Palace style impresses with its luxury, wealth and splendor. This direction is not combined with budget repairs. If the owner plans to implement the interior design elements of the Palace, the funds will have to invest a lot. The interior will impress with the scale and grandiosity, replete with fanciful details. Palace style looks organically in the interiors of mansions, cottages, country estates. It is more difficult to implement it in the decoration of the city apartment, as the lack of space was unknown to the crowned heads. Let's talk about the features characteristic of the Palace style and options for its implementation.
About style
The Palace style is the direction that was used for registration of the residences of kings and nobles in Europe XVII—XVIII centuries. It marked the beginning of the Empire style, Baroque, Rococo and classicism itself. The emergence of the direction came at the end of one of the greatest eras in the cultural history of Europeans — the Renaissance. The founder of the Palace style is considered king Louis XIV. A supporter of the absolute monarchy and an adherent of the version of the divine nature of the Royal power, he did not consider the state money that was spent on the design of his luxurious apartments. Louis sincerely believed that the state and the king — a single whole, and the man with the "blue blood" requires special comfort. And it should be noted that tasteless here and did not smell: all interiors were organic, florid, but at the same time in furniture there was a balance. Louis settled on the French throne for a long time-almost 72 years. During this time, the king surrounded himself with luxury and built more than one summer Palace, which was removed from the entourage of the entourage during the rest of the busy life of the capital. In the atmosphere there were stucco, gilding, inlaid with expensive stones, luxurious fabrics, carvings, expensive paintings and tapestries, rare wood species in the furniture, polished stone in the decoration. Palace style manifested itself not only in the interior, he found a place in architecture, eventually giving rise to the Imperial direction (Empire). Outside, the palaces were decorated with numerous decorative elements that were in harmony with the bizarre topiary on the open lawns, winter gardens (with citrus trees) and "green" labyrinths, in which the nobility indulged in children's games. Over time, this rich style took on more and more bizarre forms. Aesthetic balance began to get lost in excess and satiety, until it resulted in the Baroque.
Palace style is suitable for wealthy people who want to emphasize their status and position in society. It is difficult to realize the direction independently. Those who can afford large expenses, is unlikely to be plastering the walls in his own house, heavily smeared with putty and paint. A wealthy person will hire a professional designer, so the article is more exploratory in nature. From the Palace style is easy to get tired, especially in modern realities, when minimalism is considered the crown of design thought. Direction is its complete opposite, maximalism in its pure form. Palace style is remembered, it will be imprinted in consciousness of the inhabitant as something surprising, is similar to a Museum exhibit. Expensive environment want to admire, but to live in it is very difficult. If you want to impress your guests during the reception, the best direction for interior decoration, perhaps, not to find.
Features and characteristics
The Palace style is characterized by the following features:
- Refusal of the combined rooms. According to the laws of the Palace style, each room is designed for specific purposes and can not be mixed with each other. The only exception is the living room combined with the dining room.
- The Palace style is not suitable for small spaces. Rooms should have large areas with high ceilings, wide window and door openings.
- In the true palaces necessarily the presence of stairs, Suite of rooms and galleries, decorated with portraits.
- Plenty of light. Large spaces oblige to use not only massive ceiling chandeliers, but also floor, table lamps and sconces.
- The use of paintings (mainly portraits and scenes from the life of the nobility) and the use of artistic painting.
- Stucco. It is decorated with ceilings, walls, pedestals, fireplace shelves. Stucco gives the room elegance, nobility and special grace.
- Heavy, dimensional furniture made of solid wood. Its surfaces are decorated with carvings, inlaid with stones.
It is also worth considering that modern appliances will have to be carefully masked, as it does not fit into the interiors of palaces.
Color scheme
At the heart of the color scheme of the Palace style is always white and brown, or rather, its "Golden" variation. Dilute the atmosphere with soft, pastel colors: yellow, gray, peach, pink, turquoise, blue, terracotta, walnut, olive, Viridian, wheat, jade. In the accent areas using strokes Royal blue, wine red, dark chocolate.
Finishing: methods and materials
For decoration use only expensive, natural materials: stone, wood, textiles. To stylize the room a simple plaster will not work. Fabulous interiors will require large investments. Of course, you can use artificial analogues, but then the situation will be more like a modernized classic. Sovereigns did not tolerate imitations. It is also worth considering that in the interiors there are many picturesque and sculptural elements. If the figurines can be purchased in conventional stores, for wall painting or decoration with bas-reliefs or high reliefs will have to invite a professional artist or sculptor. It is possible to draw a simple ornament on templates and most, but refined plots with the image of a set of people or divine beings, to the inhabitant it will be difficult to master.
Walls
For wall decoration is recommended to resort to decorative painting. Her drawing should be a continuation of the ceiling moldings and gently delineate large elements: paintings, mirrors, sconces. You can also use expensive fabric Wallpaper with ornate ornament on a smooth, silk surface. It is worth considering that this coating is considered a great "dust collector", so it will have to be vacuumed regularly. However, the Wallpaper is suitable only for small rooms (nursery, bedroom, study). In the dining room, living room or spacious hall walls are decorated with painted or wooden inserts, which alternate with pilasters or columns, decorated with textured Venetian plaster and decorated with mirror panels consisting of diamond-shaped fragments.
In wall painting the best option would be a floral motif. The floral pattern blends perfectly with the dark wood furnishings and light stucco on the ceiling.
Floor
The authentic interiors have stone floors. Polished marble or granite with a complex pattern will last more than a dozen years and will stand the test of ballroom dancing. However, in modern Palace interiors are increasingly used self-leveling floor. On durability it does not concede to a stone, and on a surface it is possible to put any picture at the request of the customer. Sometimes the floor covering expensive parquet, fragments of which again are formed in the original picture. The center of the image coincides with the middle of the room.
Ceiling
The ceiling space is richly decorated with stucco, caissons, decorative paintings, rosettes, cornices, moldings and individual fragments of floral ornaments. For finishing of a surface choose white plaster. It is on a light background numerous decorative elements will stand out. If the walls are used in the decoration of gold-plated parts, the same coating adorns the surface of the molded fragments of the ceiling. Stretch fabric is used only in modern variations of style. For an authentic environment the coating is not good at all. Although the canvas has a nice glossy Shine and allows you to play any pattern you like. Gypsum stucco can be made independently, if you stock up on mods-special forms for casting individual fragments.
Lighting — choose the lighting fixtures
Large spaces require abundant lighting. The light will sparkle and many times reflected in the mirrored surfaces and gold-plated elements will settle small scattering of shimmering in silk and velvet folds of textiles. Since the Windows are covered with thick curtains, there is little natural light in the room. It is more than compensated by multi-tiered suspended chandeliers made of crystal, decorated with pendants. This material creates a fascinating atmosphere, as the light of the lamps is repeatedly reflected and refracted by small details. Even in a modestly furnished room crystal chandeliers add a note of solemnity and luxury. If the room is large (dining room, living room), then around the perimeter it is decorated with the same wall sconces, imitating candlesticks. In a really huge room to the ceiling hung several massive chandeliers are an equal distance from each other, maintaining the symmetry. On the surface of cabinets, offices, dressing table, tables hoisted lamps or candlesticks.
Choice of furniture
Choose massive furniture made of precious wood. Some elements are made of natural stone (countertops). Upholstered furniture upholstered in jacquard, silk, velvet, velour. The last two types of textiles allow you to make any shade deep and rich. Upholstery cal "coach" tie. Facades of cabinets, chests of drawers, bedside tables are richly decorated with carvings, friezes, inlaid with stones. It is desirable to use antique furniture that has survived to this day in excellent condition. Alternatively, you can resort to one of the techniques for artificial aging of wooden surfaces. Hardware (handles, latches) is decorated with gold leaf.
Accessories, textiles and room decor
The walls are decorated with paintings in frames of gilded baguette. Wear out your image using the technique of craquelure. Not less magnificent is decorated with framed mirrors. The interior is decorated with stucco, bas-reliefs, tapestries, murals or murals. Doors and Windows are decorated with stained glass inserts. In the spacious rooms, they only emphasize the elegance of design, and in small rooms (corridor or hallway) will become a stylistic center. Curtains from expensive, dense fabrics (brocade, velvet) decorate with lambrequins and garters with brushes. And curtain not only window, but also doorways. On the tables hoisted lamps on the legs of wood with carved elements, small sculptures, boxes, inlaid with precious stones, rare porcelain vases.
Examples of interior design
Each room of the Palace lives its own life. The interior of any room is a complete version that does not need neighbors. This should be taken into account, as usually the design of rooms in the same house are connected with each other. The decoration of the premises strictly corresponds to their functional purpose.
The interior of the bedroom
The chambers of the crowned persons, as a rule, consisted of two rooms. One was the bedroom itself, and the second — a boudoir or a place to receive guests. Yes, in those days, kings and Queens did not consider it shameful to hold audiences in home robes and Slippers. The spacious bed is decorated with a canopy of light fabric. The bed is covered with a cover of deep chocolate or turquoise. Placed on top of a group of cushions in silk pillowcases with ruffles. The headboard is decorated with "coach" screed. Walls paste over with wall-paper with flower drawing. The accent surface at the head of the bed can be decorated with paintings. On both sides of the Royal bed on the walls are fixed pair of sconces. Bedside tables made of solid wood on twisted legs, generously decorated with gold on the handles and facades. Boudoir zone is fenced off by a screen of delicate silk with floral ornament. Here put a table with a mirror and numerous boxes with ornaments, hairpins, hairpins, combs. Do not forget about indoor plants. It is desirable to revive the interior with bouquets of roses, asters or chrysanthemums.
Stylish addition will be lamps in the form of ancient candelabra, but equipped with modern bulbs.
The interior of the living room
A mandatory attribute of the living room in the Palace style is considered a fireplace. It is decorated with stone and miniature columns. On the mantelpiece put vases with flowers, clocks, candlesticks, sculptures. The walls are decorated with painted inserts in combination with stucco, vignettes and decorative pilasters. The furniture set consists of a Ottoman and a pair of massive chairs, which are generously decorated with carvings. The upholstery is decorated with the same coach-house coupler. The back is covered with velour or velvet. The furniture set is surrounded by a low coffee table with twisted gilded legs. His table top, made of marble, crowned with a bowl of fruit or a vase of flowers. On the walls hang paintings, frescoes, mirrors. The floor is finished with parquet or marble fragments. Place the junction of the wall and ceiling decorated with galtel, moldings, cornices. Heavy curtains with pelmets frame the Windows.
In the living room, a stylish interior element will be a snow-white piano, the cover of which is decorated with a bouquet of scarlet roses. During the heyday of the monarchy, music was considered a common thing for the nobility.
Kitchen interior
In the palaces of the kitchen were considered offices, which by their presence crowned person did not illuminate. Now in this room most of the time spends not only the hostess, but almost all family members during the "tea" gatherings. To finish the walls choose a pleasant shade of mustard or neutral gray. The ceiling is plastered and decorated with traditional stucco paired with galtel. In the center flaunts a massive chandelier of crystal. Kitchen set choose a light, milky shade, the facades of which are richly decorated with stucco elements. On the upper edge of the border is a relief pattern, covered with gold. The floor is chosen either self-leveling or ceramic tiles of brown shades, imitating marble or granite. The area above the stove is decorated with a fake fireplace portal, which has several open shelves for storing spices and small utensils. If the kitchen combines a dining area (which is undesirable), the dining table with a massive table top "under the stone" complement a group of chairs made of wood. Their legs are decorated with carving, and the backs and seats — soft upholstery, decorated with "coach" screed. The windows are covered with light curtains with lambrequins.
The interior of the bathroom
Bathroom in the style of the Palace has for a long swim in the foamy fluid in the uneven light of candles. For finishing use ceramic tiles, the surface of which is decorated with unobtrusive floral ornament. Compact shower cabin in the Palace interior does not fit. We'll have to opt for a" rare " bath with twisted legs and bumpers of different heights. Choose a plumber with a luxurious gold leaf. Snow-white sink to the full depth goes into the nightstand. Of furniture you can use a tall narrow cabinets with several pull-out shelves. Their facades are necessarily decorated with stucco elements covered with gold. The mirror is decorated with a forged frame and the same curls, which smoothly turn into holders for lamps. Near the bath put a miniature low couch.
The interior hallway
In the hallway put a table-console made of dark brown wood. Above it hang a mirror in a baguette frame with gold. On the table top put a vase of Chinese porcelain with a bouquet of fresh flowers. Doorways are decorated with carved platbands. Some passages to the rooms are decorated with arched vaults. The ceiling is decorated with stucco cornices. For changing shoes put a couch with low arm rests. The floor is finished with natural stone, which is not aware of wear. From the ceiling hangs a multi-tiered chandelier worthy of ballrooms. Complement the interior groups of paintings and decorative paintings on the walls.
Conclusion
The Palace style was preceded by a classical direction. It has adopted many features of the Royal interiors, but in lighter forms. Palace style existed for several centuries. Even after a while he continues to live in monuments of architecture and design. Look at preserved specimens of the Russian Palace of luxury and wealth in St. Petersburg in the marble, the Winter, the Tauride, the Mariinsky or the Summer Palace of Peter I. the Most striking example of the style in its historical homeland can be considered the Versailles. One of the main residences of the French kings, the beauty of the interior it can only argue with the Louvre and Tuileries. Unfortunately, the last Palace was destroyed by the French Communards. For a long time the ashes from the skeleton of the building was a "thorn" in the center of Paris, until Parliament decided to demolish the ruins.
Do you like the Palace Style?
