Besides being a music genre and a fashion style, the grunge aesthetic is finally here as a trendy home decor style!
Influenced by the youth movement of gen X of the ’90s, the grunge style has hopelessness, skepticism, negativity, pessimism, and cynicism as the underlying emotions. Thus, the blacks and grays. And to escape all the negativity that the world has to offer, the musical and literature-inspired grunge decor!
Above all, it reflected the freedom of expression that gen X has always craved and has managed to somehow express the darkness they feel within, through decor, music, and literature.
But now, the grunge decor no longer limits itself to dull colors and cold vibes. It has styled itself with fairy lights and a few colors to suit the tastes and visuals of gen Z too. That’s modern-day grunge. Take a look at the stunning grunge aesthetic room ideas I have compiled for you, and you’ll get a hang of both the grunge styles, just perfectly!
Add That Hammock Chair
Since the grunge spaces have updated themselves with gen Z, you can always twist it to suit your aesthetic needs and comforts.
And that means, besides all those grays and blacks in your grunge aesthetic room, a hammock chair can also be a fun element that makes you feel excited every time you step into the space! Add a few plants and pops of colors to top up the grunge aesthetic!
Grunge Decor Makes It Grunge!
Much like the dark academia and gothic spaces, grunge decor has a lot of astrological symbols, black ravens, skeletons, and magical candles as decor!
It’ll always be a safe bet when you are considering such mysterious stuff when decorating your own grunge room. Place them on your grunge study space or your bedroom shelf decor for that ‘ah’ interior space!
All Grays And Blacks!
The ’90s grunge would never go beyond the neutral, gray, and black grunge color palette. It impregnates the main emotion of the grunge aesthetic- dark, cold and cynical.
So, if you are looking to create a traditional grunge space from the ’90s, then a neutral, dark and cold space like this living room, ends your search!
Add Some Fairy Lights
Modern-day grunge lighting goes much beyond the cold and dark feeling that the typical grunge aesthetic room lights might sometimes create.
There is open space to add a few fairy lights and LED lights in your room, to make it more aesthetic and eye-pleasing! And if the typical garage cum room feeling is what you seek, then keep a few light bulbs exposed!
Pastel Grunge Is ‘Oh-So-Cute!’
Pastel grunge has evolved lately, taking the music and literature from the aesthetic and leaving behind all the dark and dingy colors it brings along.
So, to not commit yourself to the dark grunge rooms too much, go with the preppy room look with pastel colors you love and bring in the magazine covers, rock-band posters, aesthetic fairy lights, and your favorite literature to round up your pastel grunge decor.
RELATED: 19+ Preppy Room Ideas That Are Calm & Classy!
Vinyl Records Mean Grunge!
Music and literature have been used as an escape from the drudgery and sham of the world ever since, especially in the ’90s counterculture movements.
To depict just that in the grunge decor, vinyl records, music, and band posters are an integral part! Use vinyl records as wall decor and above the bed decor so your grunge aesthetic room really looks grunge!
Minimalism Prohibited
Since this edgy aesthetic has its roots in the time when people believed more in thrifting and displaying all that they had, there is no point hiding away anything in your room.
Decorate a wall with all the magazine covers, band posters, and decor you have. Buy racks that make you display the clothes you hang on them. And stack all your literature and music accessories to display in a corner!
‘Escape’ Is the Word!
It can’t be stressed enough how much the grunge aesthetic is about escapism from the negativity of society. You display everything that helps you forget the drudgery outside of your retreat- the music, the literature, the intoxicants, the bands, the astrological symbols, and the tarot cards!
And since there is no minimalism involved with this edgy grunge aesthetic, stack them all in one corner so everyone knows how much ‘grunge’ you are at heart!
or Try Indie Grunge
Modern-day grunge has a lot of trials and experiments. And much like the soft grunge rooms that have taken the decor from the aesthetic and not its colors, the indie grunge aesthetic does the same!
Try an indie room that has all the lights, vines, and colors from the indie decor and the music and literature borrowed from grunge!
RELATED: 11 Exceptionally Aesthetic Indie Bedrooms To Surrender Your Heart To!
Some greens
Some faux or real vines can uplift the mood and visual aesthetics of a space almost instantly!
Much like this aesthetic grunge room, add vines as wall decor to your edgy space and make it feel a little less edgy and a little cozier.
Traditional Cum Modern
As the grunge style has evolved over time, the grunge color palette has stayed back a bit and the disorganization and clutter have, more or less, left!
So, if you are gen Z who is looking for filtered grunge bedroom decor ideas, then maybe, consider keeping stuff organized and sane while sticking to the traditional grunge tones!
Fairy Grunge Aesthetic
Like the woodland fairy bedrooms, the fairy grunge aesthetic is biophilic, mysterious, and dark.
Couple a few greens across your room with neutral tones and dim lighting. Your fairy retreat is ready!
Go Boho. Go Grunge.
Since grunge-inspired rooms have some boho undertones, you could try highlighting the boho element even more by using some macrame wall hangings, tapestries, and mandala-print beddings!
Keep the grunge element intact by adding some musical and literary decor to your grunge aesthetic room.
RELATED: 23+ Cozy Boho Bedrooms To Make Winters A Celebration!
A quick guide to grunge Aesthetic room decor
Color palette
Understandably, two kinds of grunge aesthetics have evolved over time. One is for gen X which leans pessimistic, dull, and neutral. The other one is more shaped and styled according to gen Z, and has better visual aesthetics.
When you wish to go for a traditional grunge room, then blacks and grays are the colors you don’t want to go beyond.
And for the modern-grunge decor, you can stretch the limits of the grunge color palette a bit and add pops of reds, greens, and blues against the black and gray backdrop besides some fairy lights for better visual appeal.
The pastel grunge has also taken space all this while, and it inclines towards pastel kawaii colors and subtle neutrals like beige and sage.
Lighting
Naturally, the lighting for a traditional grunge room needs to be cold and not too bright. Say, you keep just one white bulb on in the room, and done!
But for the modern grunge aesthetic, some fairy lights across the space besides some colorful LEDs are all the hype! You can also try adding a golden-light lamp to not make the room loo just-too-cold and bland!
Furniture
Some thrift, black-framed, and from-the-garage-looking furniture is all you need for a grunge room. Consider metal racks, black frames, mirrors, and dark wood furniture.
Bedding
Since the checks, grids, and crosses are the major patterns that are associated with grunge-inspired rooms, such patterns work best for grunge bedding! Or you cold try plain black and white linens.
Add a lot of layers and textures to the bedding in the form of throws and pillows and keep the colors palette black and gray! Or add a subtle pop of color if going for modern-day grunge decor.
Walls
To decorate your walls for the grunge bedroom, there are a lot of things you can try:
- Decorate with a lot of musical posters.
- Bring in the literature-inspired and magazine covers and stick them to the wall like a collage.
- Add a black metal-framed wall clock.
- Add a few fairy lights to the room for a more modern approach to the aesthetic.
- Decorate with old vinyl records.
- Hang dreamcatchers and tapestries.
- Stick hand-drawn animal figures and motifs.
Other Decor
Since the grunge aesthetic rooms focus on cynicism and a pessimistic approach to decor, you can oftentimes find a lot of disorganized and thrift items across such spaces! Some decor that is especially popular with grunge is:
- Skull-shaped decor (faux skulls, skull candles, pen-holders, posters, etc.)
- A record player is a must!
- Grids and crosses for patterns.
- Famous band posters
- Tapestries
- Musical instruments
- Some books and magazines
But now that the grunge aesthetic has evolved and that gen Z likes it purely for its visual appeal and not the emotions it impregnates, a taste for an aesthetic and organized touch to the room has also evolved. So, for the modern grunge rooms, besides the aforementioned grunge decor items you can often see:
- Fairy lights
- Pops of red, green, and blue against the neutral background.
- Astrological signs
- Tarot cards
- And some not-so-traditional colorful posters of musical groups and bands.
