It’s the last day before New Years Eve and another new year is on it’s way soon. But before we close Christmas 2019 for good, I wanted to share another visit to Polesten Lacey, National Trust house, it’s amazing Edwardian style and Christmas themes.
Polesten Lacey was known for it’s dinner parties and being a weekend retreat for the upper class and royals. Compared to previous eras architectural structure, the Edwardian style was more focused on the inhabitants experience, particularly compared to the more formal Victorian period design. During Victorian time, food was made and prepared “downstairs” in a kitchen in the basement. The problem with this is that the food tended to not be warm when it was served at the tables upstairs due to it’s travel time. In the Edwardian times, the kitchen was moved to the upstairs and located next to the dining room. This enabled the host and hostess to serve warm food to the guests and made the dining experience more enjoyable.
As you can see from the pictures, there is a lot of the Edwardian style in the Polesten Lacey dining room. Even though the room is quite dark, the wallpaper is in a damask pattern – this was a pattern that was heavily used during the Edwardian period. There are also a lot of flowers in pastel on the tables, as mentioned in my previous post, feminine flowers are a key component to the Edwardian design style. We also see that there is more than one terraced cake stand on the table, this was a key centre piece in an Edwardian home.
In this picture, we are in the room behind the dining room – the preparation room. As you can see, these walls are more basic than the walls in the dining room and painted in a light yellow – a key colour in the Edwardian style. Silver and copper were widely used metals during this period. Additionally, I love this amazing silver tray which was used to serve guests champagne.
Lastly, I also want to share the tea room which was for the lady of Polesten Lacey. You can find a lot of the elements in the Edwardian style in this room. The indoor palms, the Lincrusta walls painted in white, the chintz sofas and pillows, the silver trays on the table and the china in a floral pattern. This room really is a prime example of the Edwardian style.
There is something very whimsical and playful with Edwardian interior design. I love the mix between whites and pastels but also daring to bring in pattern to the room.
What do you like best from Polesten Lacey and the Edwardian design era?
