The Victorians created a style that made their homes warm and cosy and reflected an interest in family life.
Living room areas were decorated in such a way as to make the ceilings appear lower, the room smaller, and the atmosphere more intimate. Although today we might find this rather unusual, there is a renewed interest in creating rooms with the Victorian look. Modern house designs may not be suitable but apartments could wear the look well, especially with Victorian-stye furnishings.
The Victorian colour scheme was from a limited palette of mostly greens, reds, salmon pink , purples and lilac. The range of paint colours we have today was not available then and bright white and sunshine yellows would not have been used at all. The rich dark colours favoured by the Victorians did not necessarily create gloomy interiors, and for those who want to create something similar, it is possible to maintain a spacious and light effect.
Victorian Wall TreatmentThe traditional way to decorate the living room in Victorian times was to divide the wall areas into several parts.
- The skirting board would be as much as 16 inches deep and painted in a contrasting colour to the wall above it. The most commonly used wood was pine and it was never left unpainted.
- From the skirting board to the dado rail would be covered with wallpaper. The design would be heavily textured. This would then be painted over with a shiny gloss paint. Most people would prefer not to have gloss paint on their living room walls these days, but a plain coloured wall paper with an interesting texture could work well. (A dado rail was originally a wooden moulding fixed to the wall at a height which would prevent the backs of chairs from bumping or scraping the wall. It eventually became a design feature and can now be at any height. About 4 feet from the floor works best.)
- The dado rail would be painted to match the wall below it, or the skirting board.
- Above the dado rail would be a patterened, coloured wallpaper. Victorian décor was often botanically themed with floral and leafy designs on wall paper. To borrow from this theme, choose a floral wallpaper or one with a rich foliage design on a white background, that tones or blends with the paper below the dado rail. For a small room, go for a smaller design on the wallpaper; otherwise the room will feel very crowded.
- The wallpaper would continue upwards to meet the picture rail. This was literally a moulded wooden strip, painted to match the wall above it, that ran around all four walls at the same height as the top of the door frame. Pictures were hung from strings which were looped over hooks on the picture rail.
- Between the picture rail and the ceiling anything could happen. There might be more mouldings, cornices, coving, a relief frieze, or even more floral wallpaper – different to the one below it.
- Victorian ceilings were painted dark cream. For a room that reflects more light, choose an off white paint for the ceiling and continue the same tint down to the picture rail.
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