Old World Home Styles

Colors

• Old-world home colors typically include different shades of cream, burgundy, ocher, navy and forest green. Stained wood, distressed metal colors and sanded or glazed surfaces are also popular when designing furniture and other parts of the house. Painted walls and stained wood furniture are often sanded and repainted several times to create an antique finish. Deep colors also serve this purpose, but should show some semblance of being worn to add old-world character.

Walls and Finishing Basics

• Polished wall surfaces are typically excluded when designing interior and exterior old-world finishes. Arches on doorways and windows also add a more rustic appeal, creating a more homey feeling when combined with unpolished walls with matte finishing. Basic ceilings sometimes feature exposed beams. Ironwork both inside and outside the house generally has a non-glossy finish with intricate designs featuring arches and curves. Old-world tiles are also non-glossy and rough. Unpolished marble and limestone are also common features in classic architecture.

Interior Design

• Antiques and wood furniture can greatly enhance the interior look of an old-world home. Accessories such as non-glossy ceramic figurines, old rugs mounted on the wall and handcrafted mats and tapestries provide an enhanced old-world appeal. Some fabrics, like brocade curtains with large tassels and floral patterns, also add a sense of old-world style.

Blending in with Modern Necessities

• Kitchens, bathrooms and living rooms are the three areas where modern technology may hamper your goal of achieving an overall old-world home style; most old-world homes just use a simple trick of hiding modern appliances in niches and closets.

  In the kitchen, design your cupboards and closets in a way that your microwave oven and refrigerator can easily fit. Televisions and computers can easily blend in to an old-world style by providing sliding wood doors that cover them when not in use.