Dark cottagecore decor is decor that resembles a forest cabin at twilight. Such a forest cabin at twilight often contains the scent of the moss on the forest floor and the scent of the smoke from the fires that burn in the forest at night. The entire design of a dark cottagecore space should feature decor that is aged, overgrown, and mysterious.
Dark cottagecore decor take the idea of cottage decor, which is typically cozy and storybook-like, but moves that decor into the shadows. Instead of pastel flower and decor, a person can use moody tones, dried herbs, and pieces of decor that were found within an abandoned fairy tale. This decor style are for those who would like there home to feel as if it is a sanctuary from the moddern world.
Dark cottagecore decor offers comfort without the sweetness of bright decor, and romance without lightness that might come with overly bright decor choices. Furthermore, this decor style evokes feelings of quiet magic within the space after the sun has set for the day. Such decor is for an individual who understands the guiding principle of this decor style.
The following ideas will help to explain the essential element of dark cottagecore decor. Furthermore, each idea build upon the previous idea to allow for the slow addition of each element to the home. By slowly adding each of these elements, a person will create a dark cottagecore decor space that feels lived in and genuine within the home, rather than one that feels forced and staged.
Essential Elements Of Dark Cottagecore Decor
1. Moody Color Palettes
Color is the first element that a person should consider for their decor. Color is the base of the decor scheme for the room. Each of the remaining decor elements will not matter as much as the colors of the walls of the house.
For example, deep forest green, charcoal, blackened brown, and oxblood red are some of the colors that will create the depth that is required for dark cottagecore decor. These colors will absorb the light in the room rather than reflecting it back. Because of this, the feeling of the decor will be of a smaller space that is safe and intimate.
Furthermore, the person should use a flat finish in painting the walls to make it appear as if the walls has absorbed the smoke from the hearth in the room for many years. Ensure, however, that there is enough contrast between the colors of the decor to allow for the individual’s eyes to travel throughout the entire space without getting lost in one corner or the other. For example, using charcoal on the walls will allow the warm color of the walnut cabinet in the room to glow.
2. Layered Textures
Following the color of the decor, the next element to consider is the textures in the decor. Textures will allow the decor to feel more three-dimensionally within the space and to allow for the individual to interact more with the decor in their space. Some textures that can be considered include heavy linen curtains, wool blankets, tapestries, and wooden beam across the ceiling.
If a person does not have real wooden beams in their ceiling, using reclaimed lumber to create faux wooden beams may work well in the decor. Additionally, incorporating a single sheepskin rug will provide another texture to the decor. Furthermore, each texture will contrast with the others to create a more interesting decor space.
Without textures that contrast with the colors in the space, the decor may not evoke the magic that is desired from the dark cottagecore decor. Next is the lighting in the space. Lighting is a critical element of the decor, but many people make mistake when decorating for dark cottagecore decor.
3. Atmospheric Lighting
For instance, avoid chandeliers or other overhead lighting for this decor style. Instead, a person can purchase candles, oil lamp, and table lamps with deep amber bulb to decorate the room. These lights will create pools of light throughout the space.
For instance, a single lantern can decorate a side table adorned with dried honesty pod and leather-bound book. Place mirrors in the space in opposition to the lighting to allow for those reflected lights to brighten the decor, but do not allow the mirrors to add too much light to the space. This lighting will make the decor in the space feel as if fire and moonlight have decorated that room for those who live within it.
4. Natural Elements
The next decor element to consider are natural decor elements that were gathered during a walk through the woods after dusk. Examples of natural decor items include branches in a vase, dried lavender hung from the beams of the ceiling, and river rock that can be placed on a dresser near the hearth in the room. Allow these natural decor elements to age within the space.
For example, do not obsess over dusting these decor element. Instead, allow for some natural dust to collect on these natural decor items to provide authenticity to those items. Do not use fresh flowers in the space.
Instead, use preserved ferns, skeleton leaves, or eucalyptus that has turned to a silvery gray over time. These types of plants will last for many season and will indicate to the visitors of the space that time move differently in this dark cottagecore decor space. Following these decor elements, the next to consider for a dark cottagecore decor space are the furniture item in the house.
5. Inherited Furniture
These items should feel as if they were inherited from another individual in the family rather than purchased from a furniture store. For instance, a person can purchase heavy oak furniture items for the space, and some of those items may have been painted black or sanded to reveal their original wooden feature. For example, a Victorian settee can be purchased for the space, as can a primitive bench made from a single slab of walnut.
Furthermore, different era of furniture items can be incorporated into the space without remorse. Each of these items may have been created in different centuries, but they were all inherited by the individuals who live in the cottage. Avoid furniture that is mass-produced and polished to look clean and new.
Instead, furniture with chips, water marks, and worn corner have their own features and stories to tell that are longer than the story of the individual who inhabits the space. Following the furniture items in the home is the decor of the accessories in the house. These accessories may include antique key hung from a ribbon that has frayed at the edges with time, taxidermy moth placed in glass cloche on the table, iron candle snuffers shaped like raven, or even a collection of apothecary bottle filled with different labeled liquids that can be placed on a windowsill to display these accessories.
6. Curiosity Driven Accessories
Each of these items should evoke curiosity from those who enter the space. Furthermore, each item will allow the decor space to feel as if it has been stepped into a spell book. Avoid using too many of the same type of accessories.
For instance, if using several candle snuffers shaped like ravens, do not use so many in the space that it begins to appear cartoonish. Following these accessories in the space are the plants in the home. These plants should be brooding variety.
7. Brooding Plants
For instance, ferns that cascade off of the shelf, monstera plants whose leaves are dark enough in color to appear as if they are black when in low light in the space, and trailing pothos plant can be used. Avoid any bright colored succulents or flowering houseplants in this decor style. Furthermore, a large fern can be placed in the space in front of a window to allow for the plant to become a part of the nighttime decor of the space.
The contrast between green plants and aged wood create a decor highlight. Following the plants in the space are the window treatment for the house. The window treatments will determine how much of the outside world enters the space.
8. Heavy Window Treatments
For instance, a person can line heavy velvet window drape in deep purple or deep green color with blackout fabric to allow for the remainder of the space to remain blacked out after dark. The drapes can be tied back during the day to allow for some of the light in the room to enter the space. The fabric of the drapes can be vintage in color with some yellowed portion due to its age.
Furthermore, using both heavy outer drapes and inner curtains will allow for depth in the room. This depth in the space will allow for an individual to decide, based off the decor in the space and the mood that they wish to create, with what type of curtain treatment they would like to dress the windows. Finally, the last element to consider for a dark cottagecore decor space is the scent of the space.
9. Sensory Scents
For instance, a person can use a simmer pot that contain cinnamon stick, orange peel, and cloves on the stove. Furthermore, one can burn resin like frankincense or myrrh in a brass censer to allow the space to feel as if it is dedicated to the divine. Additionally, using candles that contain beeswax and are scented with pine or cedar wood smoke will enhance the connection between the decor of the space and the forest in which it is inspired.
When used correctly, the scent of the space will allow each of the other decor elements to come into focus for the individuals who enter the space. Beyond purchasing decor items for the space, each of these decor elements can be utilized to cultivate an atmosphere within the space. Essentially, creating a dark cottagecore decor space for the individual’s home is a call for each individual to slow down, to dim the lights in the space, and to remember that comfort can be found within the shadows.
Furthermore, by establishing each of these elements in the space, the atmosphere will begin to develop on its own. The space will begin to collect decor items and stories that are as long as the story of the individual who lives in the cottage. Once each of the decor elements have been established in the space, the individual should step back to view the space from beginning to end.
Each of these decor elements will allow for the space to feel as if it is a place where the stories of the individuals in the space begin after the hour of midnight. Furthermore, while the darkness of the decor may appear empty at first, the darkness of such a decor style is in fact full of possibility. This possibility is the quiet magic that each individual should chase when decorating their
