Watch out for the ‘bouquet effect’
It’s like Helen Mirren wearing rubber thigh highs. She might be still lovely, but it’s uneasy.
Stark but ‘correct’, Hercule Poirot Art Deco is as cold as a penguin’s tail and pure mid-century modern is pretty daft actually with poodles frolicking off the curtains and boucle crunching under the backside.
If you want to go period light (and we’re not out to please the Irish Georgian Society), aim for a general look, a feeling, not historic quality or slavish set dressing. Generational mixing can and does work, but every now and then it’s time to give an overbearing piece that upsets the overall aesthetic calm, the heave-ho. Shift it to somewhere else or even — out the front door.
Well heeled high Victorian homes (c1880s) were luxurious and crowded. This was a time to put what you had in terms of wealth and taste, rudely on show in every room and corridor. Balloon backs, ornate carving, rich materials strewn over every surface (scarily, even dribbling from the mantle over the fire), these were overwhelming, formal places huddled obediently in shadow, with dark and enveloping colours.
* The Victorian palette, though busy and often jewel-toned, was wider than deep rubies and blue tinted greens. Grey, taupe and other neutrals were favoured too. It takes a very experienced eye to throw patterns and colours together. Stick to three major notes that sing. Dark wood flooring is signature and for papers go large in theatrical flock and damasks.
* If you do choose a vivid period colour, commit to it. There’s red and there’s red. Ensure the colours are warm — red with an ochre undertone and green with a grey rather than a blue note. The Victorian kitchen in grand homes and honest country homes favoured blues, whites and greys, so step away from the oppressive parlour choices to chalky, uplifting schemes.
* Give period pieces room to breathe and pay attention to neighbouring elements from other eras. The Italian modern sofa might wave respectfully across the room rather than shoved into close companionship with a lightly distressed period chiffonier.
* The Victorians layered generations of collecting to signal their ancestry. Too much visual clutter can strangle a good room, but you can still have witty surroundings drawing the eye to every corner. Archive gorgeous things together, hung in groups on walls, tamed in cabinets and staged closely together rather than littering every shelf. If you don’t love it, don’t put it out on show.
* One or two elements of highly ornamental furniture are often enough. Oversized gilded mirrors are classics that can sit in all but the most minimalistic modern room, and set alone on the floor or mantel, a resin pretender can look fantastic. Victorian pneumatic shapes are still popular in sofas and chairs, and unwittingly, most of us include their stout charm.
The Edwardian era saw the rise of a new middle class battered by a terrible war, with nostalgia for the past but with freer, less preconceived notions. Lighter 18th century styles and more utilitarian unpretentious furnishings started creeping past the Victorian bullies prowling front rooms in the suburbs. Long tapering legs, pretty occasional chairs and tables culled from the great names of the 1700s, like Sheraton, were back in force, and jostled happily with the revolutionary Art Deco styles that streamed into the ‘modern’ shapes of furniture and styling we know today.
* Re-inventing low priced ‘brown furniture’. Using a remnant of lively chintz and a little milk paint, you can up-cycle a dining chair in good order for as little as €20 retaining the spirit of a 1910 chair or stoking it up to searing pop culture. Bamboo and wicker both old and new also have that lighter touch of the Edwardians. Spray wicker to freshen it up.
* White walls and woodwork are a perfect backdrop to an Edwardian-themed room of sprigged florals, chintz, stripes, gilding and doses of rich colour still retained from the Victorians. Prune wallpapers back below the Dado or take to a single wall. For Art Deco, black and white doesn’t have to chill or terrify. For smaller rooms, keep the ratio of white higher to the black.
*Solid oak furniture, in toffee dark, natural shades was highly popular from the 1880s forward. If you respond to this, look further into the Arts & Crafts tradition of hand-made pieces with rustic lines, pegged corners and hand-made dovetails.
Irish cabinetmakers, including Rossmore, still celebrate this honest, unfussy design. www.rossmorefurniture.ie.
* Times may have changed but fine formal period-style furniture remains a huge seller. Before vouching for a new Sheraton, Adam’s or Chippendale revival, look for the second generation of these pieces produced through the 1920s and 30s. The quality is often high and condition surprisingly good. Use the look upstairs from the huge choice in bedroom sets, beds and occasional pieces.
* Good marriages — to place a 50s McIntosh sideboard with older pieces, look for similar lines and families of timber colours for an open plan space. A cherub encrusted what-not might be better sitting in the hall with a pale tribal rug if you’re intent on putting IKEA glass shelving and Littlewood’s shag rug in a small lounge.
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