Remember those ceramic roosters sitting on top of the refrigerator? The cow-print dish towels draped over the oven handle? The little duck figurines lined up on the windowsill above the sink? If you grew up in the suburbs in the 1990s, that kitchen probably feels like home in the truest sense of the word. And here’s the thing: it’s coming back.

Farm animal kitchen decor is having a genuine moment right now, and honestly, it couldn’t feel more right. After years of white subway tile, open shelving, and kitchens that look more like architecture magazine spreads than places where families actually cook, a lot of homeowners are ready for something warmer. Something personal. Something that makes you smile when you walk in to pour your morning coffee.

Not minimalist. Not modern. Emotional.

That description comes from Taylor Szostak, a San Diego-based staging expert, realtor, and founder of San Diego Military Real Estate. She knows a thing or two about what makes a space feel like home versus what makes it feel like a showroom. “It’s a mix of ‘country kitchen’ with animals, cows, chickens, ducks, and objects that are also used in everyday life,” Szostak said. “The look is warm and a little kitsch.”

The kitsch factor is exactly the point. We’re talking about a style that doesn’t take itself too seriously, one that says yes, I have a rooster cookie jar, and I love it. Depending on how you pull it together, the look can run the range from charmingly whimsical to quietly sophisticated. A hand-painted chicken on a ceramic platter reads very differently than a whole flock of duck figurines marching across the counter. Both are valid. Beauty really is in the eye of the beholder here.

So why now? Szostak points to something bigger than just nostalgia, though nostalgia is absolutely part of it. She calls it “a rejection of minimalism.” Spaces aren’t meant to be perfect, she said. They’re meant to be personal. After years of curated, coldly beautiful interiors flooding social feeds, a lot of families are circling back to the stuff that actually made their childhood kitchens feel like the heart of the house.

The trend fits right alongside the broader cottagecore wave that’s been reshaping home decor for younger homeowners, too. What the design world sometimes calls “grand millennial” style, cozy, collected, unafraid of a little pattern mixing, overlaps directly with this aesthetic. Cows, chickens, and ducks slot right in.

If you want to bring this into your own kitchen without going overboard, Szostak has practical advice. Start small. Pick one or two key pieces and build them against a neutral base, white walls, natural wood, clean countertops. “Prioritize pieces with a careful design and remember that it is an accent first of all; don’t overdo it,” she said. That’s the difference between a kitchen that feels charmingly nostalgic and one that feels like a country gift shop after an earthquake.

The best starting points are items you actually use. Cow salt and pepper shakers on the table. A recipe tin featuring chickens and cows to hold all those handwritten recipe cards you’ve been meaning to organize. Barnyard-themed lid rests that prop up pot lids while you cook and make you grin every single time. When your decor pulls double duty as something functional, it earns its place on the counter rather than just collecting dust.

The National Kitchen and Bath Association tracks design trends closely, and the pivot toward personalized, character-filled kitchens has been consistent across the past couple of years. People want rooms that tell a story.

Taste of Home put together a full roundup of favorite farm animal kitchen picks if you’re ready to start shopping, from recipe tins to cookware to the kind of small decorative pieces that can shift the whole feeling of a room.

The rooster on the fridge wasn’t just decor. It was your grandmother’s kitchen. It was Saturday morning pancakes. It was the room where everybody ended up no matter what.

That’s worth bringing back.