Beautiful Heritage Paint Colours to Enhance a Period Home

Heritage paint colours offer timeless beauty to a period home. Traditional colour schemes seen in period houses or heritage properties can often evoke opulence and understated elegance in one, and in a way that makes for an exceptionally attractive interior design style.

The staircase in a period home can be the grand centrepiece of the house or a welcoming entranceway. Either way, the staircase deserves attention. If you have a period home, the colours of your paint may well have faded over time. If this is the case, a fresh coat of paint can revitalise the unique character of a period home and set a resplendent tone for your decor that you can easily match with your staircase and stair accessories.

So if you’re looking to restore the antique charm of your home, or evoke a period feel in a more modern home, look no further. We’ve created this guide to heritage colour schemes including the best paint colours for period houses and staircases depending on the era, and how you can fit the rest of your home around heritage colours.

Georgian Heritage Paint Colours

What Was The Georgian Colour Scheme?

The Georgian era is referred to as the Age of Elegance for a reason. Ornamental flourish and intricate plasterwork were both common features in more affluent Georgian interiors. Despite this decorative flair in the Georgian period, paint colours on walls were often understated. Subtle pea greens and cool blue-greys characterise Georgian and regency colour schemes. You’ll also see richer tones like burgundy which then really came to the fore in the following Victorian period.

How to Style a Georgian Colour Scheme in Your Home

Heritage blue paint colours or period green paint colours work excellently in the entranceway of a Georgian home. The minty green shades favoured in Georgian decor pair very well with woody colours, creating an attractive earthy feel. Blue can give a calming, cosy feeling while green can evoke bright airiness and provide a lovely welcome.

Victorian Period Paint Colours

What Was the Victorian Colour Scheme?

Period paint colours in Victorian homes were often carefully selected to harmonise seamlessly with each other. Victorian colour palettes generally veered on the deep and dark, with sturdy chestnuts and rich mahoganies a standard. More decorative Victorian houses were often graced with decadent crimsons delicately accented with ornate gold.

With this favouring of deep colours for standout furniture pieces or decorative touches, lighter colours like pale pink, pea green, creams and whites took precedence in the background.

How to Style A Victorian Colour Scheme in Your Home

A Victorian staircase can be dramatic and intimate. Sometimes, the depths of shades that typify Victorian colour schemes can result in dim spaces. This is something you’ll want to avoid in a stairwell. If you want the deep colours of a Victorian home without the resultant darkness, you can recreate this look with light paint colours for a hallway and a darker coloured staircase.

Walls painted in light shades or neutral hues will help a dark Victorian staircase stand out as the focal point. You could also incorporate heritage colours in a less oppressive manner with a stair carpet runner.

This decorative Royal Aubusson runner, for example, would work wonderfully on a hardwood staircase paired with lighter heritage paint colours on the surrounding walls. If you are thinking of a stair runner, you’ll need to secure it. Pair your stair runner and heritage paint scheme with Victorian stair clips to extend this period theme cohesively and incorporate the ornate flare of the period.

If you’re interested in the interior design of this era, you can read more about the timeless grandeur of a Victorian staircase.

Edwardian Period Paint Colours

What Was the Edwardian Colour Scheme?

In contrast to the more affected decorative interior design of the Georgian and Victorian periods, the Edwardian era is associated with more relaxed attitudes. Simplistic symmetry and pastel palettes are key when it comes to this period, as well as keeping things light and airy. Think pretty primrose, lovely lilacs or soft yellows and light greys. 

How to Style An Edwardian Colour Scheme in Your Home

Give a fresh coat of paint to your heritage Edwardian staircase, keeping things in neutral hues. Blocky newel posts and decorative spindles can be revitalised with brightening paints like this. Find out how to choose the best paint for wooden stairs.

Learn more about Edwardian staircases.

Things to Consider When Using Heritage Paints on Stairs

If you’re thinking of updating your stairs with heritage paint, there are a few things you should consider first. Preparation is key when it comes to painting old stairs. Dust and dirt can cause paint to peel and not finish properly, so make sure you properly clean your staircase before beginning. 

You should also sand down your stairs to get the optimum seamless finish that will make all the difference. Make sure to read our essential tips on how to paint stairs the right way before you take this task on!

Enhance Your Heritage Home With Our Stair Accessories

We stock a superb range of stair accessories to complement heritage paint colours for any period property. Don’t just stop at your staircase: we have beautiful accessories for the house that will provide flawless finishing touches, like skiffers and door threshold strips. 

From our minimalist blacksmith stair rods or our ornate Victorian Stair Clips, we’ll have that perfect something to fit your period home. You can shop our range by finish to make sure you get an authentic, high-quality accessory to suit your decor.

If you’re looking for more advice or ideas for staircase and hallway decorating, be sure to check out our inspiration blog.