all the more sweet.” A room full of items that inspire either of these emotions is one that will make many happy.
It’s no surprise then that nestalgia is uniquely comforting for many people. “I feel so safe when I sit in this room; it’s the only way I can describe it,” says Mai Pham, a 23-year-old content creator whose podcast studio in her home is inspired by her childhood room. Many of the items in the space were things she either owned or made as a kid (like artwork or clay sculptures) though she also shopped for some period-specific additions. “It was really healing to put the space together, because I ended up looking back over every note I ever wrote and every vision board I ever made. I don’t think I’ve ever examined my childhood in such detail before.”
Designing the room was self-correcting, she adds, and allowed her to reframe negative associations from her childhood into a more positive perspective. “When I thought about my childhood bedroom, I kind of imagined myself sitting in bed and crying. Now, I look back at all the things I did in that room—like starting my YouTube channel—and I see everything I’ve accomplished. A chaotic time blossomed into such a beautiful thing.”
