What is the Dark Academia Aesthetic? │ The Arts and Literature Meet Interior Design

There is a trend in naming trends... and it's kind of annoying.

Except that the name for this trend, Dark Academia Aesthetic, sounds rather inviting.

What is this trend? It's the quintessentially perfect study or library: think thick leather sofas, mahogany bookshelves, leather-bound books, and quaint lighting. It's vintage knickknacks, beautiful accent pieces, and a glorification of old things; one that is concerned with literature or the arts. 

It's an old study filled with vintage beautiful things. Everything I love seeing on old PBS classics. Or read about in classic books like The Great Gatsby, or Jane Austen.

It's also everything I love and totally up my alley, especially as a Literature major. And guess what? It's also called " the old library" or "the study" in normal interior design.

Regardless, I'm thrilled that people like this look still. I even have a section on my Pinterest site with a board filled with beautiful Dark Academia.

While it's pretentious to name this type of style, much like the term bookshelf wealth, the images I've come across make me yearn for a dark, rich, library or study. These are all the things I adore, have wanted to be surrounded by, and hope to attain (without pretension) because I love literature, books, and vintage interiors.

Essentially, the dark academia aesthetic is my jam. It’s literature meets vintage interior design and it’s a beautiful blend.

Maybe one day I'll have my dark academia room. For now, I can look at pictures and think beautiful thoughts.

-Heather