Furniture in the Gothic Style Period Home

Victorian Gothic style furniture was often in solid wood, and proudly showed the joints. Veneered hardwood was also used. Typical design styles recreated Tudor and Jacobean furniture.

Hall

The hall in larger houses was used as a living room and even smaller ones would have had at least a chair for visitors and a hall stand for coats.

Drawing Room

The Gothic drawing room featured upholstered chairs, settees and sofas. These were deeply buttoned in heavy fabrics and decorated with cushions.

The furniture was placed in informal groups and rooms could be crowded. As well as a sofa and upholstered chairs, there was a table in the centre of the room, and elsewhere other small chairs and tables, including a desk. A piano was also popular.

Paintings, prints and other decorative items were placed in cabinets and on open shelves.

Dining Room

The main feature of the Gothic dining room was a large central table. Upright chairs were placed around the room until the 1860s but then moved to the centre and the table.

Cupboards and a sideboard or dresser were used to display porcelain.

In smaller houses there would also have been elaborate book cases and a desk. In larger houses, these would have been in a room used as a library.

Bedrooms

Beds were of iron or a dark wood. Wooden beds were heavily carved, in a four poster or half tester style.

Wardrobes were double fronted and often had a bevelled mirror in the centre.

Other typical items were a cheval mirror, a dressing table, and a marble-topped washstand.

Chairs were small and light, or upholstered. There was perhaps a chest or couch at the foot of the bed.