The Design Trend I've Loved for Years is Taking the Internet by Storm: Dark Academia

It finally has a name!!!

I couldn’t put my finger on it, I just knew that I liked it. No, I loved it. It felt like all the best parts of my favorite kind of design put into one: Cozy, collected, cluttered, yet controlled. The 4 C’s, if you will. And now it finally has a name that makes so much sense, I’m wondering why I didn’t think of it to begin with:

Dark Academia

If you’ve ever seen the movie Knives Out and found yourself drooling over the mansion the movie is set in, you may be a fan of Dark Academia, too. It’s a look that feels collected over time and carries with it an air of sophistication and, well, academia. Think lots of stacked books, picture frames on walls, textures and patterns, layers, and dark colors/wallpaper on the walls.

It’s a style I have done and loved for years, but I never knew there was actually a name for it until I saw this post from Scene Therapy, where they describe the style as “combining the traditional accoutrement of the ancient Oxbridge scholar with the shades and designs of a seasonal murder mystery.”

And then after this post from Architectural Digest popped up in my email, I knew it was time to finally acknowledge that Dark Academia is officially a style that people are talking about and loving, and I’m so glad. While we’re fixing up Holiday House at the farm, which will be a mostly white and cream color palette inside, we’re going to be getting into more warm, earthy, and dark colors for our house in town, and I’m excited to lean into the Dark Academia style here at home.

Architectural Digest goes on to say:

“Unlike other aesthetic microtrends born from the internet, like cluttercore or cottagecore, the murky atmosphere of dark academia seems to have kept the style from burning out fast and bright. According to Google’s Year in Search, an annual retrospective of trending searches compiled by the tech company, dark academia was among ten trending interior styles from 2022, a representative confirmed. Among the other styles on the lists—aesthetics like Scandinavian, modern farmhouse, art deco, and bauhaus—dark academia was the only one that had a direct correlation to a social media subculture. Looking back on the past five years, styles like midcentury modern and boho have dominated when it comes to capturing the attention of people around the globe; however, there’s a case to be made that dark academia could soon become an interiors stronghold.”

I am very excited to see where this trend goes and if it’s here to stay. And in the meantime, if you need me, I’ll be watching Knives Out on repeat.

(photos via Set Decorators Society of America)