Discover Georgian interior design style. Make your house into a relaxing, elegant home. Get hints, tips and practical ideas here...
Create an air of elegant luxury in your home. Your home doesn't need to be old to benefit from beautiful, Georgian influenced styles. Georgian decorating is a simple and elegant style - well proportioned and uncluttered - so it will fit well into a modern lifestyle - bringing traditional beauty, style and refinement into your home.
The Georgian interior design style dates originally from 1714 to 1837. It is named after the reigns of King George I through to IV in England.
This is quite a long period of time, so the style did change and evolve over this time period - basically, becoming increasingly more decorative and fancy!
Don't worry too much about the specifics of each 'sub-style', unless you need to be historically exact!
This page will give you more of a flavour of the style as a whole, and ideas and tips for how you can get this Georgian interior design look, in your own home.
Definitions
It is useful to know other names that the Georgian interior design style is known by, and styles which influenced the look:
It is also know as ‘Neo-Classical‘, because of the influence of classical Greek and Roman art and architecture.
The early period can also be called ‘Decorated Queen Anne‘.
Strong influences are:
classical Greek and Roman art and architecture
Rococo
Gothic revival
French aristocratic style
Oriental art and design
Architecture
If you have a Georgian house already, I hope you will recognise lots of these architectural features in your rooms.
If they have been removed by developers in the past, or if you are re-creating the Georgian look in a more modern house, take a look at these essential features, to start your interior design off on the right note.
Georgian walls were divided into 3 sections:
The lower section - up to a dado rail approximately 75cm (2’6’’) from the floor. This was often in the form of wainscoting/wood panelling.
The centre section - the main part of the wall. This was the area where wallpaper of fabric panels were often hung.
The upper section - a picture rail, frieze and cornice were in the top part of the wall. The exact size would depend on the height and proportions of the wall.
Georgian interior design relies on lots of decorative, architectural detail - so add lots of ornate, plaster moulding, and a ceiling rose.
Acanthus leaves and the ‘egg and dart’ pattern were the most common type of decoration on the mouldings, also shells, scrolls, lions’ heads, masks and all kinds of fantastical birds and beasts, as well as mythological and classical subjects.
Fireplaces, then, as they are now, were an important focal point. Ideally these were of white marble - or, failing that, white painted wood. Paint yours up in a plain glossy white, or even try a faux paint finish, in marble effect.
Colors
The colors of the Georgian period are mainly quite ‘toned-down‘ or ‘muted’ colors. It is a good idea to look at a heritage paint range, to make sure you get the colors spot-on. Try Dulux, Crown, 1829 (by Craig and Rose) or Farrow and Ball.
Wood work (skirtings, dados, doors and wainscots) was either stained, or painted in white, stone, olive or brown colors. Chocolate brown was actually a very popular color.
Walls were commonly painted in muted tones such as grays, browns, buffs, off-whites, olive, pea-green, eau-de-nil or pale blue. The later Georgian period introduced brighter colors, such as rich (but still muted) reds, golds, yellows, pinks, turquoises and deep blues and indigos.
The later period also saw these colors used on ceilings too - quite an adventurous look these days! But I don’t recommend it, if your room is at all small, dark or low-ceilinged!
The Georgians actually brightened it all up, with plenty of touches of gold paint and gilding. So make sure that you do include some gold in your Georgian interior design scheme, too.
In their finer rooms, and main living areas, the Georgians liked to use wallpaper, or even fine, fabric panels, on the middle section of the wall.
If you want to recreate the style, look out for wallpaper or fabrics with stripes, columns or urns, or Chinese designs of birds, flowers and beautiful landscapes. The ‘Toile de Jouy’ design was the most popular - for wallpaper and fabrics for panels, curtains and upholstery. Small panels of wallpaper or fabric were created, and then framed by gold/gilded decorative moulding.
Curtains
Curtains were quite fine and elaborate, but certainly not too fussy!
To get the look today, festoon blinds would be ideal, or anything with swags and tails, or drapes. Attach a few attractive fringes, to really get the look spot-on.
‘Toile de Jouy’ was a popular choice. But otherwise fabric was not heavily patterned. Choose a small pattern, preferably floral, or striped.
Flooring
Floors were waxed wood, or parquet. It was quite common to have very posh, inlaid floors, or to create a bit of interest by stencilling patterns around the edge. Stencilling is something that you could easily add to your wood floor, to help you get the look.
Wall-to-wall carpets were actually quite common too - either delicately patterned, or just plain neutral or light in color.
Definitely include one large rug in your design - with a neo-classical, oriental or Turkish design. Take a look here for a fantastic selection of beautiful designs - Rugman.com
Furniture and Accessories
Georgian interior design is quite uncluttered and does not actually include that much furniture. Furniture was arranged around the walls, with the middle of the room left empty.
Furniture was quite dainty and refined in style, with typical ‘ball and claw‘ feet. Dark woods, such as walnut, mahogany and maple, were used. For fancier furniture, wood inlays, lacquering, marquetry and gilding were all quite common.
Typical Georgian pieces to look out for at antique stalls and flea markets are winged armchairs, chaise-longues, chairs and sofas with ‘scrolled’ arms, corner cupboards, bureaus and roll-top desks, three-part dining tables with curved ends, small side tables and circular occasional tables. Drawers had little brass ‘drop’ handles, so look out for this style to get the look.
Furniture by the designers ‘Chippendale’, ‘Sheraton’ or ‘Hepplewhite’ were very popular - so if you are lucky enough to find one of these furniture items, snap it up quick.
Accessorise your Georgian interior design look, with genuine antiques from antique stalls, flea markets and eBay - they are not actually as pricey as you might think!
Look out for fine, large mirrors, with elaborate gilded frames, blue and white china (in oriental and European styles), Wedgewood china, pretty romantic figurines, bronzes, fans and a silver tea service.
Take a look at what's on eBay today... (This is a live feed from eBay and is constantly updated. Just click on a product for further details, or to bid or buy.)
Choose a fine chandelier - as large as your room will sensibly take - to make a grand statement. Choose one with plenty of sparkling, cut glass droplets. Wall sconces will also help get the look. Also look out for real period finds like oil lamps or even silver, glass or pewter candlesticks.
The very best pieces that you could choose for your accessories , and which will give you the essential Georgian interior design look, instantly, are classical style busts and statues and sillhouette pictures.
These were an immensely popular fashion at the time. You can easily create your own Sillhouette pictures if you can’t find any to buy. Simply draw the side view of a friend, or family member, onto black card, cut it out (very neatly!) and frame it up nicely. I think you will find this a fun project, and it will provide the perfect finishing touch to your beautiful, Georgian inspired room
I hope that these hints and ideas for getting an authentic Georgian interior design in you home have been helpful for you. Happy decorating, and I am sure you will soon be sitting back and relaxing in the elegance of your very own Georgian style home.
