HOW TO CREATE A BOOKISH AESTHETIC
WHAT'S YOUR VIBE?
Have you had the chance to explore Books 4 MOVIES? What would you call my vibe, or “bookish aesthetic”?
Well, when I created it, the verbs I had in mind were “dark”, “moody”, “wine”, “academic”, and “cozy”. These words are a compilation of descriptions of some of my favorite book accounts on Pinterest and Instagram.
Creating a list of themes that I really loved helped me to create the aesthetic of my website and social medias.
This website has a lot of wine colors – pink and burgundy, mainly. I make sure to include a lot of shadows in my photos, which gives me a “dark vibe”. For academic, there are many elements on my pages that are related to nerdiness and school. Elements such as reading glasses, stacks of books, bookshelves, open pages, and pens. Additionally, the cozy feeling comes from the color scheme, but also my virtual book nook. It is also my main cover photos. You’ll see Victorian wallpaper in my colors, with a comfortable reading chair, some plants, and not too many distracting items.
HELPFUL HINTS
Sticking to my list of verbs was really helpful when I built my website. I had to keep myself from getting distracted from other interesting elements, especially if they didn’t flow with my vision.
If you have a hard time coming up with descriptions that can flow together, don’t worry. The cool thing about having your own site or social media is that you can change the flow. In fact, I have seen many sites that started with a white-winter-fairytale vibe. But when you scroll a little, and it morphs into a fall-academia vibe. Then it flows into dark-knights-and-princesses.
It is so easy to change your aesthetics. However, you have to have a PLAN!
THE PLAN
The plan begins very simply with words.
Come up with 3 of your favorite aesthetics. They don’t need to match, but they do need to have vibes that you really love and can stick with for a long time.
Here, ill help. This is a list of some of the most popular Bookish Aesthetics. Some of these I made up myself and some of them are inspired by accounts, websites, and book covers.
DARK WINTER WONDERLAND BOOKISH AESTHETIC
For a Winter Wonderland Bookish Aesthetic, you’re going to want A LOT of white. Now keep in mind, this doesn’t mean white space. This means white photos, white décor, and book covers with winter themes.
Some go-to books with a “winter themes” include
- SHIVER by Maggie Stiefvater
- WINTERSONG by S. Jae Jones
- THE GOLDEN COMPASS by Philip Pullman
You are also going to want photos that emulate a winter landscape. Forests covered in snow are very popular! Go ahead and Google “Winter Book Vibe” or “Bookish Winter Aesthetic”. Do you see lots of photos of winter landscapes? Because of its popularity, this is an easy style to recreate.
To define your winter wonderland vibe, think about the words that you would use to describe the best photos that you found. Some of those words might include:
- Snow
- Forest in winter
- Mountains
- Snowflakes
- Winter
- Cold
- Fur Coat
- Winter Wedding
- Ice Skating
See my Winter Pinterest board here.
DARK FOREST NATURE BOOKISH AESTHETIC
Full disclosure, a forest theme was my second option if the “dark, moody, wine” vibe didn’t work out. The Books 4 Movies Pinterest page has an entire board dedicated to a forest aesthetic. You can check it out here.
Now, for this style, you’re going to want to stick with very specific colors. However, the main color will be green. For something dark, work with emerald and dark greens. In particular, shadowy forests and dark nature make a great bookish aesthetic.
PRIMARY COLORS AND ELEMENTS
Primary Color elements should include:
- Book Covers
- Bushes
- Towering Trees
- Curtains, in the shade of green of your choosing
- Couches and Chairs, in your preferred green
- Pillows and Blankets
- Indoor Plants
- Photos on a wall of forests
- Bookmarks of nature
SECONDARY COLORS AND ELEMENTS
Secondary colors are important as well. For a light forest, your secondary colors should include yellow, white, or beige. Dark nature sub-colors will be black (especially for shadows), and deep blues. Likewise, you could incorporate a dark version of your favorite color, like burgundy or dark teal. These are meant to be subtle.
Secondary colors are not meant to take up the entire screen. Elements that include your secondary color would be small and easily ignored. Still, they will add to your desired aesthetic.
Elements of the Secondary Color might be:
- A wall in your home (these are typically beige)
- Bookshelves (these tend to be white or black)
- Book Covers
- Book pages
- A flower (ex: A red rose in between the pages of a book)
- Reading Glasses
- Painted nails holding a book (Cool but subtle colors might be silver, white, black, burgundy, pink, etc)
SEARCH TIP
You don’t need to be IN a forest to recreate this nature vibe. Generally, you can include colored elements, use photography, and book covers. It would be easy find references to a light or dark forest/nature aesthetic if you include your desired color with an element. For example
- Dark Green Book Covers
- Burgundy Pillows
- Beige Walls
- Light Green indoor plants
- Silver Nails
Check out these Forest nature elements:
These Hummingbird Nesters will bring nature right to your door!
I don’t recommend hanging them inside your home, but these would be great outside a window, or in your front or back yard.
DARK ACADEMIA BOOKISH AESTHETIC
I personally prefer dark academia to light. In case you haven’t noticed, my vibe leans more towards the dark side. There is an entire Books 4 Movies Pinterest board for Dark Academia that you can see here.
Creating this aesthetic is incredibly easy.
SEARCH WORDS
- Books (especially old ones!)
- Libraries
- Black reading glasses
- A cup of coffee
- Globes
- Harvard College/ Old England style architecture
- Shadows
- Calligraphy Pens
- Typewriters
- A pile of old letters or newspapers
- A filter or lightroom pre-set
Don’t worry too much about choosing a primary or secondary color. The cool thing about a Dark Academia aesthetic is that all the colors are washed out. You’ll mostly see beiges, brown, black, and a ton of shadow! Imagine Hogwarts with a dark beige filter and vignette to bring out the shadows. You can definitely include a wand into your elements.
With a few bookish elements and the right filter, you can easily turn any photo into Dark Academia!
I’m still playing with the idea of creating a page on my website that has this vibe, but with a primary color. To be determined…
Check out some of my favorite Dark Academia decor items:
These Skeleton Keys give off such an old-school-academic vibe.
This pack comes with 20 Antique Brass Keys.
You can use them as bookmarks, ornaments, keychains, or well-placed decor on your bookshelf!
These Dark Academia Nightstands from Amazon are sure to transport your reading space.
The rustic brown wood and black legs give this a beautiful antique vibe.
Store your books, reading snacks, and bookmarks in these two nightstands!
SOPHISTICATED BOOKISH AESTHETIC
This aesthetic will lean more towards a masculine vibe. I am not at all implying that men are more or less sophisticated than women, but the vibe will be similar to what you would find in the mens section of a magazine.
Some key elements that you will want to reproduce for a Sophisticated Bookish Aesthetic include:
- Red Wine
- Old Fashion Cocktail
- Suites and Ties
- Black heels
- City Views
- Dark or Silver Minimalist Furniture
- Large Abstract Paintings (with minimal colors)
- Large Black Sunglasses
- Uncomfortable looking Couches
- No distractions (ie clocks, scattered books, decorations, tvs, etc)
INFLUENCES
If you have ever been into a Mens Warehouse, seen a Mens Cologne campaign, or seen an Audrey Hepburn film, than you know what the vibe is. Indeed, classic icons such as Audrey Hepburn, Marilyn Monroe, and James Bond are great references.
See the vibe here.
Some words worth Googling are:
- Old Fashioned Cocktail
- Red Wine and Reading
- Sophisticated Book Vibe
- Dark Wooden Bookshelf
- Dark Minimalism
- High Rise City View
SOPHISTICATED BOOKISH DECOR
Don’t underestimate the power of minimalism and simplicity.
This Compton Stemless Wine Glass is a great addition to your Sophisticated Bookish Aesthetic.
When you aren’t using it, put it on your bookshelf to add a little glam.
P.S These also make AMAZING gifts!
This Large Brown Ottoman is a great 2-in-1 storage and reading space!
The dark brown material will easily bring a higher level of sophistication to any room. Plus, the deep storage space is great for holding all of the books on your TBR List!
WHICH BOOKISH AESTHETIC IS BEST FOR YOU?
Earlier, an important point was made… Stick to an aesthetic that you really love! This is especially important if you plan on building a following online for social media or a website. In fact, this is even MORE important if this is for your home. You most likely wont be re-painting your walls and changing your curtains every few weeks. Therefore, you need to choose your vibe wisely!
Consider what your favorite color is. Think about your ideal season. Moreover, what do the book covers on your shelves have in common?
CONTINUITY
You could choose to ignore all tips, search terms, and color schemes presented here. Consequently, this would cause a lack of cohesion on your feed or in your home.
This endeavor is not as serious or permanent as getting a tattoo. Nevertheless, you should put an equal amount of thought and design into it.
Let me know what your favorite aesthetic is!