Dark Academia Decor in a Small Bedroom: How to Fit the Look in a Little Space
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Can the dark academia aesthetic work in a small bedroom? Will the dark color palette make the room feel cramped? When it comes to small spaces, should dark decor be avoided at all costs?
Well, in my opinion, darkness in a small room is a GOOD THING!
In this post, I’m sharing some small bedroom ideas for the dark academia decor look, and explaining why the whole “dark colors make a room feel smaller” thing is a myth. 😉🖤
So if you live in a small apartment with a small bedroom area and you love dark academia, read on!
Would you rather watch than read? Here’s the video! ↓
So how do you decorate a small bedroom with a dark, moody aesthetic like Dark Academia without making it feel cramped?
First, let’s reframe the way we think about dark colors in small spaces. There's always been this myth that a dark color palette will make a space seem smaller, but that's just not true. Darkness can actually be very expansive! Just like how the night sky feels expansive.
If a darkly decorated room feels cramped, it's probably not because of the dark color palette. It's more likely that it feels cramped because of other reasons, like furniture placement and scale, clutter, or a lack of cohesion between the the different pieces in the room. It really depends on the specific room, but a dark color palette alone will not likely be the culprit for a room feeling cramped.
So let's just let go of this notion that dark colors should be avoided in small spaces. Just because a room is small does not mean it's ineligible for a dark style!
So with this in mind, let's get into some specific decor pieces that you could potentially use to create a Dark Academia look in a small bedroom!
And we'll stick to the bedroom basics: the bed, the nightstand, the dresser, and a few decorative accents. You might have more in your bedroom, but for the sake of this post, let's just keep it simple. Plus, if your bedroom is really tiny, you might not have room for more than these few pieces anyway.
The Bed
Sofa Beds
When it comes to a super small bedroom, something to consider would be a sofa bed or day bed. These can be good options for you if your bedroom is really tiny. And nowadays they can actually be pretty cute! For example, these sofa beds could be good options for a Dark Academia bedroom:
Now let’s talk about the decor for regular sized beds for the average small bedroom.
Headboards
Headboards are just a great way to make a big style statement in a small room because they really only take up vertical space. They don't take up any additional square footage.
And when it comes to Dark Academia specifically, a headboard is a great way to convey that sense of dark drama!
And what I was looking for when I was shopping for these headboards was a sense of old Gothic drama, vintage-looking wood, ornate details, and a good mix between masculine and feminine vibes.
Bedding
Your bedding (bedspread, decorative pillows, throw blankets, etc.) really is an opportunity to set the foundation of the cohesive picture in your small bedroom. Your bed is probably the largest item in your bedroom, and its largeness is only enhanced by the smallness of the room. So it'll most likely be the focal point carrying the most visual weight in the space.
And if you're creating a Dark Academia picture in your bedroom, here are some examples of bedding that could work well:
When I was shopping for these, of course I was leaning into the dark color palette and really thinking about how the bedding could set the stage for Dark Academia accessories to shine. And if I were personally doing a Dark Academia bedroom, I would definitely incorporate some of those sort of antique botanical designs as well as some of the more traditional patterns like damask.
Dressers
When it comes to a super small bedroom, you might want to stick with a vertical dresser rather than a horizontal one, simply because they take up less floor space and make use of vertical space. When I lived in tiny apartments in New York, vertical dressers were a requirement. And then I'd have my TV on top, so it doubled as a media console. Those were the days. 🙃
But some small bedrooms do have room for a horizontal dresser, so I put together a mix of the two.
And when I was finding these dressers - much like with the headboards - I was looking for vintage or vintage-looking wood, a dark aesthetic, and pretty embellishments in the knobs or in the wood. You want to look for things that look like you could find at an antique store or flea market. And of course I do recommend you go to a local antique store or secondhand shop in your area because that's where you're going to really find some unique treasures.
Nightstands
In a small bedroom, you may or may not have room for a nightstand, but I would do my best to try to squeeze one in because it's a great opportunity for additional storage. And when it comes to a small space, drawers and compartments are our friends.
And here are some nightstands with storage that would suit a Dark Academia bedroom nicely:
Once again, it is all about a classic antique-y look. And a word that comes to mind when shopping for Dark Academia is… gentlemanly. You know? But like a scholarly kind of gentleman vibe mixed with the femininity of florals.
I think that's something that, at least for me, is key with putting together a Dark Academia room: the unification of masculine and feminine aesthetics and making them harmonize with each other. And I definitely think these particular nightstands convey that harmony.
So those are really the core furniture pieces in a small bedroom, if you even have room for all three. Now let's get into the decorative accents that you can layer throughout the bedroom!
Decorative Accents
As you can see, these are all about leaning into an old timeless classical style. Like, you can't go wrong with a bust in a Dark Academia room, and I particularly like this Medusa bust because it's a little bit of a different take on the usual bust design. Instead of the typical David head I think it's kind of a cool witchy, feminine power take on the look.
And then of course, there are old books (which are pretty much a requirement for a Dark Academia room haha), moody lighting, dark floral wallpaper, the print of a black cat on a stack of books (does it get more Dark Academia than a stack of books and a black cat?), and pieces that have ornate Baroque embellishments.
Basically, it’s a curation of the little items that add personality to a space. And in this case, they would really drive home the the Dark Academia style.
So that was an example shopping list for a Dark Academia bedroom. Now let's see how these pieces could look in a hypothetical bedroom design!
Bedroom Mockup
This is a mockup I designed to show you how some of these things I picked out can come together to create a Dark Academia bedroom.
By the way, this mockup doesn't consider scale and furniture arrangement because those things really depend on a specific room. This is just to show you how these pieces could potentially look together visually.
And if you're in a really small bedroom, here's a modified version of the design with a sofa bed and a vertical dresser:
In this case, I took two of these vertical dressers and placed them side by side because they they are so thin that you could potentially make more of a full-size dresser effect by combining two. That is, of course, if you have the space for it.
Now, I know this design is definitely hitting the Dark Academia aesthetic pretty hard. I wouldn't expect any room to be just one style, but for the sake of this video I just wanted to make this super clear and super pronounced to really convey what this style is!
So basically, this is a bedroom where the Dark Academia volume is turned up to 11. And really, I love the drama of it! And Dark Academia is not a style to shy away from drama.
And I guess the main point here is that you don't have to shy away from drama either. Even if your space is tiny. There are ways to make any dramatic style work in a small space. Because the number one thing that will make your space look cramped is if you cramp your style!
Just because your space is small does not mean you have to be.
And if you really love the dark, moody decor styles like Dark Academia, then I recommend you watch this playlist of mine next. It has all of the videos I've made about various types of dark decor styles, so give it a watch if you love dark styles!
