House Interior Design Styles

It's hard to think that such a simple thing as the placement of the home fire against a wall instead of in the accepted position at the centre of the main room could totally revolutionize the way in which houses were constructed and how people looked at house interior design, how people lived and how they decorated dwellings, but that's exactly what happened in the sixteenth century.

Until this time the fire - such a life essential, providing heat, light and a means of cooking - was generally centrally placed for practical reasons. The houses of the time in the main consisted of one single hall-like room in which most domestic functions took place. At the center of the activities was the all-important fire, the smoke from which was gradually drawn through a hole in the roof. This precluded a dwelling having a second storey and also meant that any attempts at decoration were soon defeated by the effects of smoke.

Once the position of the fireplace had been moved there was a blossoming of interest in house interior room design and its comforts. Two-storey buildings could now be erected, which allowed for additional rooms to be allocated quite separate functions. The amount and categories of furniture increased, more textiles appeared - carpets (placed on walls and tables initially), upholstery and wall hangings, and there was an eruption of surface decoration.

The other factor that considerably helped this new-found interest was the spread of the use of small glass window panes (known as quarries) at previously open window spaces. Slightly dull and certainly misshapen, these blown pieces kept the elements at bay and meant that window openings could now be enlarged, thus allowing more light into the interior - an added spur to decorating not unlike the first spring sunshine that prods us into spring cleaning.

The proliferation of solid floors (replacing compacted earth and loose rushes) and timber wall paneling in many cases also made the home into an altogether more comfortable and controllable space.

It is impossible to put an exact date on these developments. Much depended upon location (urban or rural, north or south), closeness to the court and those who traveled internationally, availability of local materials, the skill of artisans and economic factors. This all meant that one home might have a style of decoration a hundred years behind another of the same age, and, rather like an old oriental rug, it should be appreciated for its local quirks as much as for its mainstream style. With these vast differences the desire among wealthier people to identify with the cognoscenti by adopting the latest fashions in house interior design styles must have been fierce.

English modes of decoration were very much determined by what was happening further south. As the classically influenced styles emerging from Italy gradually filtered north, they brought with them an increased appreciation of scale and proportion. On the way they were subjected to interpretation by the great skills and patronage of the French (in particular, the court). Also having an effect on English native styles of the time were the many displaced peoples arriving from Europe - principally the Low Countries and Germany - bringing with them their own heritage and creative skills. These various factors amalgamated to produce what we now describe as Tudor and Jacobean house interior design styles.