In this post, I will continue to research via Edwardian house style : an architectural and interior design source book, developing my draft plan shown below:
Notes on Living Rooms
In this living room example from the text, a simplified carpet and a matching 'bergere ebonized suite' of furniture accompanied a similarly styled china cabinet, mirror, and coffee table is modelled after the then-popular 'Chinoiserie' trend of imitating the aesthetic of Chinese interiors. The carpet in particular is much more simplified than it would have been in a 19th century home.
Elements of a fireplace that could be deemed edwardian are:
- Tiled grates
- A carved wooden mantelpiece
Living rooms, as with hallways, were often decorated with 'trinkets', pictures and 'China of 18th, 19th and 20th centuries'. (time lag)
Changing furniture tastes
Examples of new furniture styles:
- Chestnut, mahogany, oak, burred oak, sycamore and teak (new)
- For those with traditional tastes, reproduction Chippendale, Sheraton, Hepplewhite furniture
- Queen Anne chairs in walnut (for grey, mauve and rose colour schemes)
- Leather, linen (or 17th-18th century style brocades) Chesterfield setees were suitable for white Queen Anne drawing rooms
- Authentic older furniture would match with reproduction 18th century chairs and sofas (which would contain large down-filled cushions unlike the 18th century style)
- There was also interest in Elizabethan and Jacobean furniture
Furniture was arranged to benefit "Small, conversational groups".
I want to include a fireplace within my structure, and this opportunity seems appealing: a separate bay for the fireplace with the shape emphasised by two leaded windows. it makes me consider the opportunities of an extended hexagonal or octagonal room
"No home was complete without a piano"
An alternative to the piano however was the phonograph or gramphone, which would gradually replace the piano. In the early 1900s, they were viewed as visually unappealing and too large to fit into a sitting room however.
Palm Stands (with jardiniers)
Sheradon tables
Sutherland tables
Nests of tables
Cake stands
Large bay windows, often with a window seat
Notes on interior details
It is important to have a cohesive 'suite' of furniture and interior decoration in the conventional Edwardian home. If i was to create a character who rejected many of these traditions, I would focus on creating a space which though aesthetically cohesive, had elements of rebellious combination.
Walls
- Avoid inclusion of a frieze. Instead, combine a plain (or papered dado) with a papered upper-section.
- Cornice inclusion is 50/50
- Wood-panelled dadoes were popular up to the end of the victorian age (they functionally protected the walls from scuffing and would continue to be popular throughout the Edwardian period)
Analysis of floral space within text
(Above) an example of a more elaborate use of wallpaper, divided into panels topped with friezes that were either stencilled, painted or papered.
Woven wall coverings mimicking tapestries were imported from American ideals, often for those with more Jacobean tastes.
Morris's wallpapers continued in popularity in Edwardian homes at the time
(Below) papered friezes and dadoes respectively add a whimsical fantastical air to the room- something I will consider in my own work
Notes on flooring
- Fitted carpets fell out of fashion, being replaced with large squares or many rugs and runners
- There was an orientalist inspiration at play in the designs of rugs popular at the time
- Carpets with a central motif were reserved for open spaces (eg. drawing room) so their patterns could be admired, rather than being covered by other elements such as a table
- Parquet flooring rose in popularity (herringbone and basket weave styles)
- Floorboards would be stained or waxed (or replaced with tongue-and-groove boards)
Light rugs emphasised a breaking of Victorian traditions
Updated floor plan
I may have to switch the places of the piano and bay window in order to give space for the camera to explore, or omit the bay windows at either side of the fireplace altogether so that the window placement to the side of the dining room makes sense. It could also be the case that I move the fireplace to the 'dining room' doors and the bay window to the opposite corner.
For my first SketchUp room placement test, I explored options surrounding the bay window being opposite to the camera archway and to the side of the fireplace bay. This would need to be compositionally counterbalanced by another furniture elements on the right hand side. There would also be less logical sense to this arrangement de to draft being an issue.
I will continue to troubleshoot this room setup in photoshop before moving onto the walls and flooring of the room, at which point I will develop wall details > large furniture > small furniture > framed elements > Details and set decoration / texturing. I will also cross-reference other Edwardian source books and films when deciding upon the overall aesthetic, relating it once more to characterisation
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