This Bedroom Transformed into a Cottagecore Fantasy, All Thanks to Thrifted Books

Ever since the cottagecore trend first exploded onto the zeitgeist in 2020, its cozy, vintage-inspired aesthetic has remained popular in the home decor sphere. One of the core tenets of the modern cottagecore design is a bold, old-fashioned storybook vibe, and one TikToker is taking that idea to the extreme. Cleveland-based TikToker Lauren Juarez (@laurenemilyjuarez) posted a video on June 15 documenting her DIY process for adding a bookish-inspired cottagecore vibe to the ceilings in her bedroom, and it went viral.

“Is somebody gonna match my freak (staple 300 pages to your ceiling for the cottagecore aesthetic),” she wrote in the video, which shows her doing just that. 

Since Lauren shared her video, it’s received over 13,100 likes and solicited plenty of opinions from viewers, both for and against the DIY project.

“It’s cute, but I would be scared of spiders nesting in there 😭,” one TikToker said.

“Fire department’s enemy,” another joked.

Meanwhile, plenty of other TikTokers were fully on board with Lauren’s cottagecore approach.

“I did this on a wall once with Scotch tape; stapling is SO much smarter lmao,” one commenter wrote. As Lauren noted in her comments section, since she has a slanted, textured ceiling, using a stapler ultimately worked much better for her space.

“Wait now I want to do this to my walls,” a fourth TikToker said. “I HATE the color of them so much.”

Of course, creating a bookish accent wall isn’t the only way to add some cottagecore coziness to your bedroom. The design trend is characterized by florals, gold accents, and delicate yet intricate detailing, and there are plenty of ways to bring this aesthetic to your home — not just bedrooms. 

You can match Lauren’s freak by taking your own quick trip to an antique store, thrift store, or local library to stock up on vintage or dated books to re-create the same kind of cottagecore vibe in your space.