The early Georgian era was dominated by the Palladianism; a style based on the classical purity of Andrea Palladio's 16th century Italian villas. The Gothic influenced the mid-Georgian era while lights and furniture and decoration characterized the late Georgian era, also known as Regency.
Although, during 18th century this style dominated England, its influence was felt throughout Europe and America.
The main characteristic of Georgian style was symmetry. Houses always had square or rectangular plans. Symmetrical motifs and decorations adorned typical entrance. Mirrors and glass were used to enhance symmetry.
Before Georgian influence the stairways were always tucked inside the special stairway hallways or in the walls. During the Georgian era they became the part of the entrance hall. They were decorated with special care. As the century progressed, they became lighter and more elegant. Stone stairs commonly had decorative ironwork in the form of scrolling patterns, while wooden ones had unpainted mahogany handrails.
Georgian front doors were always treated with extra decorations. Filigreed fanlights that allowed plenty of light inside, canopies and ornate brackets were prominent features of the doorways. Doors and windows were arched. The glass used for doors and windows was of a better quality, thus admitted more light. As the century progressed, moldings, bars and decorations became more elegant and lighter.
Though a lot of attention was given to the entrance door, interior doors were often paneled and left unadorned. Windows did not have any special window treatment. Shutters, roller blinds and very simple curtains kept the light off.
Interior hardwoods were left plain and simple while the softwoods were painted or grained in dark colors.
Traditionally the walls were divided into three parts: 1)the frieze and cornice 2)the main wall area with or without columns, and the 3)dado and wainscoting
A typical room was wainscoted. Earlier moldings were carved in wood so they were very heavy, but as the plaster was introduced, cornices and moldings became lighter. The ceilings were always plastered with moldings or cornices. Moldings and paneling were used to conceal joins and changes of levels.
Paneling went from crude and simple to highly decorative and then returned to refined simplicity. Early Georgian floors were bare woods such as oak or mahogany. They were either polished or left raw. Some houses had elegant, colored plaster floors. Grand rooms and hallways always had marble or rich stones arranged in a keystone pattern. Rugs were expensive, so they were restricted only to the grand rooms.
Go To Page: 1 2
| Here's the follow-up discussion on this article: | View all related messages |
For a complete listing of article comments, questions, and other discussions related to Madhavi Sudarsan's Japanese Interior Design topic, please visit the Discussions page.