Victorian decor has a very royal and rich feel. Think of Queen Victoria, and old world castles when trying to find your inspiration. This style is accented by precious stone, gold, and silver. This style of decor is broken down into three eras of inspiration:

• Early Victorian - known for Georgian simplicity
• Mid Victorian - known for heavier masculine looks
• Late Victorian - known for more feminine designs

Once you choose which era to pull your inspiration from, keep the main elements of color, fabric, furniture, and accessories in mind:

Color - Use bold and rich colors to portray wealth including deep reds, blues, and greens. A few rules to keep in mind when you begin painting: (1) for small spaces with lacking natural light, use lighter shades of a rich color; and (2) for large spaces, use darker shades of a rich color such as forest green and have light accents. A great way to add depth to a smaller space is to paint the panels. Breaking up the wall with a chair rail and painting the darkest color on the bottom panel will help add the illusion of depth.

Wallpaper is also often used with this style. Heavy green, red, or blue floral patterns fit well with this decor. If you are working with a smaller space, you will not want to wallpaper all four walls a heavy floral pattern. Try wallpapering an accent wall and then painting the remainder three walls a complimenting lighter color. You may also install the chair rail and wallpaper the bottom panel and paint the top the complimenting lighter shade.

Fabrics - Focus on heavy and rich texture. Intricate oriental rugs and tapestries are seen repeatedly. If you have floral wallpaper on the walls keep the upholstery on your furniture one complimentary dark shade. If you choose to paint the walls one shade then feel free to use heavily patterned furniture pieces. Fabrics for your windows should have a heavy layered look. When layering your drapery layer velvets and sheers in a deep hue. When layering velvet and sheer together you will get the feminine elegance this style portrays.

Furniture - Look for vintage antiques in the form of end tables and curio cabinets. When choosing larger pieces like beds and sofas, go with antique replicas. Furniture of this age was not necessarily comfortable so there are many modern replicas on the market that take comfort and your wallet into consideration. Deep mahogany and teak woods are popular choices to replicate this era's furniture. For example, find a large heavy mahogany wood dining table and surround it with velvet or rich leather wing backed chairs to tie everything for your royal feasts!

Accessories - Aim to fill in the spaces. During this era no space was left empty. These spaces were filled with porcelain, sterling silver, crystal, and china. Plants tucked in the corner, animal hide area rugs and stuffed animals are good examples. Photo albums and paintings of decease family members will give your home a royal feel too. Finally, round out your space with books, exotic maps, atlases, and globes.

When decorating for this era, remember to bold colors, rich textures and antique mahogany furniture surrounded by accents that filled in empty spaces. Now, sit back in your high-back leather chair and enjoy your tea and crumpets!