Edwardian Era Architecture and Interior Design Inspiration

Congratulations, you either own or are thinking of buying an Edwardian home, what a great investment! The Edwardian period was very short in comparison to the Victorian period spanning from 1901-1910 (1914) in some history books.

The Edwardian King was a lot less formal, so post Victorian era with it’s dark serious tones and heavily cluttered and draped homes, the Edwardian homes were something completely different. Homes were much bigger, they promoted privacy being further out of town, gardens were of great importance and homes were built in ways that optimised the amount of light into the interior of the home. Colour palettes were bright blues, pale lilacs and olives tones, the complete opposite of the Victorian era.

By the way, if you new here I’m Jessica, Interior Designer who specialises in helping period property homeowners seamlessly blend traditional period features with contemporary living. 

Key Characteristics of Edwardian Homes

There are some key characteristics that means you can easily spot an Edwardian home. They are usually a little further out of the city center in leafy suburbs with more modern sensibilities such as large back gardens and small front ones. They are packed with period charm, red bricks, stained glass windows, light and airy entry ways, wood porches and mock Tudor fronts, seeking to take inspiration from the Arts and Crafts movement that was very popular at the time and applied to the mass market.

The interiors would have had parquet wood floors, large sash windows, large fireplaces and the rooms were much bigger, hallways as well then there Victorian counterparts. The housing market at the time saw a large push towards the middle class having individuality, flexibility and informality.

Edwardian Home Internal Layouts

The homes in this era were deeper, taller and better spaced than the Victorian counterparts, with as I mentioned a real push towards large gardens in the both front and back. As we moved into the 20th century so much had changed socially, economically and architecturally.

Since the homes were further out of town, they needed spaces to stores food as they weren’t going to the market on daily basis so they had more modern sensibilities like a pantry. What this did mean was no outhouse, as the toilet and bathrooms had moved inside, this is often why you don’t see a toilet just planted on the back in Edwardian homes as much as you do Victorian terraces, interesting right!

Edwardian Interior Design

You may or may not know but it definitely wasn’t called Interior Design in the Edwardian era, as the job as we know it know has only really been around for about 100 years! Anyways, patterned hallway wallpaper was still very much the fashion to hide the soot from the streets. As the Victorian era was incredibly oppressive, the response from the Edwardian era was to offer light, airy and bright space not to mention homes were often built in the direction of the where you would get the most sun from a plot. Amazing!

With technological advancements, came the gas light. It was incredibly fashionable to have glass lamps from Tiffany lamps from America. As for windows, Stained glass was also incredibly popular here with leaded lights were also used prolifically, with front doors incorporating bold coloured and textured glass of greens, yellows and blues – in floral motives, often referencing ideas of the European Art Nouveau movement and designers like Charles Rennie Mackintosh.

How to Modernise Your Edwardian Home

I have worked with clients and they are never quite sure how to honour the heritage of the home, but bring it’s interiors into the 21st century. However, I don’t know about you, put my personal preference is a blend of both old and new rather than it feeling as though I’m living in a museum.

What I mean by that, it taking inspiration from the Edwardian time period is essential whilst restoring or reinstating as many traditional features as possible, traditional mouldings, sash windows, ornate Gothic fireplaces and parquet floors. I understand it can be difficult to know how decorate with period features being so prevalent in a home, but I think they can be used to inform the space and how you choose to paint, I’ve written another blog post on painting with picture rails where you can explore your options.

Extending Your Edwardian Home

I know it can be a scary time, especially if you’ve recently purchased your home, you will have seen some super boxy extensions just placed on the back of homes but so many extensions can be done extremely sympathetically to the time period whilst keeping the home right and bright. Lean to extensions can be a really popular choice, or more an open place space at the back, I think it’s important to honour the light and take your time understand exactly what it is that your trying to achieve as interiors come in at a certain price point so it’s important that you understand where to splurge and where to save.

Remember, you're not just renovating; you're committing to preserving your home's history.

If you’re renovating a period home don’t forget to explore my services I offer remote and in person consultations which work best if your looking for some light advice or I offer bespoke full service interior design services which is perfect if your looking for a more hands on approach.

I focus on creating a solid client brief, so your voice is central throughout the design process, understanding how you live and how you want to live.

Jessica x