Bring vintage elegance to your bedroom with a stunning selection of Victorian-style lighting fixtures. From chandeliers, wall sconces and pendants, to candleholders and lamps, find the perfect luminary for your style. Create a timeless look with these beautiful pieces steeped in history for an unforgettable impression.
Exploring why Victorian style remains so captivating today.
The victorian era was responsible for the main housing stocks of today, they were prolific in building a vast array of homes. From the classic victorian country houses, villa’s, rectories with high ceilings and ornate facades to the humble terrace homes that grace many a village, town and city the victorian home is well build, has high ceilings and many retain original features making them a joy to own.
Victorian interior design is renowned for its balance of traditional, homey elegance and opulent, luxurious style. Rich colours, ornate furniture, detailed accents, and decoratively patterned fabrics are just a few of the key elements that define a classic Victorian aesthetic. As the look is both homely and cosseting it lends itself well to bedroom decor. Whilst the grandeur of Victorian suits most rooms, today we’ll focus on the bedroom decor, in particular the master bedroom.
Whilst Victorian Style is much coveted for period homes one element of the interiors of the day that could do with upgrading is the lighting. Victorian homes would not all have had electric lighting and as such light fittings that bestow the look and feel of the victorian times are sadly not suited or safe for modern homes. This has given rise to a number of modern light fixtures replicating the elements of Victorian Lighting.
Lights would have been oil filled lamps, gas lamps and gas mantles. All of these styles are now unsafe, not practical and dare we say rather bulky for todays tastes. If you have an authentic period property it leaves you with a dilemma what type of lights should you use. Of course as many victorian homes have been modernised often people will forgo the traditional look opting for a contract of modern in place of the antique style.
If you truly wish to replicate the rich tapestry of interior decor from the era you really must choose Victorian style lights and lamps to weave authentic through your interior. Even if you don’t own a Victorian home many interior styles of today hark back to the opulence of the era. Styles such as cottage gore, gran millennial, and vintage style the nostalgic tones of the past still resonate.
Rather controversially I’m not that in favour of mis-appropriating era’s if you have a victorian home, yes go victorian or modern – either/or, but it upsets my sensibilities when deco homes have ornate chandeliers. If like me you want authentic looks of the right era for your home explore the full range of period lighting.
I do however make exceptions for bedrooms, they cry out for a little cosy feel, be your taste pared back or ultra lavish decked out with embellished antiques the bedroom is a separate space and can be an escape from the rest of the home, so why not go wild with a victorian style chandelier and wall sconces.
Choose the Right Fixture for Your Room.
The right lighting fixture can make a real difference to your bedroom’s aesthetic. Consider the size and shape of the room, and how best to fill it with light. Chandeliers and pendants tend to work best in larger rooms while small sconces with decorative shades will provide adequate illumination for smaller spaces. Think about the style of your bedroom furniture, too; vintage look Victorian lighting pieces will bring out the sophistication in antique pieces, bring a cozy farmhouse feel to rustic or modern interiors, or add a bit of classic glamour.
Explore Different Types of Lighting for a Multi-layered Illumination Plan
Layering different types of lighting is an effective way to create a well-lit bedroom. Think about adding ambient light with sconces, task lighting for desks and other work areas.
With hanging pendants reserved for the ceiling, accent lights such as picture lights for artworks or feature decorative wall lamps bring the ambience.
You can also add a warm glow to the bedroom by incorporating soft glowing table and floor lamps into your decor. Consider your available space and the desired look when choosing your fixtures. Small ornate or ceramic lamps on top of a dressing table, bedside table or a chest of drawers are perfect. Multiple low level lights with dimmer bulbs are better than a really bright lamps as this keeps the intricate depth to the vista.
Install with Care to Achieve an Authentic Victorian Aesthetic.
Installing vintage-style Victorian lighting accurately and with care is essential to achieve a truly authentic look. Focus on precision with every step, from measuring and drilling to wiring and mounting your fixtures. Refer to the manufacturer’s installation instructions for further guidance, and consider enlisting the help of an experienced electrician if you need help connecting your new lights. Some older homes have quirky wiring and need special double insulated lights. Your electrician will tell you if this is the case, he may say you need class 11 (class 2) lighting, he may say 2 core lighting or double insulated lighting.
Consider the Design of Your Home
Take the design style of your home into consideration when choosing Victorian lighting fixtures. Traditional colour metals work best such as aged or antique brass. As we’ve mentioned victorian homes have high ceilings so hanging lights pendants, multi arm lights and chandeliers hung on chains are perfect, most can be shortened allowing you to install them at the optimum height.
Remember look for elements that would have been present in gas lights, little details that look like gas taps bring in those tiny detailed touches that a victorian home would have had. Ornate intricate metal work, ribbed and halothane glass, etched glass, beveled glass all have those tiny elements that bring authenticity to the look. Wall sconces and ornately detailed chandeliers can work in more contemporary bedrooms too but victorian styles are overly ornate, so more is more as far as victorian style goes. Add a touch of drama with crystal chandeliers or go for solid brass style such as the Classic British Collection these lights have a patina that looks like it’s a truly beautiful antique victorian light. There’s table floor and wall versions that compliment the ceiling lamps to make any interior look regal and elegant.
Think of Your Lighting Needs
When shopping for Victorian lighting, think of what your basic needs are for the bedroom. The amount of ambient light you need should depend on the size and layout of the bedroom, as well as how much natural light enters through windows or other sources. Consider whether you want a ceiling light fixture or a wall sconce in order to accent certain areas. On top of that, be sure to pick out the perfect bulbs that work with your chosen fixtures to get the best lighting effect possible, choose warm white as this is the closest to incandescent light, it’s more mellow than harsh bright white.
Filament bulbs can be obtained easily and what’s more the vintage styles like ‘squirrel cage’ have the looks of an old style edition lamp but are actually made using low energy led, which is super efficient.
Now you have some tips on lighting your bedroom consider carrying this look through into dressing rooms or en-suits. Just because you’ve added some modern conveniences doesn’t mean they should be left bland by comparison, these stylish angled wall lights look great in wardrobe rooms.
Victorian lights for bathrooms and en-suites
A word about water and electrics, not all lights are suited to bathroom use. Bathroom lighting must have a level of protection against water ingress this is called IP rating. A rating of IP44 is right for bathroom use.
Bathroom lights are slightly less ornate than the lavish bedroom styles as bathrooms at that time were new often called water closets. The privy was most commonly outdoors, I shudder to think. None the less lights for the bathroom often came from railway, ship and train stockist so ships lanterns and nautical styles are more than in keeping for a victorian bath room.
Bathroom Ceiling Lights Victorian Style
Bathroom Vanity Lights for Victorian Style
Exploring Key elements of Victorian Decor
We’ve hopefully given some tips for lighting your victorian bedroom in an authentic way whilst ensuring you have the modern safe lights required whilst still giving you the charm of the victorian age. Now let’s move on and look at the whole scheme in some detail.
Understanding Victorian Colour Schemes
Understanding Color Schemes
A key part of Victorian interior design is the use of colour. Popular colours during this era were deep, rich hues such as scarlet, burgundy, magenta and navy blue creating a visually stunning look. An indulgent atmosphere as well as a feeling of warmth and comfort within the home.
I particularly love the Laura Ashley ranges of paints which co-ordinate effortlessly with there striking wall papers.
Other lighter shades of paints such as light blues and greens were also used for a softer feel. To achieve maximum impact when implementing a traditional Victorian colour scheme in your home, be sure to pair subtle accents with the main attention-grabbing colours.
Incorporating Furnishings and Fabrics
Furnishings were also a major component of a Victorian interior design scheme. The interest of many Victorians was reflected in their love for ornate furniture, elaborate chairs and divans upholstered in luxurious fabrics like velvet and brocade. Common pieces included sofas, armchairs, wingback chairs, settees and chaise longues. When combined with complementary gold frames and fabrics with intricate floral patterns these pieces will provide your home with an authentic Victorian feel. If you don’t own lots of vintage pieces perhaps adding a patterned bedspread, with an array of embellish cushions will bring the pattern to the party.
Employing Textures, Rugs and Wallpaper
Textures play a very important part in creating a Victorian interior design. Wicker and rattan were frequently used to cover walls in order to give them texture. Panelled wall with bold papers covered with framed prints ramps up the layered effect.
Soft fabric upholstery pieces or cushions and throws with tactile materials such as velvet, chenille and damask added warmth and comfort to the Victorian decor.
It was not uncommon for people to handcraft their own ornamental rugs from their own fabrics. If that’s a bit daunting perhaps some of these rugs on a wooden floor brings the depth of interest without the need of learning new skills.
Wallpaper was also quite popular during this time period and of course, employed heavy visual patterns like those of the furniture upholstery. Go big blousy flowers, birds, or damasks. For a slightly more modern take on victorian perhaps try a mural the midnight colours teamed with a lavish contrasting colour brings richness befitting the decadence of the day.
Details That Bring Everything Together
To finish off a Victorian design space, you’ll want to include some of the accent details that make it unforgettable. Wall art, mirrors, picture farmes. This includes the decorative touches like curiosities (which often were collected in curio cabinets) old china cabinets work well as do glass display cases. Taxidermy was popular (yuk) but perhaps avoid it in the bedroom. Instead you could collect scent bottles, vases, novelties or place small antiques pieces in cases to ramp up the originality of a victorian styled bedroom.
If all-in ‘Victoriana’ is a step too far for you, why not browse the range of Transitional lighting styles? These will bring a modern look to your period home but retain the styles that work with the era of architecture of the building.