With a combination of elbow grease and knowledgeable designers, you can dress your home in Tudor style.
Tudor period decor was popular in England from 1485 to 1603. Tudor-style ornamentation is reminiscent of a prosperous time enjoyed by manor owners, who reaped the benefits of the international trade boom that graced the country during this era. Resurrect this bygone time in your own home with various changes, many of which you can make yourself. Hire reputable designers and craftsmen to implement more permanent changes to your surroundings. When you are finished, your home will look and feel as though it stepped back in time with rich color and bold pieces. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
1. A stone fireplace adds Tudor ambiance.
Resurface your fireplace. If your budget permits, replace a wood mantel with a stone hearth. You can hire a contractor to build a stone facade directly over brick or plaster.
2. Tudor style panels add depth to any room.
Erect wood paneling. Tudor style wood paneling differs from what many are accustomed to seeing in modern homes. Rather than planks of wood hung vertically in a room, Tudor paneling is built in squares or rectangular pieces. Choose between paneling that works halfway up the wall with ornate carving across the top, or floor-to-ceiling paneling.
3. Adorn your walls with woven pieces that tell a story.
Grace your surroundings with tapestries hung in virtually every room in your home in place of paintings. Use intricately woven tapestries that depict a story within the scenery. Consider Biblical scenes or frescoes. Lavish, imported area rugs also add a rich touch to rooms in lieu of tapestries.
4. Intricate ceilings are a hallmark of Tudor style.
Dress your ceiling in true Tudor style. Commission an artist adept in molding highly detailed ceiling panels in a honeycomb pattern if your home contains a dining hall with exceptionally high ceilings, or in your foyer. A simpler and less expensive solution is to hang faux timbers across your ceiling in a checkered pattern or hang them all the way across your room, parallel to each other.
5. Hang rich jacquard fabrics from the windows. Rather than hanging them from the top of the window to the floor, hang them from the ceiling to the floor. Use thick rope tie-backs with tassels both for practical purposes when pulling the curtains away from the window, and as a decorative touch.
6. Use pewter dishes around your kitchen.
Adorn your open cupboards with pewter dishes and steins. Line your counters with wicker baskets to hold dried herbs. Stoneware and pottery also add a Tudor feel to your kitchen.
7. Hang guilded wrought-iron chandeliers above your dining table and in your foyer. In place of traditional crystals, use chandeliers adorned with delicate porcelain flowers. Incorporate Tudor symbols such as the fleur-de-lis, Tudor rose or thistle into the fabrication of the flowers. Place wrought-iron sconces along the hallways and inside doorways.
8. Transform your room with a four-poster bed.
Consider transforming your bed into a throne. Beds were often the focal point in Tudor homes. The beds were lavishly made and adorned with richly colored brocades. Purchase a carved, four-poster bed with a canopy in your room. Use a jewel-toned fabric in your canopy of choice.
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