Fads come and go. That can make it tricky to keep your home decor fresh without a top-to-bottom redecoration every month! Niche decor trends like weirdcore are constantly being introduced, thanks in part to social media. But how do you make those ultra-specific trends work in your home without a paint crew?
By understanding the fundamental principles of a style, you can focus on details and necessary elements to bring it together, no matter what your current decor looks like. Let’s get to know weirdcore, what makes it different from other styles like cyberpunk, and how to make it work in your home.
What is Weirdcore?
Weirdcore is a style of fashion, decor, and design that embraces the chaotic vibes many feel in the current day and age. Weirdcore focuses on the surreal, altered reality, lo-fi, and a dream-like mix of shapes, colors, and styles.
Weirdcore is heavily influenced by the current culture, including:
The Extremely Online
Someone who is “extremely online” is deeply engrossed with internet culture, including the deepest, darkest niches of online communities. Weirdcore itself is extremely online.
Retro-Futurism
Weirdcore takes many cues from the visual aesthetic of retro-futurism – that is, the ideas of “futuristic” that were popular in the past. Think of the technology in The Jetsons and anything written by Isaac Asimov or H.G. Wells. Or, to horrify any Millennial readers, even late 90s tech is included in retro-futurism. Hello, purple see-through laptop!
Surrealism and Glitch Art
Odd, dream-like imagery is pervasive in weirdcore. Imagine Salvador Dalí making digital art in 2024, and you have an idea of what we’re discussing here. Liminal spaces and the slightly unsettling are hallmarks of this look.
Cyberpunk
High-tech, futuristic, and dystopian themes rule cyberpunk and heavily influence weirdcore. Imagine grungy neon and futuristic technology on the backdrop of a destroyed civilization.
How to Use Weirdcore in Your Home
Now that you understand some of the significant influences of weirdcore, how can you bring that into your home? These tips will help.
1. Opt for Quirky Color Schemes
Throw the color wheel out the window because we’re not worried about complementary colors and being too matchy-matchy. Want to pair a yellow pillow with a purple and orange rug? Go for it. Pile on the patterns, layer rugs, and forget any notion of a “color scheme.” That is unless you plan to make every surface of your home a single color, like pink. That certainly qualifies as weirdcore!
2. Embrace Weird Furniture and Accents
Vintage, unique colors and textures, and the outright bizarre are all at home in this look. Futuristic and retro-futuristic styles, intriguing shapes, and unconventional designs are all great places to start. These can work in accent furniture as well.
3. Focus on Funky House Decor
But what if you don’t want to start over with totally new pieces or are trying to make weirdcore work in a temporary space? One of the coolest parts of this style is that there’s no “right” way to do it! Focus on decor and accessories, and get creative. Using a funky flat sheet as a sofa cover can help transform your room with little effort. Simple additions to timeless pieces can mean having a blank slate when you’re ready to change it again – without furniture shopping.
4. Remember, Art is Your Friend
While the dream estate sale midcentury sofa may not always be an option, weirdcore art is — the more bizarre or even unsettling, the better. Gallery walls of weirdo, incongruent prints, lo-fi photos, somewhat creepy portraits of people you don’t know, digital glitch art, and even DIY pieces like magazine collages can pull the look together. Mix media, Ignore any decorating with art rules you’ve ever heard, and make your space your own.
5. Keep the Basics Timeless
You don’t need to redecorate your entire home to make a newer style work. Look around and use the basic, timeless furniture you love (think sofas, wood bedframes, etc) as a canvas for your new style. That way, you can rethink the accents and decor while keeping the same larger pieces (like your beloved leather sofa!) for longer periods of time.
Balance Weirdcore Aesthetic with Timeless Style at CORT
Embracing unique trends like weirdcore can mean finding a balance between the trendy and timeless. This can be difficult when you’re not tied to one space for long. That’s where CORT Furniture Rental can help out.
Fully customizable furniture rental packages mean Furniture On Your Terms™. You decide what you need and how long you need it. From off-campus student packages to military specials and everything in between, furniture rental from CORT is made to fit your unique transitional lifestyle. Start building your furniture package online or at your local CORT showroom today. Bring your own lo-fi photos!
