Styling Your Home With Period-Appropriate Finishes
While period features can add personality and beauty to a home, many struggle to style them appropriately. When it comes to respecting the history of your home and honouring its original features, thoughtful styling and restoration can create a harmonious and timeless space.
When adding new fittings and fixtures, it’s essential to consider whether they complement the existing style and period finishes. This ensures that any new elements enhance rather than detract from the home’s historical charm, allowing you to create a cohesive and elegant space that celebrates both the past and present.
Walls
When decorating your home’s walls with period-appropriate finishes, consider using historically accurate paint colours, wallpaper, and panelling. Paint and wallpaper choices should reflect the period’s typical hues and patterns, enhancing the home’s authenticity. Many people shy away from wallpaper but it was a highly popular design choice for many eras and should not be discounted. For instance, Edwardian homes would often feature more muted paint colours alongside floral patterned wallpapers, creating depth and dimension in a room.
Using period-appropriate fixtures and finishes helps to maintain the historical integrity and charm of your home. For example, Victorian homes were known for incorporating wood panelling, such as wainscoting or tongue-and-groove; embracing fittings like these will add elegance to your home while still allowing for modern accents to blend in.
Flooring
In a period property, it’s essential to celebrate and maintain authentic flooring features, such as tile and wooden floors, wherever possible. Original tiles add a historic charm and authenticity to your home that should not be overlooked. Similarly, preserving or restoring original wooden floors enhances the character and allure of your space. Ensuring these elements remain in good condition and complement the period style can create a cohesive and timeless look throughout your home.
Details are crucial when styling your period home, so when choosing new home fittings it is important to make thoughtful choices that honour and protect original fixtures. A key example of this would be door thresholds, which prioritise the protection and durability of the original flooring and can be styled to maintain historical integrity by choosing period-appropriate materials and colours. For example, in a Victorian home, this Brass Bevel Cap door threshold would be a fitting and elegant choice.
Fireplaces
Many period homes are lucky enough to feature beautiful fireplaces, which make a perfect centrepiece for celebrating the history of the home while incorporating your own design elements. These fireplaces often come with intricate detailing, such as ornate mantels and original tiling, and restoring or preserving these features can enhance the home’s character and charm.
A fireplace is a great way to balance period charm with modern design elements. Adding decorations such as artwork, plants, and lamps will allow you to incorporate your own style while respecting the home’s historical significance.
Furniture
Choosing furniture that compliments and stays in keeping with your home’s period features is important for maintaining balance and coherence. Whether you’re looking for vintage-inspired new furniture or shopping for original pieces second-hand, consider how they tie in with the original features of the home.
For a 1970s home, mid-century modern furniture with teak wood and bold-coloured decorations can enhance its retro vibe. In a Victorian home, look for deeper wood furniture with ornate carvings and intricate upholstery to echo the era’s elegance. These thoughtful choices help create a cohesive and stylish interior that respects the home’s historical integrity.
Detailing
Details are the finishing touches that always make a home come together, and this is no different when styling a period property. Retaining elements like skirting boards and window frames helps to create a cohesive look that ties the space together. When shopping for new fixtures, consider additions that complement the home’s era, such as these Tudor stair runner rods. These details not only preserve the historical integrity of the property but also add a touch of elegance and authenticity. Thoughtful restoration of existing features and careful selection of new pieces ensure the home’s character is maintained while still adding in your own personal style.
Colour Palette
Incorporating a period-appropriate colour palette will accent your home’s best original features. When creating your home’s colour scheme, consider the popular interior design colours from the time your home was built as these colours often enhance architectural details and historical charm. You can balance these historical colours with modern accents to reflect your tastes. This approach not only preserves the authenticity of the home but also creates a harmonious blend of old and new.
Explore Elegant Fittings For Your Period Home
Stair Rods Direct offers a wide selection of beautiful door thresholds and stair rods that will tie together any period home. Order online and get free UK shipping when you spend over £75.