Ideas on How to Decorate a Home With a Victorian Look

Portraits and Photos

• Hang up painted portraits and posed formal photos from the Victorian Era throughout the house. Have the portraits and paintings framed in dark wood, oval frames, in keeping with the Victorian decorative penchant for dark wood and the often somber look of formal photos and portraits. Places in the home particularly suited for hanging portraits and photos include hallways (the long, narrow space lends itself to a gallery-style procession of artwork) and above fireplace mantles.

Furniture

• Fill your home with furniture from and inspired by the Victorian Era. Victorian furniture tended to be large, dark and formal, featuring dark wood and heavy fabric. If you like the traditional look of Victorian furniture but not the gloom, you could refinish the furniture pieces with jaunty paint jobs. White will create a sort of Victorian coastal-cottage feel, while a lively shade like orange or robin's-egg blue will make that piece an eye-catcher.

Cameo Mural

• Paint one wall of your home with a mural in the style of a Victorian cameo. Cameos were used for formal portraits and as a motif in jewelry. Sketch the silhouette of a person's head and neck on the wall where you want the mural. Place painter's tape along the inner outline. Paint the wall around it a solid color, such as rosebud pink or ivy green -- Victorian favorites. Remove the painter's tape and paint the outline and portrait details with black to make the mural stand out.

Victorian Accessories

• Sprinkle the home with Victorian accessories for a subtle decorative touch from that era. For example, install lantern-style wrought-iron lights on either side of the entrance, flanking the door. Display Victorian postcards, Valentines and Christmas cards complete with handwritten messages in a box so visitors can rifle through them. When Christmas rolls around, put up a tree and decorate it with hand-strung popcorn and cranberry garlands, and antique Victorian tree ornaments.