The term “gothic” isn’t reserved for scary atmospheres such as vampires’ castles alone. Especially not if you are able to welcome it in your interior in just the right amount while mixing it with modern design. The Victorian Gothic architectural style was first introduced in the early 1740s, however, it has undergone a lot of changes and has seen a lot of additions, as well as reduction, since then. If you are all about whimsy and tastefully dark settings, and you want to be able to incorporate this aspect of yourself into your living room, but you don’t know how to avoid overdoing it, keep on reading.
Dark colours do dominate this style, however, there are ways to avoid making your living room appear as if it was designed by Count Dracula himself, and one specific way to do this it by combining white and coal.
Let’s start with the walls. Although patterned wallpapers are commonly used for achieving this style, this is where things can get a bit too dramatic. You could simply go with coal for your walls as this dark gray colour is able to give off just enough of that gloomy vibe you’re after while leaving space for elegance. Dramatic elegance is, in fact, the second name of the gothic interior and this is especially true for when mixing it with modern details. Having all of your living room’s walls painted in coal will also leave space for you to be more playful with the décor later on.
Next, we have the choice of materials for the setting. Make friends with silk, satin, and velvet accompanied with carved wooden elements and heavy, rich furnishing. In other words, high-end furniture – no cutting corners on this one since this style isn’t for the faint of heart, but rather for people who aren’t afraid to make a bold statement.
A great portion of the drama this style abounds in relies on the accessories. This includes dazzling chandeliers, velvet cushions, flowers, and candles to set the right tone. There are a lot of beautiful velvet cushions online and offline furniture stores abound in. But for this style, you need to ensure you stick to the darker hues. Depending on whether your space lacks some brightness to break up the monotony, you can also add a few more cushions online black and white interior design ideas can’t do without – faded zig-zag or chevron patterned cotton cushion. But there’s no doubt that dark velvet ones should dominate the atmosphere.
The more you let light in, the more you’ll avoid the look of a haunted mansion. Big windows for natural light can be of great help in achieving this, especially lancet windows. However, since not everyone is able to add such windows to their current home, making the most of the natural light available and opting for whitewashed floors should suffice. Gothic relies on lancet windows mostly for their shape, but you can add this architectural staple with a big, old mirror with a lancet-shaped frame. If you don’t like the idea about the mirror, you can hang reclaimed stained glass window as artwork instead.
Enjoy creating you lavish interiors.