Hyderabadghar/decorate/Georgian Style

The Georgian style of 18th century England revived classical Grecian and Roman principles of proportion and symmetry. Traces of other flamboyant styles surface in the details, including French Rococo ornamentation, medieval Gothic motifs and Chinese lacquerwork. Still, the Georgian look is mostly simple, uncluttered, sophisticated, and elegant. It features urn designs in wall moldings, timeless Wedgwood china and delicate furniture by then world-renowned master designers Thomas Chippendale, George Hepplewhite and Thomas Sheraton.

Walls

Photo courtesy of Todo es.

The archetypical Georgian walls look classically aristocratic with three sections.

The cornice and frieze at the top is adorned with molded designs of acanthus leaves, urns, or swags and ribbons. The center "field" can be painted stone or pastel colors, paneled or covered with wallpaper or stretched fabric, damask or toile de Jouy. At bottom is a skirting board, chair rail and wainscoted dado painted white, stone, olive or brown.

Entrance halls
Entrance halls are generally without paper. They usually are painted pea green, turquoise, deep pink or Chinese yellow, then varnished.

Wallpaper
Chinese wallpapers were the height of good taste during the period.

Modern Variations

Several reproductions of authentic wallpaper designs are available today in flower spray, urn, columns and striped patterns. Chinese designs of birds, flowers or landscapes are also available in reproductions.

Floors

Photo courtesy of Wood Floors Online.

Wooden planks dominate most of the living spaces in the Georgian style. First choice is oak, bare and polished. Alternative materials of fir and pine are varnished, lime washed, painted in one color or marbled.

During the first half of the 18th century, paved and inlaid floors with geometric designs were in style. Stenciling came into vogue at the end of the century, as did parquet borders around the edge of carpets.

Entryways were done in black-and-white marble or pale flagstones.

Modern Variations

For the kitchen, linoleum or vinyl are current replacements for the era's typical floorcloth. Try geometric designs and trompe-l'oeil patterns.
For a smart look, consider rush matting, an element of the era's Chinoiserie style. The elite of the time, including England's King George IV and first U.S. President George Washington, favored it.
Cover with wall-to-wall or central carpets of neoclassical, Oriental or Turkish designs.

Colors

The standby colors for a Georgian dcor are generally subdued: white, stone, gray, buff, chocolate, paired with pea green, olive, eau de nil and pale blue.

During the course of the 18th century, however, more vibrant colors were introduced: red ochre, yellow ochre, raw umber, burnt umber, burnt Sienna, Venetian red, 'Potter's Pink,' Naples yellow, Prussian blue, Terre Verte, vermilion and indigo.

Wealthy Homes
The wealthy experimented with period colors on ceilings; figurative decorations with segments and panels around a centerpiece; and ornamentations of cameos or medallions with mythological scenes as inserts.

The scenes and centerpieces are often painted pea green with pinks, lilacs and grays, all on a white background.

Colors for Rooms

Chocolate brown for internal doors and skirtings
Pea green and reds for libraries and dining rooms
Red considered the best wall color for gilt-framed paintings

Photo courtesy of O'Sullivan Antiques.

Living rooms
Upholstered winged armchairs, couches with scrolled wooden arms, chaise lounges and chests of drawers with brass drop-handles, as well as corner cupboards with panels or glazed doors were featured.

Libraries
Furniture includes elaborate mahogany or oak bookcases sunk into a curved wall with an array of cupboards below shelves.

The world craved English furniture during the 18th century, especially that of major designers.

Delicate, light pieces are made of walnut, mahogany, rosewood, satinwood and maple, often inlaid with contrasting woods forming narrow lines or pictures. Lacquer and gilding also dress up pieces.

Photo courtesy of O'Sullivan Antiques.

Bookcases are topped by a cornice continuous with the wall joinery or with a semicircular panel of stucco decoration above the bookcase. Simple shelves feature alcoves incorporating built-in bureaus or flap-down writing slopes.

Characteristic pieces

Three-part British dining tables with D-shaped ends and dining chairs with backs shaped like shields or squares

Roll-top desks

Round tea tables with tripod bases

Dwarf bookcases

Hanging wardrobes

Sofa tables

Photo courtesy of O'Sullivan Antiques.

Other rooms

Bedrooms contains four-poster beds, canopied or covered with drapes hung from a circular ceiling ring.

Kitchens sport sturdy oak and elm dressers, surmounted by graduated shelving and fixed work surfaces supported by stout turned balusters.

Dining rooms feature built-in sideboard or serving table cut to fit into a niche with a wine cooler underneath.

Designers

Thomas Chippendale – Rococo curves with Chinese and Gothic designs

George Hepplewhite – the swing back

Robert Adam – clean, delicate classicism

Thomas Sheraton – linear, compact multipurpose cabinet

Accessories

Photo courtesy of Wedgwood.

The print room was a must of Georgian style as well as sculpture galleries, which were integrated in the best houses of the era.

Service ware
Blue-and-white Oriental or European china – a distinctive period adornment – was showcased in symmetrical groups on wall brackets, shelves, mantels or niches.

Other pieces include Wedgwood china and silver tea and coffee services.

Photo courtesy of Wedgwood.

Other accessories

Romantic porcelain figures

Lacquer-work screens

Mirrors framed in Rococo designs

Classical busts or statues

Modern Variations

Create your own print room by displaying landscapes, classical architecture drawings
and silhouettes or photocopies of silhouettes in black frames, pasted together closely on
walls that are painted a strong yellow or red. Dress up print rooms with ready-printed borders,
cords and bows.

Fabrics

Photo courtesy of Todo es.

During the early Georgian period, "tabby" curtains were popular – a striped silk with alternate satin and watered stripes, often dyed gold.

As the 18th century progressed, industrial advances in spinning meant cottons and linens could be manufactured efficiently and cheaply, allowing printed patterns, such as chintzes and dyed calico cottons to be within reach of everyone. Even costly silks were no longer only for the rich.

These fabrics were used for curtains, bed hangings, loose covers and seat upholstery.

Modern Variations

Reproductions of period designs such as flower sprays, strong stripes and Chinese scenes are available today.

Toile de jouy
The star of Georgian-style patterns, the toile de Jouy displays a story on a monochrome of blue, purple, red or sepia on white. Originally from France, toile is lovely for chair covers, table linens, curtains, bed hangings and framed pictures.

Drapery treatments
Innovations in drapery treatments also surfaced during this era. The most popular was the festoon blind. It featured one or two fabric pieces with a series of loop gathers created when drawn up vertically.

The two-part drapery had heavy swags at each side, which were fixed to the wall with a metal pin.

Modern Variations

French rod curtains, essentially modern, consist of two pieces attached to a rod by wooden or brass rings and topped off with pelmet of wood or pleated fabric with piped or frilled border.
"Drapery display" is created by winding loose fabric around poles stretched across several sets of windows, a look inaugurated by the Regency practice and influenced by the French Empire style.
Wooden Venetian blinds, plain fabric roller blinds or muslin curtains are hung by themselves, or underneath the more elaborate drapery treatments above. They keep out direct daylight and to prevent carpets and furniture fabrics from fading.

Lighting

Photo courtesy of O' Sullivan Antiques.

For most of the 18th century, the candlestick was the chief form of lighting. The Georgian candlestick, in particular, epitomized the taste and craftsmanship of the period.

Silver, pewter, glass and porcelain candlesticks were widely available. The silver candlestick or candelabrum with fluted sticks, Corinthian or palm-leaf capital and pyramidal or domed foot became a domestic status symbol.

Girandolas, candleholders built into the overmantel, brightened rooms even better because the candlelight reflected off the mirror over the fireplace.

Colza oil lamp
The century's breakthrough in lighting technology was the colza oil lamp with oil reservoir. Often shaped like a Roman urn, its central wick was housed between two concentric metal shafts and gave out 10 times the amount of light of ordinary oil lamps.

Freestanding or on wall brackets, the lamps evolved into magnificent fixtures with five to eight lamps.

Photo courtesy of Ethan Allen Home Interiors.

Other lights

Rococo wall sconces – brass, silver, wood, pewter or tin with shiny back-plate and hung in sets of two, four or more

Enclosed lanterns – on tables, hung on walls or suspended from ceilings

Chandeliers – with six or more curved arms made of metal, wood or glass, some with glass or crystal drops

Modern Variations

All of these original pieces can be rare and costly, so opt for a combination of reproduction pieces and modern lights, such as lamps with classical columns and simple paper or fabric shades.