What Is British Colonial Style?
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Consider adding a splash of color and texture with botanical and tropical bird prints, paisleys, batiks, and animal prints. In its heyday, British colonial decor combined pared-back aspects of Victorian design with details drawn from local materials and traditions. British colonial decor represents a marriage of traditional (but then-modern) approaches from the Western world with stylistic elements borrowed from the colonized nations. As with many other details of Colonial houses, chimneys are a reminder of the historical beginnings of this style.
Don’t Forget to Decorate Your Walls
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American, Dutch, Spanish, and French colonial designs each have unique characteristics, but they all share an appreciation for craftsmanship and detail. In this post, we’re going to explore the heart of modern colonial interior design—its core elements. After all, the best design is one that reflects your personal tastes. Instead, we’ll be focusing on eight must-have elements that give this style its distinctive charm.
Drape Vintage Rugs Over the Floor
Billowing natural white cottons and muslins drape over the canopy beds and windows. Interwoven throughout the home are a culmination of wall, ceiling and table lights. In grander homes you will find high ceilings, floor-to-ceiling windows and tall reaching marble pillars and arches framing generous porches.
Walls
Meanwhile, tables take on a variety of shapes; round dining tables set with decadently decorated china cups for tea were common in English homes during long reigns. For the brown fingers, consider tropical prints with floral and fauna motifs as an alternative. More unusual places to incorporate a tropical flair include drawer or cabinet handles, table décor or lighting. The British elites likened themselves to a well-travelled sort, which meant their homes were often decorated with items that they have sought in their travels. When sourcing for furnishings, hit up second-hand furniture stores for unique and vintage pieces to add to your home.
Examples of Architectural Styles
The 17th and 18th centuries, when Britain was expanding its empire and colonizing new territories, are considered to be the birthplace of the British Colonial Style. During this time period, British settlers not only brought their own sense of aesthetics with them, but they also adapted to the local cultures and environments that they were exposed to. The distinctive personality of the British Colonial Style can be attributed to the fact that it combines elements of British design with those of local design. British Colonial style focuses heavily on symmetry, favoring simple lines and proportions.
Woodgrain
Mosquito nets were also a must – recreate the look without the claustrophobia by draping a sheer fabric canopy from the ceiling above your bed. I also see so many elements of this style generally in contemporary decorating. When you are looking at the classic styles of today you will see that many of the elements are the same but the look has been lightened. At its height in the 19th and 20th centuries, the British Empire spanned the globe and the romance of exotic travel was an exciting reality for the lucky few. British Colonial Style is a favourite of mine as it is a reminder of a gentler age, without technology, where you are invited to sit in a comfy chair and while away the afternoon. Read further to see how it is related to current decorating styles and find out my top 7 tips on how to re-create this look for your home.
A Guide to the British Colonial Interior Design Style
British colonial style is a breezy yet old-world, well-traveled style featuring linen, rattan, bamboo, and botanical prints combined with dark-stained wood and tropical plants. Modern colonial interior design is growing in popularity around the world. It offers a beautiful way to merge modern and traditional elements in harmony – creating an original and stylish look.
How to Incorporate British Colonial Decor
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To complete any British Colonial decor scheme, you must accessorize! Lamps with stamped leaves spreading along finely tipped arms are made with metals plated in brass tones and finely blown glass shades. Exotic finds such as carved bamboo serving trays paired with vases lined with colorful beads add layers of visual texture to your space.
A guide to British Colonial style
Choose an antique or vintage rug to achieve the rustic, homey charm of a colonial-style interior. Earthy hues such as beige, ochre, and deep reds, will look great on your floor. For instance, you can use a vintage wooden chandelier or a light rattan pendant lighting as an overhead source. Cast iron lamps are an ideal lighting source for reading nooks, for example. Decorative candleholders are also a great option because they provide a warm glow to your space. Colonial-style living rooms are generally clean and comfortable, and its homey ambiance encourages family members and guests to interact.
As the style extended from the East Coast to the Southern states, brick began to appear in these restrained home designs. Some Colonial houses feature only a brick facade, with less expensive siding around the back, to save on building expenses. Many of the design influences of Colonial houses worked in tandem with one another. Precise geometry and symmetry deterred the random placement of details such as windows. Colonial houses typically feature a window on each side of the entry door and three to five windows on the upper level, with one directly above the entry door.
This strong variation gives you a very classical look and is therefore integral to British Colonial Style. Traditional soft chintz designs from England gave way to textiles printed with far more exotic patterns depicting local scenes, flora and fauna. These were very contemporary at the time and have enjoyed a renaissance recently with the Botanical trend taking hold. Animal prints too are in vogue and evoke this look when introduced as accents.
If you love elements of this style you will enjoy the inspiration on my Pinterest boards. I would love to hear from you if you have used any of these decorating elements in your recent projects or have plans to. However, updated versions or elements used from earlier styles are just as effective as this modern adaptation pictured below of British Colonial Style shows.
Coco Interiors offers full interior design, building colour selections, interior decorating and more services here. It pairs dark-stained rattan, timber and bamboo furniture with pure white linens and an abundance of indoor greenery to cool and refresh the space. Many Colonial houses, notable for their lack of interior flamboyance, have similar exterior facades. Although this house's size gives it an impressive presence, the single decorative exterior flourish in this otherwise simple design is the arch atop the ground-level row of windows.
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