The Unique Home Design Trend That Really Digs Into Your Nerdy Side

If you nerd out on a particular movie, artist, book, mythological figure, or even video game, there's now a name for a home design aesthetic inspired by your topic or person of choice: Nerdcore. This is where you find inspiration in the thing you really (really, really) love and show it in how you decorate your home. You can do it through the placement of objects about your interest, such as a "Star Trek" bowl in the kitchen or Beatles lithographs flanking the fireplace, through the overall design of a room, or even an entire home, with furniture, wall coverings, and other elements.

Incorporating trinkets, memorabilia, and collectibles has long found fan appeal, dating back to the decades when folks began devoting their then-trending basement home bars to a theme like tiki, space age, or breweriana. But, covering a wall with every liquor store clock you can find can quickly cross the time meridian from high design to hoarding. In nerdcore, there is a deliberateness in placing objects inside an interior while making specific choices in color, texture, pattern, lighting, and furniture. California interior designer Mia Volk has popularized the approach with her ongoing "Nerdcore Home Series," taking requests from followers to imagine designs based on their favorite things. One of her most intriguing idea boards, for instance, played off American movie maker Nancy Meyers, whose 2003 "Something's Gotta Give" inspired millions of rom-com devotees to try to replicate the beachy Hamptons look in their modest homes.

Movies seem to provide the most prolific nerdcore inspirations in the home. For example, if you want to learn how to decorate your house like the movie "Parasite," modern clean interiors are key. To style your home like the movie "The Notebook," focus on wood plank floors, floral wallpaper, and vintage furniture. Movie fans have even renovated bathrooms inspired by classic horror films, such as "Psycho" and "Beetlejuice," by bringing dark tile and paint colors to the space. You get the picture, literally.

But sometimes enthusiasts can't help but covet mass-produced merchandise. For instance, an extensive treasury of Marvel Funko Pops can look like a grand oversized headboard by displaying the figurines in and out of boxes on cleverly arranged shelves around a bed, as TikToker @nina.dulli did. Will that approach look busy? Possibly. But the intention will make it more tasteful than tacky. 

The other approach is to acquire as-inspired-by items, as @nataliamcio did for her ode to the 1998 comedy-fantasy film "Practical Magic" in which she created mise en scènes with glass goblets, brass candle holders, and wooden boxes. An even more keyed-down approach could be displaying a collection in a place you wouldn't expect it. For example, pose a cherished "Star Wars" figurine in a memorable stance under an artful table lamp or stack coffee table books about the movie on an end table and top them with a small theme-related sculpture.

If you feel like it's time to let your nerd flag fly, enthusiasts do offer some advice. Don't just line up your treasures in the home, but blend them into your decor by creating thoughtful vignettes. Curate your collection by displaying it alongside dissimilar items like family photos and plants inside a show-worthy hutch or armoire. Search for furniture, accessories, art, and props that you might see in a film, TV show, video game, or that are described in a book. Always be inspired by colors. 

TikToker @nena.shelby did all of this perfectly when she and her sister created what she describes as the "Taylor Swift mid-20s girl house of your dreams." She took cues from the American singer-songwriter's lyrics, music videos, and more. Then, she used records as design elements, created vignettes with disco balls, and employed a subtle but high-impact Swiftie color palette.

"Sleek geek" is the term some use to describe a quieter version of nerdcore design. Some do this by bringing in carefully chosen, higher-designed items where it might be easy to get the pop culture reference if you're in the know (but challenging if you're not). You'll have a better chance finding pieces at a local artisan market or on Etsy, like this Legend of Zelda rug starting at $26.75. Whatever you curate, it should spark a certain kind of joy only you will understand as an uber fan.