When decorating your home, one option is to draw inspiration from the dècor of your favourite period in history or from a time which evokes pleasant personal memories

There are many interior styles which are directly associated with a particular period of history and usually, as an extension, with a particular culture. Each one has a distinctive look, with its own colours, furnishings, fabrics, decorative features and even architectural appointments.

To implement such a style, the decorator can either bring together all the necessary trappings or just select a few key elements to ‘suggest’ a period style without needing to sacrifice modern comfort and convenience. This approach has become the mainstay of contemporary period decorating, where quintessential period furnishings, colours and accessories are grouped in a room where all the mod cons of electrical appliances, modern fabrics and flooring are all equally present.

For those with a true love of history, inspiration could be taken from the Medieval style — Gothic and Tudor — and the great halls of Britain from the 14th to 16th century, with their dark timber panelling, banqueting tables and suits of armour. Then there is the Renaissance style, which began in Italy in the 1400’s and is typified by a fascination for the Classical age with sophisticated wall decorations, sumptuous handmade tapestries and rugs, and a splendid display of works of art, not to forget 17th century Baroque, with its emphasis on lavish decoration, gilding, inlay and faux finishes such as marbling and trompe l’oeil (which saw a shift of the international design leadership to France and the rise of Louis XIII and Louis XIV style) — these are all important pre-18th century interior looks.

Into the 18th century, Rococo and English Palladianism were two of the dominant interior styles and still provide a point of inspiration for various contemporary interiors, where a sense of elaborate, even over-the-top decoration is called for. Rococo is a much lighter, more informal and elegant look than Baroque. It blossomed during the reign of Louis XV and features graceful, gilded furniture with curved legs. English Palladianism, on the other hand, was a synthesis of European Rococo and classic Italian villa architecture, with ornate interiors and architecturally inspired furniture.

In the latter part of the 1700’s, Neoclassicism grew in popularity throughout much of the western world as inspiration was drawn from the ancient cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum (which had been unearthed at the time) and from continuing investigation by architects, arts and designers of the buildings and style of ancient Greece and Rome.

What we know as classic-inspired Georgian style — which spanned much of the 18th century in Britain and was popular well into the 19th century in Australia — continues in importance today, enabling modern designers to appreciate and decorate homes which were originally built in the classical revival and Italianate style during the Victorian and early Federation period, and to create a sense of old-world elegance and classical purity in contemporary homes.

Gothic revival style (a romantic look inspired by Medieval castles and churches), Empire style (inspired by the interior decorating passions and military symbols favoured by Napoleon), Regency (a pared-down, more relaxed Classicism which evolved in the early 1800’s and underwent an international revival in the
1950’s), and Biedermeier (which evolved in the early 1800’s in central Europe and centred around simple, practical and light furnishings and heavily grained timbers — a very popular style for modern decorating) were all precursors to the rampant eclecticism of the Victorian age and the High Victorian style, which evolved during the second half of the 19th century.

There are many styles which were typical of the Victorian period, most of them revivals of previous interior styles, including Rococo, Renaissance, Gothic and Jacobean. Somehow, the Victorians managed to jumble many of them together, especially members of the middle classes who used their newfound wealth (brought about by industrialisation) to amass as many possessions as they could and then cram them all inside the home.

During the same period, the Shaker look (evolved by North America’s religious sect which believed in pared-down, simple interiors and the integrity of everything they made by hand), and the pale, bleached interiors of Scandinavia’s Carl Larsson were evolving, both of these continuing to provide an important point of reference for country decorators and modernist contemporary designers today.

Towards the end of the Victorian period, a reaction to all layers of fabric and paper, to the rooms crammed with furniture and objects saw the evolution of the Arts and Crafts Movement, which championed a style that was more in keeping with the ideals of craftsmanship and almost austere, country-inspired furnishings. Many Australian homes built at the time were decorated in the Arts and Crafts style and also incorporated trappings of the Art Nouveau look, which flourished from the end of the 1800’s into the 1900’s.

At the turn of the century, Australia evolved its own unique form of architecture — the Federation bungalow — the interior style of which was very similar to the Edwardian interiors of homes abroad. Art Nouveau motifs on leadlight, fabrics and decorative accessories, Arts and Crafts-inspired furnishings were combined with a more casual approach to interior design as Australian homes continued to develop their own identity.

Well into the 1900’s, the Modern Movements, initially developed overseas, particularly in Europe, also began affecting Australian interior decorating — the Bauhaus, Art Deco, designs of Swiss Le Corbusier, Neo-Rococo revival, the P&O liner look. All of these period styles can provide design inspiration for homes both old and new.