The interior design in bedrooms during the Edwardian era often had floral stripe wall papers in green, blue and pink. In Australia the range of wallpapers for interior design were available from Coles & Son. The Rose du Barri a floral stripe patterns in shades of green, blue and pink were popular. Also popular were the Cole’s Moirés. Radford Furnishings are the sole distributors of Coles and Son wallpapers to the design trade in Australia.
A fascinating site on the history of wallpaper is the Wallpaper History Society website http://wallpaperhistorysociety.org.uk. There is a great video called Wallpaper That Moves http://vimeo.com/12600359
Interior decorators during the Edwardian era painted walls in the bedroom pink beige or apricot or milkshake or arctic blue. Magnolia was often used on the mouldings as was green with the cornice and ceiling painted white. The joinery in the bedrooms could also be painted a light bronze green or grey green or pale cream or grey green. Sometimes these surfaces were French polished or varnished. The chart below shows some British Standard colours used during this era.
The interior design project The Edwardian house I am working on was built in the 1920s. So some of the colours used during the 1920s could have been used. The 1920s interior colours tended to be stronger than those used during the Edwardian era. Shell pink, salmon pink, light cream and mushroom were popular for the body of the walls in the bedrooms. Ceilings and joinery were painted white. Sometimes joinery was just oiled or varnished in a redwood colour. The chart below shows some of the British Standard colours used in during 1920s.
You can see from the images of the bedrooms the house has decorative features from the 1920s. The architraves and skirting boards are still deep as in the previous eras but have plainer profiles .The fireplaces of the 1920s were as in this house simple in style with rectangular openings, small tiles and timber mantels and surrounds. The Edwardian fireplace tended to have arched opening and were more decorative. The doors used in this house are also in the later 1920 style with fewer panels and a high lock rails.
The paint colours I have selected for the bedrooms are modern versions of some of the traditional colours. The colours in the house at the moment are very dark and much duller than the photographs of the interiors indicate. I wonder if an interior decorator was called in and selected the colours. The colours really belong in a Victorian style home.
The skirting boards and joinery in the bedrooms will be painted Dulux Antique White USA. The ceilings are in very good condition and have informed my colour choices. The walls in bedroom one will be painted in Dulux Garlic Suede a soft green picking up the lightest green in the fireplace tiles. Bedroom two will be painted in a pink beige colour called Tree Less. The blue cupboard doors will be repainted in the Tree Less colour. Bedroom three will be painted in Manila at half strength similar to Buttermilk BS 4052 and bedroom four will been painted in Great Star a soft green grey.
Although I have selected fabrics for the window treatments, curtains, pelmets and blinds the final selections will be made later as will the other furnishings. Well I hope you have gleaned some useful information on the colours used in bedrooms during the Edwardian and 1920s eras and this will help you with your interior decorating.
Interior Designers often find they have to work with the colours already present in a home. In this home the ceilings in most rooms are highly decorative and are painted in the soft muted colours of the era. The fireplace tiles, the timber floors and wall panels and the stained glass windows have all had to be considered. As always the client’s desires have also been taken into account.
