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Amanda Hansen loves pink moments. “I guess I was born to be a pink girl. All my stuff. Everything I buy is always a bit Barbie-like,” she says. “So it’s taken over.”
Ms. Hansen, a graphic designer in Tacoma, Wash., has infused her home with colors befitting a Barbie dreamhouse, from pink Smeg appliances in the kitchen to purple and pink floral wallpaper in the dining room, and Lots of color accents. Best of all, though, is the Barbie oasis in the backyard. There, Ms. Hansen, 31, installed a bright pink above-ground pool (which she bought on Amazon for about $150) and shaded it with a banana-leaf-print umbrella. She painted a pink and white checkered floor on the concrete patio, and soon, a pink cabin with striped curtains will round out the space.
“I wanted Palm Springs to feel all pink, like a Barbie doll that I could do, like it wasn’t a little backyard in Tacoma,” Ms. Hanson said. Barbiecore, a palette of mostly bright pinks and equally bold roses like fuchsia and magenta, is flooding the home decor scene with the catalyst of the upcoming “Barbie” movie.
Searches for “Barbie aesthetic bedroom” increased by 1,135% from May 2022 to May 2023, according to information shared by Pinterest, a web service where people can save images to virtual boards. Swasti Sarna, director of global data insights at Pinterest, said the web service also saw an increase in searches for other bright pink decor, including bathroom decor and kitchen cabinets.
It’s not enough to just wear bright pink, one also wants to be surrounded by it at home.
Hot pink is perfect for minimalism, which has seen a resurgence in recent years as a response to the minimalist aesthetic that has long dominated Instagram feeds. People are tending to their own personal touches at home during the pandemic, from disco balls to handmade tiles.
When Ms. Henson married her husband six years ago, she experimented with farmhouse decor. “It’s not my style, I realize that, but I’m trying to be mature,” she said. “So it just started happening one day, I think it was maybe three or four years ago, I started painting the walls and then things escalated.”
In Nashville, Beverly Griffith has long loved the color and incorporated it into her home decor when she bought her home in 2017. “Millennial pink isn’t pink enough for me,” says Ms. Griffith, 42. Her bathroom, for example, has a bright pink shower curtain and pink bathtub, and her recently renovated kitchen has bright pink The electrical appliances, painted by Ms. Griffith herself.
Ms Griffith, who quit her job as a bartender at the start of the pandemic, has brought this fondness for bright pink to the exterior of her home, which she has painted in three different vibrant shades. The house became a social media sensation, and she now rents it out to musicians and content creators, who use the space during the day. “Since I painted my house pink, I’ve met people, or read comments on social media, that they’ve been embarrassed to say they like pink in the past,” Ms Griffiths said. “They thank me for being so outgoing and confident in pink.”
Pink is often considered a feminine color, but that wasn’t always the case. According to color psychology, pink was originally worn by boys because it was a lighter version of the red used in military uniforms. Eventually, pink was renamed the girl’s color. Pop pink caused a stir in the mid-1930s when Italian designer Elsa Schiaparelli released her own iteration, “Pink Shock.”
The original Barbie didn’t even wear pink when she debuted in 1959, instead wearing a black and white chevron swimsuit. “The world really became associated with Barbie in the 70s when we started insisting on pink-focused packaging as a core brand identity,” said Kim Culmone, senior vice president and head of Design for Barbie and Fashion Dolls at Mattel. Over the years, Barbie’s shade of pink has evolved, and in 2008, the vibrant “Barbie Pink” became the official Pantone color.
With the advent of Barbie dolls, brands have jumped at the moment. After partnering with Mattel last year to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Barbie Dreamhouse, furniture company Joybird teamed up with the toymaker on another collection, including a sofa and feature chair in a deep jewel-pink hue, to be released in July.
Joybird has a bright pink sofa that was popular in 2016, notes Gifty Walker, sales and purchasing director for Joybird in Los Angeles. Now bright pink is back, and customers are using it to eschew traditional neutrals like gray, brown and tan. “While once, these bolder colors were only used in pillows and rugs and decorations, now we’re seeing people really using them as a staple of the room,” Ms. Walker said.
For 30-year-old model Jasmine Mitchell, accessorizing in bright pink allowed her to connect with her inner child. When she moved from Dallas to Los Angeles in 2021, she designed her living room around the color. The first item she bought for the apartment’s living room was a velvet bright pink chair with gold legs. LED lights around the windows glow pink at night.
“I love other pinks, but bright pink does have something to do with it. It’s exciting. It makes me so happy and makes me feel alive,” Ms. Mitchell said. “So I kind of let my younger self guide me.”
