Today we will be wrapping up our three-part series on Victorian style by focusing on the bedroom. The Victorian mindset was largely concerned with commerce, economic success and securing and maintaining a vast empire. It should be no surprise that these interests and principles manifested themselves in Victorian interior design in very specific ways such as opulence, grandiosity and lavish detail. It is highly probable that these are the very elements that make this design style so popular, especially when decorating a bedroom. While there are certainly recurring masculine elements like heavy furniture pieces, dark woods and finishes and “boxy” profiles, Victorian style has an undeniably luxurious and romantic aspect as well that is ideal for the bedroom, the one place in our homes that we should truly pamper ourselves.
We can achieve the Victorian look of luxury and prosperity by adapting basic Victorian design principles to apartment living. This simply means that instead of the grand scale a Victorian bedroom would display – actually in larger Victorian homes, it would be two bedrooms, one for the wife and one for the husband with a connecting door in between – you can choose furnishings that will create the essence of stylish Victorian bedroom without having to be historically correct.
A combination of rich colors and bold patterns played an important role in the Victorian bedroom. Colors like jade, scarlet, royal blue, burgundy and gold would be used as palettes for walls, area rugs and window treatments. A variety of fabrics was used; wools mixed with silks mixed with brocades, to give the room an opulently textured feel.
A Victorian bedroom typically housed a bed, armoire, wash stand and dressing table, also known as a bedroom vanity. Popular woods for furniture construction included mahogany, rosewood and walnut. Case goods hardware, including drawer pulls, would be made of either wood or brass and be intricately detailed with scrolls and other decorative touches. The bed would be either a canopy bed or a poster bed, dressed to impress in luxurious fabrics, with plenty of silk, embroidered accent pillows and lace-edged pillows.
Since bedrooms in a Victorian home typically did not have built-in closets, the armoire was key to providing a place to store clothes, parasols, gloves, hats and those other accoutrements so necessary to the well-turned Victorian lady. Choose an armoire with traditional decorative detail like pediment crown molding and carved accents.
The Victorians loved their tables, the more the better. While this might not be so practical in an apartment setting, you can be true to Victorian interior by choosing nightstands or a dresser with tabletops made of marble, granite or patterned wood veneers. Again, the Victorian passion for textured surfaces comes into play.
One of the most predominant Victorian design principles was, of course, if you’ve got it, flaunt it! Typically, spaces like the living room (the parlor in Victorian times), bedroom, den, library and hallways would be accessorized by placing candlesticks, knickknacks, family photographs in heavy, ornate frames, bowls of potpourri, china ornaments, etc. literally on every available surface. A few well chosen pieces, divided into three or four groupings and placed judiciously around the bedroom, will give you the Victorian look you wish to accomplish without seeming to be cluttered or untidy.
Everything about Victorian interior design is showy, from furniture to window treatments to richly patterned Oriental rugs. But that’s what so fun about this decorating style is its over-the-top appeal and dramatic character.
Join me next week when I will be delving into the polar opposite of the interior decorating spectrum with a new series on modern design.
