Owners of Edwardian or Victorian properties face some stark choices when choosing furnishings for their home.Budget will obviously be a big consideration but fortunately there are many reasonably priced sources of reclaimed furniture.Trawling the charity shops and scrap yards can also occasionally unearth some gems but it can be equally beneficial to look at modern reproduction pieces.  With online prices so competitive, real quality period home furnishings are available at surprisingly affordable prices.

Obviously design is crucial to enusre that everything will match and sit together well. However much you spend and wherever you source the furniture from, it’s important to choose [1] living room furniture for example that has been manufactured and finished to cope with day to day usage as well as the period style and look you want to achieve.For Edwardian homes, that style is likely to be Arts and Crafts that was motivated by William Morris’ emphasis on craftsmanship, quality manufacturing using local materials and simple design forms. There was nothing overblown, grand or classical about the designs.  Even [2] dining room furniture had a deliberately rustic, craftsman like appeal offset against wall coverings that used nature as their inspiration with intricate patterns depicting animals and flowers.

Furniture was exclusively made from native wood like oak and walnut and often featured cut-out designs such as the classic inverted heart motif.  Whatever the source or the range, oak is a very durable wood that can last for many years and tolerate rough handling so even pieces languishing in charity shops  or damp storage conditions may nor have suffered too much damage.Reclaimed or modern reproduction, look for evidence of the workmanship that typified Arts and Crafts furniture. Morris insisted that the same degree of decoration and the same level of input by a skilled artisan went into everything, from the humblest piece of door furniture to [3] display cabinets.  The ends result is furnishings, wallpapers and fabrics with sophisticated yet simple patterns that still look fresh today and will probably outlast their owners.