There’s a certain magic that comes with living in a Victorian era home. With their coffered ceilings, artistic wainscoting, and quaint, terraced exteriors, these homes can be a treat to style and revamp for 21st century occupants. However, the trick to revamping Victorian homes is preserving as much of the period charm as possible in your redesigns. This is a feat easier said than done, and so it can be tricky to know exactly where to start.
Read on if you’re looking for a little insight on how to bring a Victorian home into the 21st century.
Bring a Victorian home into the 21st century
1. Update your heating and cooling
First and foremost, you’ll want to ensure that your period home is fitted with a modern heating and cooling system. As Victorian homes have high ceilings, it can be difficult to select a system that’s adequately sized to cater to any interior space in that home. Look into split system installation with an electrician that has experience with period homes to ensure the best possible eye when it comes to selecting a system that will work best for your Victorian home.
It’s also important to note that not all Victorian homes have a layout that allows for central heating installation, as it’s quite common for homes built in this era to have hidden internal support beams or walls that house piping or wiring that cannot be displaced. It’s vital that you assess if your home can be retrofitted with heating and cooling and seek alternative options in case system installations may be problematic.
2. Freshen up your light fixtures
Similar to installing modern heating and cooling systems, you’ll want to update your home’s lighting as well as its electrical fixtures to make sure that you minimise your risks of power surges and electricity leakages, these two issues being the most common electrical faults in older homes. However, for period homes, you should absolutely schedule a full electrical safety inspection of your property prior to starting any work on replacing any fixtures and outlets.
It’s also worth swapping out all of your older traditional incandescent light bulbs with modern energy-efficient bulbs to both minimise your home’s carbon footprint as well as keep your utility costs low year-round.
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3. Revisit walling and flooring
One surefire way of transforming a Victorian home that may not be suitable for renovations or expansions is simply by adding a fresh coat of paint. Try going for a bright blue, yellow, or other natural tones to bring a little light into your period home. These bright colours can also be effortlessly coupled with an array of different interior styles, ranging from contemporary modern to European romanticism. If you’re looking to maintain as much of a Victorian feel as possible, you should use classical pieces like vanities, vintage-style bookcases, and the like. As Victorian homes tend to be quite versatile, you should not be afraid to really experiment with the valuable canvas that is your period interior.
It’s also common for Victorian-era homes to have scuffed subpar floorboards or tired old carpeting. These worn floors can greatly diminish the overall atmosphere of any interior space, but this rings especially true for period homes that already face increased risks of feeling stale or outdated. We strongly recommend that you treat your wooden flooring and replace your carpeting to ensure that your Victorian interiors stay nice and fresh.
4. Utilise smart home technology
Finally, it wouldn’t be an exploration of modernity if we didn’t acknowledge the role of smart home technology in modern living. As more and more tech companies start developing their own smart home products, there is now an abundance of smart lighting, speakers, and home controls for you to choose from. If you’re not a fan of hyper-modern tech goods, then have no fear as some of the best smart home devices available today are designed to meld perfectly into any interior environment, so that you can be assured that your smart home tech stays as subtle and stylish as possible. Even with a little browsing and independent research, you’ll be likely to find some smart home additions that work perfectly for you and your wider household.
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Final thoughts:
Revamping your Victorian-era home will undoubtedly mean leaving some of its old-fashioned charm behind, but so long as you’re able to celebrate as much of your home’s unique feel and facade as you possibly can, your redesigns are likely to be a stunning success.
