The Victorian House

This affected home decoration as much as any other aspect of every day life, from grandiose mansions to cheap terraced housing for the poor. If you wish to nurture your Victorian house, we can help to inspire and stimulate you with our wide range of Victorian house renovation products.

This room features Lincrusta wallpaper below the dado rail, Triad wallpaper above the dado rail, a bohemian crystal chandelier with ornate ceiling rose, a column radiator, new skirting, dado and picture rail along with coving, all from The Victorian Emporium. You will find details of how to create the gilded curtain pelmets here.

How should you furnish a Victorian home?

A good source of inspiration will always be visits to Victorian houses and buildings you admire. You may not have the same budget for an external light as used in St Pancras station, but nonetheless historic buildings will get you into the right frame of mind and help you recognize the right item when you find it. If your house has been stripped of most of it’s original features, see if any of your neighbours’ houses are better preserved. It was common for houses in the same street to be built with identical interior and exterior design i.e. gates and railings, guttering, cornicing, ceiling roses, door handles, tiles etc. The most successful renovation or restoration both in terms of return on investment and aesthetic value will always be back to the original style, so if you can find what has been removed, you are onto a winner. However all of our products are reproductions of original Victorian designs and would fit more or less into any Victorian property.

Ornate mosaic tiles were used on floors in the public areas of the house ie pathways leading to the front door, porches, halls and drawing rooms. Also in bathrooms, kitchens, sculleries and fireplaces. In the public areas the tiles would be highly decorative. In the private rooms they would be much plainer and most likely one colour.

Radiators were a relatively modern invention and the designs evolved over the Victorian period. Victorian cast iron radiators can be used to enchance any period home. To keep with the Victorian feel, the simpler designs and metallic colours and black are the best options.

Curtains tended to be made of heavy fabric to keep out the cold, protect the privacy of the family and protect precious possessions from sunlight damage. Above all curtains allowed the Victorians to show off their wealth and taste through the colour, pattern, texture and surface of the curtain fabric and the design and skill which their curtains required. Choose velvets or damasks for the perfect Victorian feel.

Many gates and railings were removed during the war to be melted down for weaponry. These can easily be replaced by gates and railings originally designed in the Victorian era but using modern methods of production.

To complete the look of your Victorian house, choose a Victorian lamp post in copper or black and fit cast iron guttering, and there is no doubt that your house will be back to its former glory. Also you can read our ultimate guide to period property renovation here.

The Victorian Emporium sells many of the products you need to create the perfect Victorian house renovation