Dark Cottagecore Decor: How to Get the Moody Magical Look in Your Apartment
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If you love the Cottagecore aesthetic BUT you feel like it needs a little bit more of a dark, witchy energy, then you may want to explore Dark Cottagecore!
In this post, I’m sharing tons of Dark Cottagecore decor inspiration that will give you plenty of ideas on how to transform your small apartment living room into an enchanting, moody oasis.
And of course the challenge is… how exactly can you do Dark Cottagecore in a rental apartment in the city? It’s a little bit of a paradox, I’ll admit. But when it comes to interior styling, opposites often attract! So let’s talk about how to create Dark Cottagecore magic in your apartment.
Would you rather watch than read? Here’s the video! ↓
What is Dark Cottagecore?
First, let's briefly establish what Dark Cottagecore is. If you're not familiar with regular Cottagecore, it's basically an aesthetic that conveys a romanticized version of country cottage life, with an emphasis on cozy simplicity, a wholesome, often granny chic nostalgia, and earthy, nature-oriented pastimes like foraging for mushrooms or tending to your garden.
For city folk such as myself, Cottagecore is a very enticing style because it exemplifies everything we don't have. Cottagecore feels like an antidote to modern day city living, and I definitely think that's part of its appeal.
And one of the challenges here is: how do you do Dark Cottagecore in a rental apartment that is likely in the city?
If you think about it, the very concept of “rental apartment in the city” is the antithesis to what Cottagecore represents. If you're living in apartment in the city, you're trying to achieve this paradox of urban Cottagecore.
So how do you do this look in an apartment? The decor ideas that I'm going to share with you might give you some inspiration on how to achieve the spirit of Dark Cottagecore in your apartment, specifically if we were designing your living room together.
And just keep in mind: if you're doing Dark Cottagecore, I definitely recommend you start with a local thrift store near you or antique shop. Buying things secondhand just fits with Dark Cottagecore as a concept, which is inherently in opposition to corporate consumerism. So thrift store shopping is going to be ideal for this style.
But in addition to finding thrift store and antique pieces, here are some items that you could buy right now if you wanted from the internet, or just simply get inspired by!
Decorative Accents
Soft Things
Couches
Media Consoles
Coffee & Side Tables
So those were the Dark Cottagecore decor pieces I pulled together!
And of course, we all know that the tricky part is actually bringing everything together in a space. How do we get a sense of what the decor pieces we’re shopping for could look like in a room?
That's when I recommend creating a mockup! It can really help you make decisions on what to buy and what not to buy.
So here's the mockup I created with some of the pieces that I featured here:
Now, in a real world living room, of course you would have a mix of things that you already own and things that fall into a different interior style. Nobody is ever going to stick to just one style strictly. This mockup is definitely a strictly Dark Cottagecore room. It's tonally all the same thing, which I would advise against. We want some variety in our spaces, but for the sake of this demonstration, this really is a full-blown Dark Cottagecore living room. Just something to keep in mind!
So when doing this in Canva (which is the the tool that I use), it's so easy to just drag pictures of the things you're thinking about buying into your project, and then switch things out and play around from there.
If you played The Sims growing up like I did, and your favorite part was building the houses and designing the rooms, then you'll love creating mockups in Canva. It's basically the same thing! Only there are no Sims to kill off in cruel and unusual yet creative ways… 🙃
So that was my take on Dark Cottagecore! Let me know in the comments below, what interior style do you think I should dive into next?
And if you love Dark Cottagecore, then I recommend you watch this video of mine next, which is all about Whimsigoth. This style has a lot in common with Dark Cottagecore, so if you want even more ideas on a very dark and magical style, watch this one next!
