Working for many and varied clients Decor8 has built up a considerable experience decorating period propertied and listed buildings.

With the strict preservation policies that are on these properties, it is essential to properly overhaul such features as sash windows. Many still have original lime wash coatings which need to be dealt with properly.

Sympathetic treatment of such properties requires the correct materials, we can advise on suitable wallpaper and paints, insuring that the best materials are used and applied in the correct way.

The notable increase in prosperity that accompanied the Industrial Revolution was largely based on the accumulative benefits of inexpensive imports for the colonies. This new found affluence and status for the middle-class, was naturally revealed in the types of homes they lived in and the style in which they decorated and ornamented them. Unsure how to begin this new style of living, they chose architecture and furnishings that had previously been only for the aristocracy and the upper class.
The critics of high Victorian style, known as the Aesthetic Movement, objected not only to the style and quality of machine-made furnishings but also to the manner in which they were used in the home. The typical middle-class drawing room was crammed full of furniture, fabrics were used in abundance and every available surface was overflowing with knickknacks. Such displays were a means of showing off their new-found cultural interests, prosperity and status. They were also in accord with the fashionable notion that bareness in a room was in poor taste.
The followers of the Aesthetic Movement had a completely different view. Their furniture was inspired by Elizabethan, Classical Greek and traditional Georgian forms. Fabrics were generally lighter and more subtly coloured.
The irony of the Victorian era is that in an age of rapid and significant advances in technology, interior designers consistently looked to the past for inspiration.

Colour
Colour schemes varied depending upon the location of the home. Lighter colours tended to be avoided in town and city dwellings due to pollution. Another factor in colour choice was often determined by the availability of pigments. In country areas, interior decorations were often carried out by travelling craftsmen who carried limited supplies. Paint had to be mixed on site with whatever locally available ingredients could be found. For example, the blue-green colorwash used on wooden paneled walls in country areas was derived from the earth pigment terra verde, mixed with egg whites and buttermilk.


It is, nevertheless possible to make some general statements. For example, during the first half of the Victorian era, walls were usually light colours except for diningrooms and libraries. The second half gave way to much more vibrant, rich colours such as vivid greens and mahogany brown typically found in bedrooms. During this period, the general feeling was that deep, rich colours enhanced the importance of a room.
Owen Jones, architect and theorist of colour and ornament, published a handbook, in 1856, called The Grammar of Ornament. The basis of Jone’s theories on the use of colour was that it was aesthetically correct to use a complex pattern consisting of one main colour and many subsidiary colours
Considerable thought was given to creating the right balance of both colour and texture between wall, moulding, ceiling and woodwork. Adding texture to a room was achieved through the use of wallpaper, stencilling and specialist paint finishes such as sponging, marbleising and spattering. In most cases it was very difficult to distinguish wallpaper from paint. The simulation of various kinds of woodgrain was another texture adding technique.

Wallpaper
In the early and mid-Victorian period elaborate scrolled floral patterns were favoured and primary backgrounds of red, blue and green overprinted with shades of cream and tan were common. Later in the 19th century Gothic inspired trellises painted in rich earth tones with stylised leaf and floral work were frequently used in all rooms of the house.
The most authoritative and influential designer of wallpaper and fabrics during this time was William Morris, architect, designer and founder of the Arts and Crafts movement. Morris’s patterns were inspired by Medieval and Gothic tapestries. He was known as a genius for mixing strong, pure colours to harmonious effect and giving a flat pattern a narrative quality which was unsurpassed. Embossed paper were used on ceilings and frizes in order to counterbalance intricately patterned and coloured papers. In many cases the chairs were covered in fabric to match the wallpaper.

We Can Do It!
Decor8 can provides paint effects that compliment period property. Treatments like this can put the soul back into features that have either been replaced or decorated so many times that they have lost some of their intrinsic appeal. Cracking varnish can also replicate the natural ageing of lead paint, whilst colourwashing emulates the unstable appearance of traditional limewash. For more information on paint finishes please click through to the contacts page and drop us a line. We will be happy to get back to you.