What is the Dark Academia interior design aesthetic?
Nº 04 ：How to embrace your inner academic and decorate for the love of books.
Aesthetics are to play with on one level but if you find a genre of décor depressive then it is bad for you! Choose what you love around you and build from there. If you love books and gothic architecture and the vibe of old universities then you can embrace dark academia and make it your own at home.
It isn’t goth in the sense this GenX-er knows goth but it has the gothic colour way and design element sensibility.
As you may be aware, Dark Academia is an aesthetic on social media. For visual reference, here is a sample of the #darkacademiadecor search results on my instagram today.
As with any aesthetic take what you like and leave the rest.
I suggest you keep these elements;
Books! especially leather bound and embossed. Source vintage shops, used book sellers, charity shops. Note, paperbacks can be shelved with the spines turned in towards the back of the bookcase if they are too colourful. The glossy dust jackets on hardbacks can be removed for a calmer, more conducive to the genre, spine display.
Memento mori items if they are helpful to your mental health (faux skulls).
Framed old maps.
Reference books.
Framed architectural drawings pre 1900.
Mud-larked glass/old cast glass bottles.
Victorian/Georgian/19th Century (and earlier) furniture.
Stationery items from shops like Choosing Keeping.
Antiques, statuary, china tea sets, magnifying glasses, wax sealing, candles.
and I’d ignore these aspects;
anything Hallowe’en-esque outside of the Samhain season.
Faux cobwebs, ouija boards.
Vampire related items.
Victorian medical bags & devices (past traumas).
anything creepy like broken porcelain dolls.
anything violent like daggers, old joinery tools etc.
So where did dark academia come from? Of course the vibe has been around as long as Trinity College, Dublin and the Oxbridge schools, at least. Humans who love to study, read and have libraries at home have been choosing this style since books have been around. I certainly am drawn to this aesthetic mood. Below are photos I took in 2005. I was walking around Paris one evening and saw this scene through a shop window. The vibe was so enticing to me. The shop was closed and I’m not sure what work went on there, but the book binding and scenes of reverence for working with old things was drawing me in.
So where to buy dark academia decor?
Don’t buy the main interior elements new. Source your bookcases, tables, chairs and maybe even lighting from antique auctions, vintage shops, charity and thrift stores.
The decorative items like old framed maps and etchings can be sourced the same way, but you can also buy prints from museum shops online and have them framed yourself.
Etsy and Ebay of course, and you can look for items you already have, or from within your extended family. Decorating the walls and interior will allow items you already own to fit within this style.
Happy sourcing!
Please to tap the ♡ heart icon under the title of the article to turn it red! ♥️
And to never miss an article and support my work please to tap SUBSCRIBE for free or for a paid option. Paid subscribers can comment, ask questions and get access to extra tips and curated decor shopping lists.
Áine Atara of Aesthetics of Living on Substack