An Interior Inspired by Books

I always felt I was born in the wrong era. The notion of living in the time of Austen, Hardy, Bronte seems rather romantic. (As long as you don’t think about going to the loo. Or basically being sold by your family for money.) Wandering the moors in an empire line gown and sitting in front of a window reading all day would be right up my alley. So when it came time to think about the interior of Blackbird Cottage I looked to my favourite authors of the era. The aesthetic created in the books and movie adaptions I love seems perfect as a jumping off point for the interiors of this house. And what better than an interior inspired by books I love?

Architectural Detail

One of the common themes of houses in the Gerogian and Victioran era is the amount of architectural or dercorative detail. Even the most simple cottages have panelling or wallpaper. There are corbels, decorative timber trims and all forms of panelling.

Taking our cue from this we decided to add some timber details to the doors in the form of architrave and rosettes on the doors and windows. We have to be careful not to add too much. We don’t want to ruin the originality of the cottage.

Colour & Pattern

The decorators of the Georgian and Victorian periods were not afraid of color and pattern. It was during this era that block pattern became popular. Fabrics for dresses used the method extensively. Wallpaper was often ornate and hand printed. Movie and TV adaptions show rooms saturated in blues, greens, and pinks. English country style has pattern as one of its defining features. And most pattern on walls and soft furnishings is a trend in many current decorating styles such as cottagecore.

These features are definitely ones we will include in the decoration of our cottage. We will incorporate wallpaper in the private spaces of the house. The more public spaces will have added timber detail and stripped timber doors

An Interior Inspired by books would also look at the functionality of spaces. Rooms in Georgian houses were often multi-purpose. Furniture could be folded or stowed and many activities happened in one room. I love the idea of a room being multi-functional as well as beautiful and intend to use this premise in my office.

If you were going to decorate your home with a book in mind what would you choose?