Decorating Tips for Authentic Medieval Style in the Home

http://karnaintrack.blogspot.co.uk - 

Tapestries add an instant
Medieval vibe

What Is Medieval Style?
The current trend of decorating a home using dark furniture fits right in with medieval style, but what other home decor elements can be used to create medieval style in your home?

• Stone Walls with Wood Paneling - To make this work in today's home create a faux cracked stone wall effect on the upper half of your walls, fixing a rail at dado height, and using wood paneling underneath it. Or try fixing sheets of plywood to the walls, adding a 1 inch wide baton at intervals to create the wood paneling illusion. Stain the wood darker with a dark oak wax.
• Dark Wood - As well as using dark wood furniture, decorating a home with dark wood features on the wall, encapsulates medieval style. But buying something like a dark wood pelmet today isn't such an easy item to find. Create your own using a basic wood/MDF pelmet, and using a faux wood paint technique to achieve the look.
• Luxurious Drapes - Beneath your pelmet you will need to hang luxurious drapes, in rich colors or tapestry style fabric.
• Tapestries and Candles - Hang tapestries from tab tops on a curtain pole spray painted black, with basic finials on the end. Candleswere obviously big news in medieval homes, being the main light source, so install some wrought iron wall sconces to house cream color candles of varying sizes.



• Coats of Arms - Displaying coats of arms on the wall, on tiles, and on stained-glass windows were also very normal features in a medieval style home. Create your own coat of arms on a window with colored acetates, or glass paints if you are feeling particularly artistic.

Best Rooms to Decorate in Medieval Style
The best rooms in a home to decorate with medieval style are the bedroom and dining room, although if you fancy having a go at recreating a medieval kitchen complete with iron spit, then go right ahead! A living room would also be a good room to give a medieval style home decor makeover, if you make a big feature out of your fireplace - change the surround to a chunky oak one, and stain it at a darker color. Use lots of large church candles all around the living room too, to create true medieval home style.

Canopy bed curtains are the epitome
of an authentic Medieval look 

Medieval Style Bedroom
When decorating a medieval style bedroom in the home, you need to think luxurious fabrics, as these will be the main feature. Use rich colored fabrics (red, blue, green, gold), either plain or decorated tapestry style. For a truly opulent feel, you could also look out for gold features such as fleur de lys, in your fabric.

The medieval style bed itself, would have been decorated with a canopy of some sort. To recreate this romantic medieval look without buying a new bed, use curtain rods hung from the ceiling at each end of the bed, and hang your luxurious fabric from there. Or use a hoop to make a canopy bed curtain to be hung above the head of the bed, so the fabric completely encircles the top end of the bed to add the air of mystery and romance.

Of course, any wood used should be dark, and although walls were kept mostly plain apart from candles and tapestries, you could add a luxurious wall hanging either side of the bed. Cut a long rectangle with a pointed end, and matt a contrasting fabric onto it, or add subtle detailing around the edge such as a twisted cord.

Ceramic, pewter and wood
are materials of choice

No Medieval home should
be without candlesticks!

Medieval Style Dining Room
No medieval feast would be complete without a large wooden dining table that guests can use to chow down on their chicken legs, and other medieval period food. Again, the wood needs to be dark, so staining or adding a dark oak wax to your existing table, would recreate this look. Add detailing using dark metal studs and hinges on the edges of each corner, and consider adding a design of basic ceramic tiles to the centre of the table.

Adorn your medieval dining table with large ornate candlesticks, and pewter plates and jugs. Cups and bowls can be matt ceramic, with basic designs upon them.

Creating a warm feel with lots of candles, on either large floor-stand candlesticks, or on wrought-iron or brass wall sconces, is a must. For a true focal point, why not make a DIY chandelier using the hoops from disused barrels. Add mop head fixings at regular intervals around the hoops to hold candles, and paint it all black. Hang from your medieval dining room ceiling with hanging basket chains.

Deep red is a great color for any period dining room, but is especially true of medieval style. Pick out one wall or one section of it to paint a rich, deep red, and remember to hang some tapestries, or wall hangings with a tapestry style design on them.

All these elements add up to show that decorating a home with medieval style creates a magnificent style statement for little cost, and a big difference. Now be careful of those chicken legs!