DARK ACADEMIA

7 Jul

What is the Dark Academia interior design aesthetic?

How to embrace your inner academic and decorate for the love of books

Sketch notes on the elements that make up dark academia; dark wallpaper, bookcases, walnut, brass fittings, leather, book binding, study, Victorian and Georgian interiors — *sketched notes on photos of a Paris shop with a natural dark academia vibe*

Aesthetics are to play with on one level but if you find a genre of decor depressive then it is bad for you! Choose what you love around you and build from there. If you love books, 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 Gen X-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.

Dark academia is an aesthetic on social media visual reference #darkacademiadecorAntiques, statuary, china tea sets, magnifying glasses, wax sealing, candles, memento mori, books, book binding, Oxbridge aesthetic — *image from my instagram @aineatara.design*

As with any aesthetic genre, 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. Paperbacks can be shelved with the spines in 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 Halloween-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.

photo by Aine Atara, Paris, evening, book and antique print shop, 2005, Quartier Du Faubourg-Du-Roule — *photo by me, Paris 2005, Quartier Du Faubourg-Du-Roule*

*photo by me, Paris 2005, Quartier Du Faubourg-Du-Roule*

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 to fit within this style.