Online - Georgian 101

[atlasfever]

Hi There,

Wondering if you could assist: do you know of an online resource that I can visit, to see in depth examples of georgian interiors? Everything from chandeliers to cornice work, etc? I have only found bits and pieces, and I guess will have to do the old fashion 'book' thing soon, if I can't find online info.

Thanks for any direction.

 

[Penners]

This is the only online specialist Georgian resource that I know of.

http://www.georgiangroup.org.uk/docs/home/index.php

They have a good selection of specialist books for sale.

I don't know where you're located but if London isn't a difficult trip for you, you might also like to consider a visit to the Geffrye Museum of period interiors.

http://www.geffrye-museum.org.uk/period-rooms-and-gardens/explore-rooms/drawing-room-1870/

 

[Juju]

YOu could also visit stately homes etc with intact/recreated Georgian interiors. They'll probably be on a grander scale than you need but it does give some inspiration. Have a look at the National Trust or English Heritage websites and see what there is.
Juju

 

[Moo]

Hello, and welcome to the forum!

It would be a great help if you were to give us some idea of where you are, and what sort of house you have. We're a very neighbourly lot, and you may well receive invitations to visit a forumite's house to see what they've done.

Oh - and pictures would help.

 

[FamilyWiggs]

Joce's your lass. :wink:

Joce? JOCE?

 

[Penners]

Joce's your lass.

Steady FW - I think you'll find she's Chris's lass.

Wherever she is... :?

 

[JoceAndChris]

Oh goodness me, how nice of FW to mention me. ( I have spent a stupid amount of time researching Georgian interiors so please feel free to PM me at each stage of the decision making - be it lighting, curtainry, flooring, wall coverings, furnishIngs)

Which part of the Georgian period? It's big, it changes! My main interest is the Regency.

The diversity is wonderful and allows you to pick the colour schemes you like, people think it's all grey greens and blue greys but a quick glimpse at Sezincote, or John Soane's house, or Brighton Pavillion, reveals elements of that rich period to be as broad as you want them to be.

The Georgian period has solid panelled rooms in its early stages, probably painted, moving on to delicate and feminine Adam style bows and swags and roundels and cartouches glued on pastel plaster, sweeping through riots of Gothick and Chinoiserie, with fantastical rooms of shell work and bones, trompe l'oeil murals, Grand Tour knick knacks and Print Rooms, and culminating in an archaeological fantasy that you've arrived in ancient Pompeii, Greece or Egypt with even your wife in proper robes. There is so much to say about Georgian style it couldn't be written in one book. The advice to go and look at NT and EH houses is very good. And The Georgian Group is also interesting.

And so sorry I haven't been around - completely disappeared up own backside in the latest curtain project.

 

[atlasfever]

OH, my!

Thanks so much to you all for your replies. So helpful, so friendly.
I didn't see a reply a day later and thought maybe I was asking a newbie question.

Great. I'm in London, west end. I only have a 1st floor flat mind you, not a whole house, but the two front rooms, plus of course, 2 bedrooms/bathrooms at the back.

I will immediately go to the site that is mentioned. And, I'll drop a message to you also.

Thanks, A

 

[JoceAndChris]

Lovely. It's the flat with the troublesome doors isn't it - just looked back. Great proportion to the rooms, and what look like nice original fireplaces in a good soft grey marble.


A few bits of advice - I'd be looking for Empire style chandeliers in crystal, and wall sconces with golden ribbons and bows. Have a look at the shopping links at the bottom. I'd want to repeat the same colour on both sides of the door, as Sarah Beeney did in Rise Hall ( have a look at her interesting project!) Probably pale yellow and white, or peachy ochre and white, or green and white. It's too big a space for blue in my opinion, blue in general needs a lot of enlivenment in gold.

Think of buying things in pairs, and making symmetrical arrangements. French Empire style furniture, or Beidermeier, would look excellent.


The floors ought to be polished and decorated with classical style rugs, by which I mean geometric patterns that aren't overtly Islamic or Indian - neoclassical motifs, or Aubusson, or Savonnerie.
These links might seem a bit opulent, but you're taking about a time when wealth was displayed conspicuously in interior design, and minimalism hadn't been dreamed up!

Presumably your flat is the piano nobile of a grandish town house?


http://www.okeeffeantiques.co.uk/

http://www.edwardharpley.com/thomas-chippendale-pelmet/

http://www.williamsantiquemirrors.co.uk/


http://www.christopherwray.com/product/lightinggroup.asp?PG=WB#productname=MENKAB

 

[Gareth Hughes]

I can't think of a good, "ordinary" London townhouse of the period that's regularly open to the public. However, Denis Severs' House in Spitalfields, though it will be a bit earlier than yours, is worth a visit, as is Sir John Soane's House in Lincoln's Inn Fields (rather too idiosyncratic to really act as a direct lesson), and an afternoon in the British Galleries at the V and A will help too.

 

[JoceAndChris]

Heartily second that.

 

[Penners]

The Georgian period has solid panelled rooms in its early stages, probably painted, moving on to delicate and feminine Adam style bows and swags and roundels and cartouches glued on pastel plaster, sweeping through riots of Gothick and Chinoiserie, with fantastical rooms of shell work and bones, trompe l'oeil murals, Grand Tour knick knacks and Print Rooms, and culminating in an archaeological fantasy that you've arrived in ancient Pompeii, Greece or Egypt with even your wife in proper robes.

As you may have gathered, Atlasfever, Joce does full-on, Force 10 Georgianism!

Although I'm puzzled by her comment about "proper robes".

Eh, Joce?

 

[JoceAndChris]

:lol: Yes, I do, but in fact my home is full of mugs and photo albums and printers like everybody else's. The problem with trying to do a full-on period scheme is that it's actually impossible unless you want to live like a Georgian - and much as I love the pure aesthetics of the NT and EH country houses I don't see how you can get away from the comfy sofas grouped with a view of the TV, the laptop not far away, or the family kitchen, or smart new bathroom. The hard thing is to try and combine indispensable modernity with a period feel, which is why I admire John Fowler's work so much -he achieved that beautifully and in so doing invented what we think of as country house style.

The reference to "proper robes" is about the fact that every well born Regency lady was meant be a goddess in her own home, wafting about with her Roman style tresses piled high or arranged on a daybed. The diaphanous muslin gowns, dispensing with the formal petticoats and corsetry, echoed Aphrodite's robes, and there was even a fashion for misting the gown so that it clung more closely and revealed the nipples, though any glimpse of leg was of course out of the question. There was a rage for Egyptian motifs in jewellery, with perhaps little Pharoahs adorning the neckline, and so the ladies paraded the men's discoveries of the ancient world.

 

[Penners]

every well born Regency lady was meant be a goddess in her own home, wafting about with her Roman style tresses piled high or arranged on a daybed. The diaphanous muslin gowns, dispensing with the formal petticoats and corsetry, echoed Aphrodite's robes, and there was even a fashion for misting the gown so that it clung more closely and revealed the nipples

Oh, I say... gosh... ooh-er! Is it hot in here or is it me...?

 

[Flyfisher]

I must say, I'm warming to the Regency period. :wink:

 

[worms]

 

[atlasfever]

You folks are hilarious, a riot.

Thanks for more replies.
I must admit that I'm not thinking of colours and furniture yet, I'm in the just purchasing and now to renovate/restore/conserve actions.

Ok, let's take it in steps: Kitchen & Cornice questions

1. The flat is the whole 1st floor of a georgian terrace which is 5 windows wide. So, the living room is 3 windows wide, and then the double opening (w odd door, ignore for now, I'll deal with the door w council later) double wide door to the 2nd front room with 2 windows. This second room will be my kitchen and dining area.
Questions: Does anyone have any suggestions on how a fireplace has been integrated into a modern kitchen? I am not referring to those huge fireplaces in the basements where a cooker is inserted, so to speak. That's super cool, but my kitchen is on the 1st floor, and the fireplace is a 'normal' size (minimal depth and regular low height -- it's just a feature. The room is basically a square, with the fireplace on one side, window wall adjacent, double door opening across and then regular wall adjacent on other side of fireplace. So, I could somehow box up the fireplace to preserve it for some other person who knows what to do with it or... show it off. Of course, it's attractive, but I'm not going to use it (have one in the living room). Does anyone have any links or photos of good integrations of fireplaces or photos of how people have not used them (i.e. box them and work around?).

2. The living, kitchen have orig and same cornice. Main bed has another cornice, less fancy; And the ensuite, a room off the main bedroom also a cornice, but even less fancy. These are original room layouts, though no idea what the rooms were for, and truthfully, who knows what was original and what cornice was added when...230years old I have one more large room at the back of the flat that has been divided up into a bedroom, bathroom and entrance lobby (small space), and no cornice in these spaces. I don't know if it ever had a cornice originally, but anyway, council gave consent to reinstate a cornice. So, here's the question: Do I take a copy of the living/kitchen cornice and apply it? Do I take copy of the simpler main bedroom one and apply it? or, do I purposely put a very basic one to make it clear that this is a modern addition? I have watched those grand design shows and they keep saying "what is old should be old and what is new should be made to look new." I don't want to over think it, but I'd love to know.

Thanks! A

 

[LadyArowana]

My feeling is that if you try and box it up it will just make people think "ooh look, he boxed up the fireplace", unless you built a whole stud wall in front of it which would ruin the proportions of the room, waste space and still look like you were hiding something because of missing cornice. So I would accept that it's there and just incorporate it into your design. You will probably grow to love it, even if it seems slightly out of place at first.

I have watched those grand design shows and they keep saying "what is old should be old and what is new should be made to look new."

I know that is the prevailing view of the correct thing to do, but for me personally I prefer things put back to look more period. When faced with the dilemma of needing a replacement front door ( Edwardian mansion block ) I had the carpenter copy my neighbours original one, not intellectually rigorous maybe, but prettier to look at than a flat thing with huge chrome letterbox ( like the developer did with another apartment on our floor ).

 

[Penners]

I could somehow box up the fireplace to preserve it for some other person who knows what to do with it or... show it off.

I entirely agree with Her Ladyship. Boxing it in will look unpleasant. I would leave it in situ as a feature of the room. Used or not, a nice fireplace is always an attractive centrepiece. Just remember that, if you cap the chimney and/or plug it at the bottom, you must make provision for some airflow through it, to avoid stagnant air inside it.

 

[JoceAndChris]

I completely agree with Penners and Lady A on the issue of the fireplace, it will make a glorious feature. One fire is never enough if you can have two! We live with five Georgian ones, love them all and light them all in winter. What could be nicer then chopping veg with a big glass of wine in front of a roaring fire? The Chalon kitchens could look glorious, and I'm sure you could pick their brains about incorporating the fire into the design

http://www.chalon.com/product.asp?product_id=3

As for the cornice, it's my feeling that you should put up something that's plainer than the main living areas, as this is what they did. If you put up plain modern coving, it will look odd, so I'd just choose something that's not too huge or ornate. In my opinion the idea of differentiating between old and new with design in a Georgian property is at odds with their overriding characteristics of symmetry and harmony and classical order. I think it's much better to choose things which are in keeping, even if that smacks of reproduction or artifice.

I went through the same agonies of whether or not to install cornice in the bedrooms. The main rooms have plain cornice that echo, on a simple scale, the much grander style found in town and country houses. (My house is an estate cottage)

I know this is the original cornice as the house wasn't ever really done up or altered very much, and also because of the poor condition, and paint analysis- stripping original Georgian cornice will take you back to off white distemper in all likeliness. So as with your doors, I'd suggest gentle paint stripper on the cornice to reveal the truth (and you may need to do this anyway to free up the detail).

Anyway, after a good deal of thought and amazing amount of help from kind folks on here I realised that I didn't want to take the cottage back to looking as it would have done for the gamekeeper in 1800 (without bedroom cornice), so in the bedroom we installed a simple floral one that echoes the motifs found on the fireplace in there, and a modern chandelier. As a picture rail was installed at some point, I felt the whole thing became unified with the cornice.

http://www.uk.bondsplastermouldings.com/product.php/662/floral___braided_cornice

We used Bonds, who I found to be excellent, and we put it up ourselves- but if I was revisiting this decision I'd use a good professional who can run the plaster in situ, as we had to break the lengths to mould them across the wiggly walls, which ended up being a nightmare.